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

Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) 2.6%

Junior gold miners are powering higher today, lifting GDXJ to all-time highs. The driver of today's rally is news of Goldcorp's (GG) $3.4 billion deal to buy Andean Resources.

Meanwhile, Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), which has a 12% slice of its index dedicated to GG, found itself in negative territory in the early afternoon.

iShares MSCI Taiwan Index Fund (EWT) 2.1%

Taiwan's markets saw strength today, driving EWT to comfortable gains.

EWT provides investors with a unique way to play the technology industry. With top positions including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSCM), Hon Hai, and HTC, this fund will do well as smart phones and technology become increasingly important to our everyday lives.

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Sector Index Fund (IYG) 2%

A strong jobs report is helping a broad collection of financial industry-related ETFs head higher as investors get ready for a long Labor Day weekend. Wall Street titans Goldman Sachs (GS) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are two of the biggest gainers today, jumping 5.5% and 2.6% respectively.

Goldman shares are jumping today in light of news that it is disbanding its proprietary trading unit.

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Provider Sector Index Fund (IHF) 1.3%

Health care is another region of the market seeing comfortable gains on the eve of the holiday weekend. Friday marks the third consecutive day of gains for this fund which, like the rest of health care industry, has struggled as companies find ways to cope with increasing government regulation.

Today's gains have helped to drive IHF above its 50-day moving average for the first time since early August.

Losers

iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXX) -4.4%

The VIX is slumping today in light of the jobs report, placing pressure on ETNs such as VXX and iPath S&P VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZ).

With today's dip, VXX has nearly returned to levels last seen prior to the May run-up. Despite VXX's downfall, volatility persists in this market. Investors can best prepare for uncertainty by taking on exposure to defensive plays such as dividend-paying equities.

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