Friday's ETF Winners & Losers

Exchange-traded funds tracking homebuilders, financials and REITs were all falling hard Friday, as investors fretted about the health of credit markets.

Shares of American Home Mortgage (AHM Quote) slid nearly 50% after it said it is slashing roughly 90% of its workforce, and published reports now say the company will shut down after failing to find a buyer for its operations.

Among REIT-related ETFs, the iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs (REM Quote) was dropping $1.63, or 4.8%, to $32.59. The Ultra Real Estate ProShares (URE Quote) ETF gave back $1.37, or 3.2%, to $41.50. The Vanguard REIT Index (VNQ Quote) ETF was tumbling $1.46, or 2.2%, to $65.58.

In the financial sector, Bear Stearns (BSC Quote) was getting crushed after Standard & Poor's cut its rating outlook for the broker to negative, from stable. Earlier this week, the company said it is facing losses in a third mortgage-related fund. The stock was recently down 2.2%.

Other lenders and finance names were losing ground. Countrywide (CFC Quote), Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote) and Merrill Lynch (MER Quote) slid 2% or more.

The Rydex S&P Equal Weight Financials (RYF Quote) was dropping $1.40, or 3%, to $45.76. The First Trust Financials AlphaDex (FXO Quote) ETF was down 39 cents, or 2.2%, to $17.71. The PowerShares Dynamic Financials (PFI Quote) was giving back 42 cents, or 1.7%, to $24.32.

Homebuilders were feeling the crunch as well. Beazer Homes (BZH Quote), D.R. Horton (DHI Quote), Hovnanian (HOV Quote) and Meritage Homes (MTH Quote) were losing 4% or more.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction (ITB Quote) was shedding $1.13, or 4.2%, to $25.70. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB Quote) was lower by $1.10, or 4.1%, to $25.93.

ETFs tracking precious metals were among few winners of a losing session, as gold and silver prices were on the rise. Recently, gold futures were adding $1.10 to $668.80 an ounce, and silver was higher by 12 cents to $13.11 an ounce.

The PowerShares DB Silver (DBS Quote) was adding 26 cents, or 1%, to $25.71. The PowerShares DB Gold (DGL Quote) gained 29 cents, or 1.1%, to $26.49. The iShares Comex Gold Trust (IAU Quote) was climbing by 51 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.43. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV Quote) was up $1.03, or 0.8%, to $130.06.