Solar ETFs Gain on Analyst Upgrade

Market Wrap-Up

Despite reports about soaring home foreclosures and record-high food prices, traders welcomed the news that the Consumer Price Index rose slightly less than estimates were predicting. That soothed concerns about the impact of inflation on the economy. Shares of Freddie Mac (FRE) jumped 8.5% when it announced a first-quarter net loss of $151 million — ugly, but not as bad as analysts were expecting. Meanwhile, the price for crude fell off the record highs it touched earlier in the week, closing out at $124 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day gaining 65 points to 12,897.

Winners

For the second straight day solar ETFs enjoyed their day in the sun. Solar products have been in high demand, especially during a time of record-high energy commodity prices. Indeed, earlier in the week companies like Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and JA Solar (JASO) announced healthy first-quarter numbers. And today an analyst upgraded Evergreen Solar (ESLR), causing investors to jump into the industry once again. The top two-performing ETFs of the day, Market Vectors Solar Energy (KWT) and Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (TAN), gained 3.9% and 3.6%, respectively, Wednesday.

Losers

This column is about oil, once again, but in this case it doesn't involve another record closing price. Crude dropped almost $2 a barrel after a government report showed inventories had slightly increased. It closed at $124 a barrel. The United States Oil fund (USO) dropped 1.4%.

Wednesday's Industry Headlines

Numbers Game: State Street released its monthly ETF Snapshot on Wednesday. As of April 30, the industry consisted of 659 funds that held $595 billion. Assets jumped $30 billion and 16 new ETFs hit the market during April. The SPDRs (SPY) is still the industry's largest fund, with $75 billion in assets, or 12.6% of the industry's total tally.

Thursday's Notebook

Earnings: Advanced Auto Parts, Autodesk, Blockbuster, BMC Software, CompuServe, Hewlett-Packard, J.C. Penney, Kohl's, Nordstrom, The Blackstone Group, Urban Outfitters

Quick Take

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

10 Largest ETFs
Symbol	Net Assets	Price	52 Week High	52 Week Low	Volume
SPY	82,300	140.94	156.39	127.71	172,721,880
EFA	45,423	76.43	85.64	67.18	7,107,649
EEM	23,848	150.15	165.39	117.49	9,219,317
GLD	NA	85.2	99.81	63.55	8,644,697
IVV	16,409	141.15	156.65	127.94	4,234,397
QQQQ	17,038	49.11	55.03	41.17	142,599,531
IWF	12,858	59.03	63.64	52.79	922,195
SHY	9,574	82.88	84.49	79.64	300,095
VTI	9,779	140.37	155.31	126.28	625,185
IWD	8,328	77.53	89.77	70.41	227,511

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