Dion's Friday ETF Winners and Losers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Welcome to Don Dion's Daily ETF Winners and Losers. Be sure to stop by each day to get a feel of who's winning and who's losing when it comes to ETFs.

Winners

iShares Silver Trust(SLV) 2.3%

Silver is leading the precious metals industry higher for the second day in a row ahead of the weekend. Following SLV is ETFS Physical Silver Shares(SIVR) and ETFS Physical Palladium Shares(PALL).

Gold is also scoring gains today as well with iShares COMEX Gold Trust(IAU) climbing 1%.

iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund(TLT) 1.4%

Today's tepid GDP numbers appear to have reminded investors that we remain in a soft patch. In response, the protection of long-term U.S. Treasuries is back in vogue.

ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury(TBT), designed to inversely track double the performance of long- term Treasuries, is tumbling accordingly, down 2.7%.

iPath Dow Jones UBS Grains Total Return Subinex ETN(JJG) 2.1%

After struggling at the start of the week, the grains-backed ETN is continuing along the near vertical path it has carved out so far in July. The fund's dramatic ascension has helped it erase nearly all of its 2010 losses.

While the fund's rally has been something to watch, I would advise against jumping into this fund. Its concentrated exposure to the grain market makes it vulnerable to volatility.

Market Vectors Brazil Small Cap ETF(BRF) 1.5%

Brazil's markets are jumping today, with the smallest members of the nation's economy scoring the largest gains. Market Vectors Brazil Small Cap ETF(BRF), like Claymore/AlphaShares China Small Cap ETF(HAO), is a strong fund for investors interested in gaining exposure to the domestic economies of popular emerging nations while avoiding large international conglomerates.

Losers

Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index ETF(TAN) -3.5%

The solar energy ETF is struggling today after shares of major holding MEMC Electronic Materials(WFR) tumbled in response to a poor earnings report. WFR accounts for nearly 5% of the TAN's portfolio and was down over 15% in early afternoon trading.

Industry leader and top holding First Solar(FSLR) was not faring much better, dropping more than 7%.

As Europe and other regions of the globe struggle to tame their budget issues, solar and the rest of the alternative energy industry will face pressure. Use funds such as TAN cautiously.

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