Market Wrap-Up

Two companies -- Toyota (TM) and Walgreen (WAG) -- helped the market come down with a case of the blahs three days before the Christmas holiday. Toyota announced it may post its first ever annual operating loss. Meanwhile, Walgreen reported its earnings dropped 10% during the recently closed quarter. Investors were concerned about both announcements since those two companies were thought to be better-positioned than competitors. The results show the recession is hitting every type of company.

Oil dropped $2.50 per barrel to the $40 level because traders are worried slowing demand will outpace any kind of production cuts by OPEC. That slide continues a three-month trend that has essentially erased all the gains that the energy sector realized during the first six months of 2008.

Traders were also keeping a close eye on retailers and commercial real estate plays. A decrease in consumer spending doesn't bode well for them during the holiday-shopping season. Commercial real estate is looking like it's the next part of that sector to experience a downturn. Caterpillar (CAT) announced it was cutting some salaries by as much as 50%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 100 points most of the day. But selling accelerated during the last hour of trading. The Dow finished the session with a 60-point loss to 8,519.

Losers

Natural resources ETFs were the day's biggest decliners. The price of a barrel of oil continues to pull back, currently to the $40 mark. Just six months ago it was trading for almost four times that amount. The United States Oil (USO) and the United States Gasoline (UGA) ETFs lost 7.4% and 8.2%, respectively. The SPDR S&P Metals & Mining (XME) fund lost 6.7%.

Winners

Short sellers made decent gains on Monday -- if they picked their spots right. The ProShares Ultrashort Basic Materials ETF (SMN) climbed 8.9%. The Direxion Financial Bear 3X (FAZ) increased 9.6%.

Tuesday's Notebook

Earnings & Conference Calls
American Greetings, FSI International, Micron Technology

Economic Data
7:45 a.m. ICSC Chain Store Sales
8:30 a.m. 3Q Final GDP
8:30 a.m. 3Q Revised Corporate Profits
8:55 a.m. Redbook Retail Sales Index
10:00 a.m. Nov. Existing Home Sales
10:00 a.m. Nov. New Home Sales
10:00 a.m. Reuters/Univ. of Mich. Sentiment Index
10:00 a.m. Nov. Richmond Fed Mfg. Survey

Quick Take

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