ETFs Range-Bound on Lower Oil

Falling energy prices and lackluster earnings kept the market range-bound Friday, with exchange-traded funds seeing little movement.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 37 points at 8147. The Nasdaq closed up 3 points at 1756 after a seesaw session. The S&P 500 dropped 4 to close 879.

Oil prices had their worst one-week slip since January, dropping 10%. Crude traded on the Nymex closed at $59.89 a barrel, remaining below $60 a barrel in afternoon trading. A year ago, crude prices neared $147 a barrel. The International Energy Agency raised its 2010 world oil demand forecast slightly, saying it expects global crude consumption to rise 1.7%, up from its earlier forecast of 1.4%. For a detailed rundown on Friday’s trading session see our market story.

The iShares MSCI Taiwan Index fund (EWT) rose as prospects for the computer chip cycle stayed firm, rising 2.7% through the week. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond fund (TLT) provided a safe haven for cautious investors, rising 2.4% for the week.

The energy-heavy Market Vectors Russia (RSX) took a big hit for the week, as oil and natural gas price declines took their toll, knocking shares back 8.7%. The United States Oil fund (USO) fell 6.7%, mirroring crude's decline.

Data Point
Total assets in ETFs increased $5.7 billion in June from a year ago, according to State Street Global Advisors (STT). The 1% increase from a year ago left $593 billion invested in 740 ETFs, run by 25 managers, the report said. Barclays Global Investors (BGI), State Street, and Vanguard, are the three largest ETF providers and control approximately 83.5% of the U.S.-listed ETF market.

Launching Pad
Russell Investments wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to create actively managed and index-based exchange-traded funds. The Tacoma, Wash.-based firm, a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual, wants SEC permission for normal index funds, as well as waivers for purchasing limits on ETF shares and the ability to use the firm's own indexes as a basis for its ETFs.

Direxion, the Newton, Mass.-based sponsor of leveraged and short-bias ETFs, announced a 5-for-1 reverse split of its Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) and a 1-for-10 reverse split of shares of the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ).The split will reduce the cost of trading, which has increased proportionally as share prices have declined, the firm said.

Denver-based APLS on Tuesday launched its first Equal Sector ETF, trading under the ticker symbol EQL. The fund will track the performance of the Banc of America Securities – Merrill Lynch Equal Sector Weight Index by owning each of the nine Select Sector SPDR ETFs in equal weights, making it a fund of exchange-traded funds. The new fund will charge an annual fee of 0.55%.

Oklahoma City-based TXF Funds Inc. sought the SEC’s permission to launch an ETF focused on the largest public companies in Texas. The TXF Large Companies ETF would track the SPADE Texas Large Companies Index. The fund would carry annual expenses of 0.85%. It proposed another Oklahoma-focused ETF, which would track the SPADE index for Oklahoma, using a tentative ticker of OOK. That fund is still in the planning stage.

Earnings and Conference Calls

Monday
Bank of the Ozarks, CSX, Fastenal, Novellus Systems, Royal Philips Electronics

Tuesday
Altera, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Ocean Power Technologies, Yum Brands

Wednesday
Abbott, Alliance Financial, AMR, Cintas, Corus Entertainment, Crown Holdings, Gannett, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Lufkin Industries, Stanley Furniture, Texas Industries, United Community Financial, Universal Forest Products, W.W. Grainger, Wolverine World Wide, Worthington Industries

Thursday
American Achievement, Amphenol, AngioDynamics, Badger Meter, Courier, Cypress Semiconductor, Cytec Industries, Datalink, Electrolux, Genuine Parts, Google, Harley-Davidson, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, Marriott International, Meridian Bioscience, MGIC Investment, Nexen, Nokia, Novartis, People's United Financial, Polaris Industries, PPG Industries, Sonoco Products, Sony Ericsson, Tempur Pedic International, Umpqua Holdings

Friday
A. O. Smith, Bank of America, BB&T, Citigroup, Elisa, First Horizon National, General Electric, Marshall & Ilsley, Mattel, Meade Instruments, Prosperity Bancshares, PYI, Storebrand ASA, Student Loan, Webster Financial

Economic Data

Monday
2:00 p.m. June Federal Budget Balance

Tuesday
7:45 a.m. ICSC Chain Store Sales Index for July 11
8:30 a.m. June Producer Price Index
8:30 p.m. June Producer Price Index, ex-food & energy
8:30 a.m. June Retail Sales
8:30 a.m. June Retail Sales, ex-autos
8:55 p.m. Redbook Retail Sales Index for July 11
10:00 a.m. May Business Inventories
5:00 p.m. ABC/Washington Post Consumer Confidence for July 11

Wednesday
8:30 a.m. June Consumer Price Index
8:30 a.m. June Consumer Price Index, ex-food energy
8:30 a.m. July Empire State Fed Manufacturing Survey
9:15 a.m. June Industrial Production
9:15 a.m. June Capacity Utilization
2:00 p.m. Federal Reserve FOMC Minutes

Thursday
8:30 a.m. Initial Jobless Claims for July 11
9:00 a.m. May Treasury International Capital
10:00 a.m. DJ-BTMU Business Barometer for July 3
1:00 p.m. July NAHB Housing Index

Friday
8:30 a.m. June Housing Starts

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