Winners & Losers

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This Week's ETF Winners & Losers

Robert Holmes

Bundled securities tracking the energy sector were some of the best performers for the week. The May crude contract jumped $3.59, or 5.8%, over the five sessions to finish at $65.87 a barrel.

The United States Oil(USO) ETF added 5.7% to $53.44. The iPath Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Index(OIL) ETF rose 5.6% to $39.

ETFs tracking metals and mining were also among the week's winners. Gold futures finished the week with a gain of nearly 1%, and silver futures rose 1.7% over the five sessions.

For the week, the iShares Silver Trust(SLV) was higher by 1.8% to $133.50. The streetTRACKS Gold Shares(GLD) ETF added 1% to $65.78. The iShares Comex Gold Trust(IAU) tacked on 0.9% to $65.83.

On the flip side, housing-related ETFs were sharply lower for the week. On Monday, the Census Bureau said that sales of new dwellings unexpectedly fell 3.9% in February.

Elsewhere, homebuilder Lennar(LEN) said Tuesday its first-quarter earnings slumped year over year, and it backed off the earnings target it had provided in January. Then on Wednesday, Beazer Homes(BZH) said it has received a request for documents from the U.S. attorney, who has started a criminal investigation in to its lending.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction(ITB) ETF lost 7.3% at $34.15. The SPDR Homebuilders(XHB) ETF was lower by 6.2% for the week to $32.55.

Bundled securities following semiconductors were also losers for the week. Among individual names, Texas Instruments(TXN) fell 4% for the week. National Semiconductor(NSM) eased 2.3%. Fairchild Semiconductors(FCS) was off 1.4%. Intel(INTC) finished down 0.7%

The Semiconductors HOLDRs(SMH) ETF shed 2.8% to $33.39. The SPDR Semiconductor(XSD) ETF lost roughly 2.3% for the week, and the iShares Goldman Sachs Semiconductor(IGW) ended lower 2.4%.