Dion's Friday ETF Winners and Losers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Welcome to Don Dion's "ETF Winners and Losers." Be sure to stop by throughout the week to find out which ETFs are gaining or losing.

Winners

Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) 3.6%

Major U.S. indices are seeing mixed action following this morning's disappointing GDP report. Although it typically runs into hurdles during periods of market turmoil, the shaky action is doing little to stifle the solar energy ETF's strength. The fund is securing its second consecutive day at the top of the winners list as it takes steps to work off losses accrued during last week's downturn.

United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) 3.6%

Natural gas futures-tracking funds like UNG and the iPath Dow Jones UBS Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN (GAZ) are pushing higher. Given its weak start to 2012, the past week's gains are welcomed.

While the steep upward action from these funds has been impressive, I still encourage conservative investors to steer clear.

SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) 2.4%

XBI is capping off a back-and-forth week of trading on a positive note. Among the companies leading the fund's index higher are Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) and Cepheid (CPHD). The latter was up nearly 25% following a strong earnings report.

The fund will be interesting to watch in coming days as it approaches all-time highs.

iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (EPHE) (EPHE) 1.8%

After suffering through four days of losses, the Philippines-tracking EPHE appears to be finding some footing. Despite a rough past few days, the fund has enjoyed a stellar start to 2012 as it nearly has returned to its 2011 highs.

Losers

Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) -1.3%

After two days of strength pushed the fund back through its 50-day moving average, XLU is closing out the week with losses. Its No. 6 holding, American Electric Power (AEP), is a notable decliner. The firm reported a jump in profits. However, any optimism was dashed as the firm expressed concerns about environmental regulation. Shares of AEP were off around 3% in early afternoon trading.

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