Market Wrap-Up

The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee cut key interest rates by a half percentage point Wednesday, a move traders had widely been calling for all week. The federal funds rate now stands at 1%. The action is an effort to avoid a global recession.

Heading into the announcement traders were debating a durable goods order that surprisingly beat expectations. This measurement had been impacted in previous months by a lack of lending possibilities. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders actually rose .8% in September, up from a decrease of 5.5% in August. That uptick beat economists' estimates. The Energy Department announced Wednesday that weekly crude inventories increased by half a million barrels. All that helped stocks gain over 100 points at times leading up to the Fed's announcement.

But once the rate cut was announced oil moved up $5 a barrel to $6K over speculation the cut would free up credit markets, eventually leading to increased demand for crude. Meanwhile, the third quarter earnings season continued. Companies like Legg Mason (LM), MGM Mirage (MGM), Meredith (MD) and GM (GM) reported spotty numbers. One bright spot: Kellogg (K) announced a 17% increase in its earnings per share.

By the end of the session it was difficult to tell how investors greeted the rate cut decision. In the moments after the announcement, the early morning gains were quickly erased. However, an afternoon rally popped the Dow Jones Industrial Average over 250 points. But five minutes before the closing bell news on General Electric (GE) 2008 and 2009 profit expectations -- CNBC reported GE's chief Jeff Immelt wants to keep profits at the current level even if revenues decrease -- caused stocks to sell off wildly. The Dow closed down 77 points to 8988.

Winners

Oil's rise helped pop natural resources ETFs the entire session. The United States Oil fund (USO) gained 5.6%. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services fund (XES) climbed 10.4%.

The iPath Dow Jones-AIG Copper Total Return ETF (JJC) gained 10.4%. This rise in copper is essentially a bet on consumers and credit rekindling the housing market. (Copper demand surges when houses are built.)

Losers

Emerging markets and small-cap companies based there sold off Tuesday. The iShares MSCI EAFE Small Cap ETF (SCZ) dropped 1.3%. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets fund (EEM) dropped 3.4%.

Thursday's Notebook

Earnings & Conference Calls
Advanta, Akamai, AmeriSourceBergen, Apache, AstraZeneca, Avon, Callaway Golf, CBS, Chesapeake Energy, Chiquita Brands, Coinstar, Dominion Resources, Dover Motorsports, Eastman Kodak, Electronic Arts, Energizer, Exxon, Gartner, International Paper, Lear, Marathon Oil, Midas, Monster Worldwide, Newell Rubbermaid, Scana, Shaw Group, Stanley, Sun Microsystems, Unilever

Economic Data
8:30a.m. Initial Jobless Claims
8:30a.m. 3Q Advance GDP
10:00a.m. DJ-BTMU Business Barometer

Quick Take

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