ETF Leaders and Laggards

Exchange-traded funds sprinted out of the gate in 2007 in what looked like a market that would produce a repeat of last year's winners and losers.

But in late February, turmoil in the foreign markets, particularly in Asia, flattened the market's early gains and triggered some high-RPM sector rotation.

At the end of February, the big winners were funds that invested in metals and materials; eight of the top 10 ETF equity and commodity fund performers were in that category. Conversely, many of last year's star performers collapsed to the bottom rungs of the year-to-date performance ladder. ...