'Short' ETFs Lose Favor Even as Stocks Fall

Short-term performance doesn't seem to mean everything to investors in exchange-traded funds, at least so far in 2009. That is an indication from a trend in the dollar volume of trading in January.

Investors weren't turning over shares in less-conventional "short" and "inverse" ETFs at nearly the same pace as they were in late 2008, even though the S&P 500 tumbled more than 8% last month. The more common "long" ETFs held their own -- or even gained in investor interest -- during January.

This incipient phenomenon could be a faint signal that investors are starting to look forward to more stable economic times rather than at spurts in past performance. ...