Gold ETF Rises as Investors Look for Safety

Bad news from Boeing (BA) and anticipation of more housing data kept stocks nearly flat Tuesday. New home sales figures are slated to be released early Wednesday, and this key gauge of the real estate sector kept many investors sidelined. Earlier Tuesday, existing home sales numbers were released. The figure rose 2.4% from a year ago, though total housing inventory still remains high. Also, Boeing announced that possible weakness where the wings join the body of the long-awaited 787 Dreamliner will delay its initial flight and production. The Dow Jones Industrial Index lost 17 points to close at 8322. For a complete rundown of Tuesday s trading session see our market story.

Winners

Gold prices rose to more than $926 an ounce, pushing shares of the Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) up 4.3% as investors headed for a safe haven at the trailing off of the rally in stocks. Crude inched back above $69 a barrel, pushing shares of the United States Oil fund (USO) up 3.2%.

Losers

The SPDR S&P Retail fund (XRT) shed 1.7% Tuesday after shares of companies such as Netflix (NFLX) and Barnes & Noble (BNC) fell. Natural Gas prices also slipped Tuesday, driving down shares of the United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) by 1.2%.

Tuesday s Industry Headlines

Launching Pad
United States Commodity Funds wants Securities and Exchange Commission approval of its latest proposed commodity fund, which will invest in futures contracts for natural gas at Louisiana's Henry Hub. The company operates the U.S. Oil Fund (USO), the U.S. Gasoline Fund (UGA), the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) and the U.S. 12-Month Oil Fund (USL) . The proposed fund will be based on a full basket of the next 12 months of futures contracts for natural gas. The United States Natural Gas Fund holds only the next month's contract.

Wednesday s Notebook

Earnings and Conference Calls
American Greetings, Bed Bath & Beyond, CKE Restaurants, Darden Restaurants, Monsanto, Nike, Paychex, Red Hat, Rite Aid, Wyeth

Economic Data
8:30 a.m. May Durable Goods Orders
10:00 a.m. May New Home Sales
2 p.m. FOMC Meeting

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

10 Largest ETFs
SymbolNet AssetsPrice52 Week High52 Week LowVolume
SPY 63,69289.35134.7568.13186,291,979
EFA 30,20145.0671.7632.1626,964,406
EEM 30,79330.5547.1819.1287,037,352
GLD NA90.9297.2470.1411,957,033
IVV 17,69289.64134.9568.245,674,925
QQQQ 13,3573548.825.51112,191,202
IWF 9,44239.8258.130.494,307,639
SHY 7,05983.538582.26721,292
VTI 10,15745.0567.7633.752,142,002
IWD 7,12246.0672.434.223,161,475

INVESTOR CENTER

MARKETS:
Chart
TODAY
Portfolio Chart

RESEARCH STOCKS & FUNDS

Subscriber Tool

Stock Screener

Screen over 7,000 stocks using more than 100 different variables.

Portfolio Tracker

Track your own buys and sells

See More Tools

Answer Engine
Find Answers to Life's Challenges  

Find solutions to this and many other problems using

Answer Engine from SmartMoney. 

Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
www.djreprints.com.