Winners & Losers
This Week's ETF Winners & Losers
Sarina Penn
04/18/08 - 05:10 PM EDT
Exchange-traded funds tracking tech shares were among the biggest winners for the week as several big names delivered solid first-quarter numbers.
The Internet HOLDRs (HHH Quote - Cramer on HHH - Stock Picks) ETF gained 4.5% for the week, and the Internet Architecture HOLDRs (IAH Quote - Cramer on IAH - Stock Picks) surged 6.7%. The Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH Quote - Cramer on SMH - Stock Picks) rose 2.9%, and the iShares S&P GSTI Semiconductor (IGW Quote - Cramer on IGW - Stock Picks) climbed 3.9%.
The upward momentum came as search giant Google (GOOG Quote - Cramer on GOOG - Stock Picks) helped spark a massive rally Friday and chipmaker Intel (INTC Quote - Cramer on INTC - Stock Picks) did the same a couple of days earlier, both thanks to better-than-expected earnings. Google jumped 17.9% for the week as Intel tacked on 6.2%.
IBM (IBM Quote - Cramer on IBM - Stock Picks), meanwhile, helped the Dow hold its own on Thursday as the computer maker topped expectations with a leaping quarterly profit. For the week, the stock was up 7.2%.
Also gaining ground this week were ETFs tracking financial stocks. The week saw mixed results, but some big names, most notably, Citigroup (C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote - Cramer on JPM - Stock Picks), allayed investors' fears with first-quarter results that weren't thoroughly dismal. Citi missed the average Wall Street estimate but its first-quarter writedowns weren't nearly as bad as some were predicting, and JPMorgan's sliding profit came in above the consensus. Shares added 7.5% and 7.6%, respectively, over the past five sessions.
At the same time, the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF Quote - Cramer on XLF - Stock Picks), Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG Quote - Cramer on UYG - Stock Picks), iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Sector (IYF Quote - Cramer on IYF - Stock Picks) ETF and iShares S&P Global Financials (IXG Quote - Cramer on IXG - Stock Picks) all advanced between 4.7% and 10.6%.
Also, in a week that saw crude oil hitting record intraday highs every day, the Oil Services HOLDRs (OIH Quote - Cramer on OIH - Stock Picks) jumped 10.9%, the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (DIG Quote - Cramer on DIG - Stock Picks) rocketed 16.1%, the United States Oil (USO Quote - Cramer on USO - Stock Picks) climbed 5.9%, and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE Quote - Cramer on XLE - Stock Picks) ramped up 8%.
On the flip side, bundled securities tracking gold slipped as gold futures sank for the week.
The PowerShares DB Gold (DGL Quote - Cramer on DGL - Stock Picks), the iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU Quote - Cramer on IAU - Stock Picks) and the streetTRACKS Gold Shares (GLD Quote - Cramer on GLD - Stock Picks) funds were all down 0.7% or more.
Finally, ETFs tracking Treasury securities faltered as investors shifted their money out of the safe haven of government bonds, having regained at least some of their confidence in equities.
The iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT Quote - Cramer on TLT - Stock Picks) fund was off 3.3% for the week, the iShares Lehman 10-20 Year Treasury Bond (TLH Quote - Cramer on TLH - Stock Picks) surrendered 2.4%, and the iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury (IEF Quote - Cramer on IEF - Stock Picks) was down 1.7%.