SPDR Jumps 32.3% in 2013

Last year was a banner year for U.S. stocks and the ETFs that tracked them.

• Large caps in the S&P500 SPDR (SPY) soared 32.3%, their best performance since 1997, topping the index’s 29.6% rally.
• Small caps in the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) surged 38.7%.
• All U.S. sectors posted gains:
• Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) rocketed 42.7%.
• Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) surged 41.4%.
• Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) soared 40.5%.
• Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) jumped 35.5%.
• Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) rose 2.63%.
• Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) leapt gained 26.3.%.
• Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) advanced 26.0%.
• Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) climbed 26.3%.
• Safe haven Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) did the worst, but still gained 13.0%.
• Outside the U.S., developed markets tracked by the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) gained 21.4% as investors noticed Europe’s bargain valuations and Abenomics fueled a rally in Japan.
• However, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) lost 3.7% as the resource-dependent economies of Brazil and South Africa saw sizeable declines.

All results are total returns, with dividends factored in

Europe’s Financial Crisis Sends U.S. Stocks Lower

Fears over the state of European banks after the European Central Bank lent dollars to a eurozone bank sent European markets plunging and have started a huge sell-off in the U.S. One bidder borrowed $500 million from the ECB and the news suggests at least one bank is having problems getting the cash it needs, according to Financial Times and CNBC.

At Thursday’s close, the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) tumbled 4.3% to $114.51.
The SPDR Financial Select Sector Fund (XLF) sunk 4.8% to $12.38.
The SPDR Technology Select Sector Fund (XLK) fell 4.9% to $23.08.
And finally, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) rose 1.9% to $177.72.

Last week regulators in Italy, Belgium, France and Spain banned short-selling of financial stocks in an effort to curb volatility and bring some order to markets. How is that working out for you? Meanwhile, it’s nearly impossible to get any numbers on the shorting of U.S. stocks or ETFs on short notice, I wouldn’t be surprised if investors were using U.S. ETFs to short the European financial stocks.

Meanwhile, here are 4 funds that measure global financial stocks.
iShares MSCI Europe Financials Sector Index Fund (EUFN), of which banks make up 52% of the portfolio, plummeted 8% to $16.68.
iShares S&P Global Financials Sector Index Fund (IXG) plunged 5.2% to $36.99.
SPDR EURO STOXX 50 (FEZ) dived 5.5% to $31.06.
iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index Fund (EWU) skidded 4.6% to $15.71.

Finally, the ProShare UltraShort MSCI EAFE Fund surged 9.7% to $28.75. With a ticker of (EFU), this is probably the most appropriate sentiment of the day.