Market Wrap-Up

As Barack Obama headed to the White House for the first time since winning the presidential election last Tuesday, it became apparent at the start of this week just how daunting a task he may be inheriting.

Monday's trading session started off with the news the bailout package for insurance giant AIG (AIG) was ballooning to $150 billion from $123 billion. Additional government funding may be going to Detroit auto makers whose sales have decreased at the same time cash burn rates are escalating. At least one analyst put a price tag of $0 for General Motors (GM) shares. In other words, the stock is worthless. Overnight China announced an almost $600 billion stimulus plan of its own to get that economy back on track.

Meanwhile, corporate news for the third quarter continued to be spotty. Fannie Mae (FNM) announced it lost a whopping $29 billion during the recently-closed quarter. Circuit City (CC) revealed it is filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. HSBC (HBC) posted a $4.3 billion charge related to mortgage debts on its books. And Citigroup (C) is evidently in talks to acquire a retail bank, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Crude prices rose off 19-year lows as China's stimulus play stoked views that oil demand may pick up. Crude closed up $1.25 to the $62 level.

Surprisingly, given all that, the stock market was relatively calm to start the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 72 points to close at 8,871.

Winners

China's near $600 billion stimulus plan buoyed ETFs focusing on that part of the world. The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 ETF (FXI) gained 4%.

Losers

The general malaise about the economy here in the U.S., concerns about the expansion of government aid to financial firms and weak home sales released late last week hit two beleaguered industries Monday: housing and financials. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) and the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction (ITB) ETFs lost 6.5% and 8.2%, respectively.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers fund (IAI) lost 7.1%.

Tuesday's Notebook

Earnings & Conference Calls
ATA, Atmos Energy, Bob Evans, Fossil, Liz Claiborne, Microsoft, TVX, Tyco

Economic Data
7:45a.m. ICSC Chain Store Sales Index
8:55a.m. Redbook Retail Sales Index

Quick Take

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