This Week's ETF Winners & Losers

Exchange-traded funds tracking financials were among the best performers of the week, as positive earnings results from Citigroup (C Quote), Wachovia (WB Quote), JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) and Washington Mutual (WM Quote) boosted the sector.

Student loan lender Sallie Mae (SLM Quote) also jumped nearly 18% Monday, after it announced it will be acquired by an investor group led by J.C. Flowers in a $25 billion transaction.

The Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG Quote) ETF added 6.9% over the five sessions to finish at $69.80. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services (IYG Quote) ETF gained 4.1% to $133.60. The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF Quote) ETF was higher by 4.1% to $37.12. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers (IAI Quote) climbed 2.8% to $55.69.

Semiconductor-related ETFs also finished the week with huge gains, thanks to positive quarterly earnings news out of Intel (INTC Quote) and Linear Technology (LLTC Quote) on Wednesday.

The Ultra Semiconductor ProShares (USD Quote) ETF was adding 10% at $77.62. The Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH Quote) ETF ended up 5.1% to $36.23. The SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD Quote) ETF gained 4.1% to $51.50. The iShares Goldman Sachs Semiconductor (IGW Quote) ETF was higher by 3.7% at $64.20. The PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors (PSI Quote) ETF climbed 3.2% to $18.99.

Housing-related ETFs were also winners for the week, following Tuesday's government report that said U.S. housing starts unexpectedly rose 0.8% in March to 1.518 million annualized units. Building permits also rose 0.8%, to 1.544 million, last month. On average, economists expected March starts to total 1.50 million, and for permits to dip to a 1.51 million annual pace.