Doubts Over Recovery Weigh on Stocks, ETFs

Stocks ended mixed and nearly flat Tuesday as investors continued to worry about the breadth and depth of economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 18 to 9772. The Nasdaq gained 8 to 2057, and the S&P 500 rose 3 to 1045.

Auto makers were a mixed bag, despite new data showing sales improved in October. According to industry estimates, the annual rate of vehicle sales climbed to 10.3 million last month. Ford (F), General Motors (GM) and Toyota (TM) posted better sales than they did during the same month a year ago. Chrysler reported a sales decline.

Bank stocks led markets lower in Europe after Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking (LYG) unveiled agreements with the U.K. Treasury over their participation in a government program to insure their bad assets and detailed the divestments they will need to make to satisfy EU competition concerns. RBS said it will participate in the expensive U.K. asset-protection scheme, while Lloyds opted not to.

UBS ended down 3% after it swung to a loss of over $500 million in the third quarter on a variety of charges, with wealthy clients still taking assets out of the Swiss bank.

Asian share markets were mixed in subdued trade as a holiday in Japan kept bourses range-bound, with gold stocks leading the way in Australia after gains for the yellow metal.

Oil futures traded on the Nymex dipped slightly. As of 4:04 p.m., front month crude contracts were up $1.28 at $79.41. For a detailed rundown on Tuesday’s trading session see our market story. 

Resurgent gold prices pushed the Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) fund up 7.7%. The iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average Index fund (IYT) climbed as railroads were lifted by the $44 billion Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) deal for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI).

The commodities-heavy Market Vectors Russia fund (RSX) dropped 1.5%. The iShares S&P US Preferred Stock Index fund (PFF) slid 1.3% as investors lost enthusiasm for corporate debt.

Data Point
Global index FTSE Group licensed three international equity indexes to Charles Schwab Investment Management (SCHW) to allow the discount brokerage to create three new exchange-traded funds. These are among Schwab’s first ETF offerings, and will track the FTSE All Emerging Index, the FTSE Developed ex-U.S. Index and the FTSE Developed Small Cap ex-U.S. Liquid Index. The FTSE All Emerging Index tracks the performance of large- and mid- cap stocks from 22 emerging markets including Brazil, China, Taiwan and India. The FTSE Developed ex-U.S. Index is comprised of large- and mid-cap stocks from 24 developed markets, excluding the United States. The FTSE Developed Small Cap ex-U.S. Liquid Index is made up of small-cap stocks from 24 developed markets, excluding the United States.

Launching Pad
OOK Advisors, which last week launched the Oklahoma ETF (OOK), will begin trading its TXF Large Companies ETF on Thursday. The fund will be made up exclusively of stocks issued by Texas’s publicly traded companies. Based on the SPADE Texas Index, this will be the second state-based ETF introduced by OOK Advisors. The Oklahoma ETF has been relatively flat since inception and had low trading volume.

Earnings and Conference Calls
3D Systems, 99 Cents Only, Adept Technology, Agilysys, Agrium, Allied Motion Technologies, Allstate, Alon USA Energy, Ambac Financial Group, Amdocs, AMERCO, American Equity Investment Life Holding, American Medical Systems, American Railcar Industries, American States Water, Ameristar Casinos, Andersons, Answers, APAC Customer Services, Aqua America, Arch Chemicals, Ashford Hospitality Trust, AuthenTec, Automatic Data Processing, Babcock & Brown Air, Baker Hughes, Becton Dickinson, BioClinica, Bowne & Co, Bridgepoint Education, Brightpoint, Bristow Group, Capital Senior Living, Career Education, Cbeyond, Central European Distribution, Checkpoint Systems, Cincinnati Bell, Cisco Systems, Clayton Williams Energy, Clean Harbors, Cogo Group, Comcast, Conseco, Consolidated Graphics, Cornerstone Therapeutics, Corrections Corp. of America, Cosmo Oil, Cousins Properties, Devon Energy, DexCom, Dialysis Corporation of America, Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Eagle Bulk Shipping, Ebix, Echelon, Edgewater Technology, Education Management, El Paso, eLoyalty, Employers Holdings, Enbridge, Endeavour International, EnergySolutions, Entravision Communications, Equity One, Evergreen Solar, ExpressJet Holdings, Extendicare, Federal Realty Investment, FGX International, FICO, First Industrial Realty Trust, Fiskars, FPIC Insurance Group, FTI Consulting, Garmin, Gasco Energy, General Communication, Genomic Health, Georgia Gulf, Gibraltar Industries, Global Cash Access, Global Industries, Globecomm Systems, GMAC, Goldcorp, Goodrich Petroleum, Great Wolf Resorts, Harvard Bioscience, Headwaters, Health Care REIT, Health Fitness, Healthsouth, HeartWare International, Henry Schein, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Hill International, Hughes Communications, Huntsman, Immucell, Insight Enterprises, Integra LifeSciences, Integrys Energy Group, International Flavors & Fragrances, Interoil, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, inTEST, ION Geophysical, JCDecaux, Kadant, KapStone Paper and Packaging, Kendle, Legal and General, Lenovo Group, Linn Energy, Lion, Liz Claiborne, LoJack, Luminex, Magic Software Enterprises, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Martin Midstream Partners, McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants, MCG Capital, Measurement Specialties, Medivation, Microchip Technology, Mobile Mini, Molson Coors Brewing, Murphy Oil, Natural Resource Partners, Nektar Therapeutics, NetSuite, News Corporation, NewStar Financial, Nissan Motor, Nortech Systems, NPS Pharmaceuticals, O2 Micro, OraSure Technologies, Orckit Communications, Orexigen Therapeutics, Orix Corporation, Parlux, Penn Virginia, Plains All American Pipeline, Polyone, Protective Life, Providence Service, Prudential Financial, Pulte Homes, Qualcomm, Radian Group, RAE Systems, RAIT Financial Trust, Red Lion Hotels, RR Donnelley, Rubios Restaurants, Savient Pharmaceuticals, Shenandoah Telecommunications, Silicon Graphics, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Societe Generale, SourceForge, Sovran Self Storage, Speedway Motorsports, SRA International, Strategic Hotels and Resorts, SurModics, TAL International Group, Time Warner, Total, Transocean, TRW Auto, TTM Technologies, Tyco Electronics, United Online, Valence Technology, Vitamin Shoppe, Vonage Holdings, Wabash National, Warnaco Group, Watson Pharmaceuticals, WellCare Health Plans, WestJet Airlines, Whole Foods Market, William Lyon Homes, Zebra Technologies

Economic Data
7:00 a.m. MBA Purchase Applications
7:30 a.m. Challenger Job-Cut Report
8:15 a.m. ADP Employment Report
9:00 a.m. Treasury Refunding Announcement
10:00 a.m. ISM Non-Manufacturing Index
10:30 a.m. EIA Petroleum Status Report
2:15 p.m. FOMC Meeting Announcement