Market Wrap-Up

This week was dominated not by events on Wall Street, but by the happenings playing out a few hours south on Capitol Hill. Midweek Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke endured two days of intense questioning in front of a congressional committee about their proposed bailout plan of the financia-services industry that could cost as much as $700 billion. That was followed by a chaotic 48 hours of political wrangling that looks like it will continue well into the weekend. The market seemed to be holding its breath as it waited for a sense of clarity on the plan.

The drama playing out in Washington overshadowed what on any other day would have been a riveting development. Washington Mutual (WM), the beleaguered thrift, was seized by the federal government and then bought (at least parts of it) for $1.9 billion by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) . JPMorgan then turned around Friday and sold $10 billion worth of stock to cover any write-downs or losses that could come out of the deal, according to Bloomberg. WaMu's downfall caused further speculation about the health of other financial firms, like Wachovia (WB) and National City (NCC) . Late in the trading session there were wire service reports saying Wachovia may have reached a deal with Citigroup (C) .

The concerns over whether a bailout plan would get done trickled into the oil markets. The price for a barrel of crude tumbled $1 to $107. Traders appear to fear a prolonged battle over the plan could cause the economy to sink further and lead to a decrease in demand. Agricultural commodities fell on the same concerns. Meanwhile, some investors looking for safety moved into precious metals. The price for an ounce of gold jumped $2 to $885.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped around the entire trading session. It lost almost 150 points right out of the gate but then regained that ground and traded flat for most of the day. However, there was late surge that pushed the index up 121 points to 11,143. That benchmark dropped almost 251 points on the week.

Winners

There weren't a lot of mainstream funds able to keep their heads above water on Friday, or for the week for that matter. But the ProShares UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 fund (FXP) gained 3.8% during the week's last trading session. The Chinese government relaxed some trading rules to help get the country's stock market in gear.

As for the week, precious metals ETFs were the beneficiaries of some traders who were looking for a place to hide from the chaos. The iShares Silver ETF (SLV) increased 2.7%.

Losers

Solar stocks got a boost earlier in the week when it appeared Congress was ready to renew tax credits to the industry. But now it appears there is some uncertainty about just what form the tax credits will take in the future. That dinged solar ETFs on Friday. The Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy ETF (TAN) and the Market Vectors Solar Energy fund (TAN) lost 7.1% and 5.3%, respectively.

It was another bad week for financial stocks. Regional banks have been particularly hard hit as investors try avoid the next Washington Mutual-type situation. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Regional Banks fund (IAT) and the SPDR KBW Regional Banking fund (KRE) dropped 13.9% and 14%, respectively, for the week.

This Week's Industry Headlines

Data Point
State Street released its latest investor confidence index. A quick takeaway: Investor confidence across the globe is waning, except for a modest uptick in Europe.

Next Week's Notebook

It appears Congress is prepared to work through the week on a compromise bailout plan. If one is announced Sunday night -- recently prime time for new releases -- there's no doubt it will impact trading on Monday.

Earnings & Conference Calls

Monday: Circuit City, Steelcase, Walgreen

Tuesday: Landec, Pepsi Bottling

Wednesday: Immucor, Mosaic Wolverine World Wide

Thursday: Constellation Brands, Marriott International

Friday: Family Dollar

Economic Data

Monday
8:30a.m. Aug. Personal Income
8:30a.m. Aug. Personal Spending
10:30a.m. Sept. Dallas Fed Mfg Production Index

Tuesday
7:45a.m. Chain Store Sales
8:55a.m. Retail Sales
9:00a.m. July S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index
9:45p.m. Sept. Chicago PMI
10:00a.m. Sept. Conference Board Consumer Confidence

Wednesday
No announcements

Thursday
No announcements

Friday
No announcements

Quick Take
A look at how the industry's most popular ETFs did on Friday.