Market Wrap-Up

One last round of disappointing news from the housing industry will probably serve as a reminder heading into Christmas about just how bad 2008 truly was for this sector. The Commerce Department announced new home sales fell to an annual rate of 407,000 in November, down from 419,000 the previous month. The National Association of Realtors said the annual rate of existing homes dropped to 4.5 million during that same month from almost five million in October. Both numbers were well below economists estimates. The median home price is now around $181,000, a 13% decline from last year.

There was also news that GDP growth was -0.5% in the third quarter, providing more evidence the economy is slowing for anybody who hadn t realized it yet. Automakers debt was also cut, and it appears the dramatic downturn in that sector may lead to the first high-ranking management shakeup. Bloomberg reported the president of Toyota (TM), Katsuaki Watanabe, may step down in 2009 in order to clear the way for Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company s founder. Investors bet Tuesday that the industry still has a long road ahead of it, despite the funds it received from the government. General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) saw their share prices drop during the session.

The scandal surrounding Bernie Madoff and the failed investment company he ran continues to claim more victims. Wire service reports and CNBC said one of his investors committed suicide after losing the reported $1.4 billion he had handed over to Madoff.

Oil continued its slide. Investors are worried about how severe a downturn in demand there will be, given the global recession that is causing consumers and companies to cut their energy-consumption levels. Crude lost around $1 per barrel to close at the $39 level.

It was a relatively light trading day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 100 points to 8,419. It was the fifth straight day of losses for that benchmark.

Losers

The light trading volumes made it difficult to make sense of the biggest decliners and why they were being sold off. The ProShares Ultrashort Basic Materials (SMN) ETF lost 37.8%. ProShares Ultrashort Industrials (SIJ) dropped 43.3%.

The new housing data didn t bode well for funds that focused on that sector. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction fund (ITB) decreased 2.4%.

Winners

Traders bet the cold weather gripping the Northeastern part of the U.S. would lead to an increase in natural gas demand as consumers use more natural gas to heat their homes. The United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) climbed 7.4%.

Wednesday's Notebook

Earnings & Conference Calls
No major events scheduled.

Economic Data
8:30 a.m. Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 a.m. Nov. Personal Income
8:30 a.m. Nov. Personal Spending
8:30 a.m. Nov. Durable Goods Orders
10:00 a.m. DJ-BTMU Business Barometer

Quick Take

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