Note 12 - Income Taxes (Details) - Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Oct. 31, 2014	Oct. 31, 2013
Note 12 - Income Taxes (Details) - Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Depreciation	$ 2,407	$ 2,345
Inventory impairment loss	219,487	230,553
Uniform capitalization of overhead	9,005	6,208
Warranty and legal reserves	14,342	15,571
Deferred income	547us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsDeferredIncome	551us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsDeferredIncome
Acquisition intangibles	18,014	22,523
Other	19,516us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsOther	16,350us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsOther
Total deferred tax assets	1,052,072us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsGross	1,080,099us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsGross
Acquisition intangibles	395	351
Debt repurchase income	121,934	152,450
Other		164us-gaap_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesOther
Total deferred tax liabilities	122,329us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxLiabilities	152,965us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxLiabilities
Valuation allowance	(642,003)	(927,134)
Net deferred income taxes	287,740us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsLiabilitiesNet
Joint venture loss	5,633	5,360
Federal net operating losses	524,879	542,409
State net operating losses	176,225	182,940
Restricted Stock [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes (Details) - Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Share-based compensation	7,121	5,781
Employee Stock Option [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes (Details) - Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Share-based compensation	8,481	6,994
Rent on Abandoned Space [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes (Details) - Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Other	2,830	3,591
Provision for Losses [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes (Details) - Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Other	$ 43,585	$ 38,923

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