Market Wrap-Up

Stocks flirted with their 52-week low during most of Wednesday before closing the session essentially flat. Today's results signals a general investor malaise about the economy, even though President Obama signed a $787 billion stimulus plan on Tuesday and he announced a new relief program for struggling homeowners today. For a complete rundown on the day's trading session, see our market wrap-up.

For the second straight day, the SPDR Select Financials ETF (XLF) was one of the most highly-traded funds. Just over 334 million shares traded as investors continued to bet on the direction of this sector. Three of the top five-traded ETFs focused on financials.

Small-cap stock ETFs were also in play. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) finished the session flat despite trading 61 million shares.

Meanwhile, 65 ETFs didn't trade a single share.

Winners

Even though crude ended the day just slightly down at $34.55 per barrel, ProShares Ultrashort Dow Jones-AIG Crude Oil (SCO), a fund that tries to return twice the inverse results of crude's daily price movement, gained 6.4%.
Gold continued to shine as investors looked to it as a hedge against the downturn. The SPDR Gold Shares fund (GLD) gained 1.5%. Gold now trades at around $986 per ounce.

Losers

As if investors didn t need any more evidence to show just how bad the situation is for home builders, the Census Bureau announced on Wednesday that housing starts fell in January to an annual rate of 466,000 units, down from a revised rate of 560,000 units in December. (Economists had predicted a decline to a January rate of 530,000.) The iShares Dow Jones Home Construction ETF (ITB) lost 4.1%.

Thursday s Notebook

Earnings and Conference Calls
Advance Auto Parts, Agnico-Eagle Mines, Baidu, Blue Nile, Brink s Home Security, CBS, Comcast, Commerzbank, Deere & Co. Denny s, Dollar Thrifty Automotive, Dress Barn, ExpressJet Holdings, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Hewlett-Packard, ING Groep, Kinross Gold, LoJack, Nautilus, Northeast Utilities, NutriSystem, Office Max, Owens Corning, Playboy Enterprises, Priceline.com, While Food Market

Economic Data
7:00 a.m. MBA Mortgage Application Refinance Index
7:45 a.m. ICSC Chain Store Sales
8:30 a.m. Jan. Housing Starts
8:30 a.m. Jan. Import Prices
8:55 a.m. Redbook Retail Sales
9:15 a.m. Jan. Industrial Production
9:15 a.m. Jan. Capacity Utiliztion
2:00 p.m. Jan. FOMC Minutes
4:30 p.m. API Oil Industry Report

Quick Take

A look at how the industry's most popular ETFs did on Wednesday.