Wall Street had its best July since 1989 and exchange-traded funds reaped the benefits. Investors on Friday absorbed the latest reading of the gross domestic product, which showed that the recession was worse than many forecasts, but that it's also ending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 17 points at 9172. The Nasdaq dipped 6 to 1979 and the S&P 500 was flat, up 1 to 987.

Second-quarter GDP fell at a less-than-expected annual rate of 1%, compared to a revised rate of a 6.4% decline in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said. The decline in second-quarter GDP was expected to have been 1.5%, but the news of a still-contracting economy failed to cheer markets.

In company news, MetLife (MET) reported better-than-expected operating earnings late Thursday, but posted a $1.4 billion net loss, primarily stemming from derivative losses. Chevron (CVX), Constellation Energy (CEG) and Weyerhaeuser (WY) reported losses. The Washington Post Company (WPO) swung to a profit from a year-ago loss.

For a detailed rundown on Thursday’s trading session see our market story.

The financial services sector surged through the week, leaving the SPDR KBW Regional Banking fund (KRW) up 10.6%. The United States Gasoline fund (UGA) rose 5.5% as gas prices climbed.

Rising oil prices knocked alternative energy out of favor, as the Market Vectors Solar Energy fund (KWT) lost 6.6% for the week. Emerging market volatility left the ProShares Ultra FTSE/Xinhua China 25 fund (XPP) down 2.6%.

Data Point
Sales of leveraged exchange-traded funds are "under review" at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the recently formed joint venture of Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup (C). Last week, UBS Wealth Management Americas, the U.S. brokerage business of UBS (UBS), suspended purchases of the ETFs, because they are best used for short-term trading, rather than longer investment horizons. Last month, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority cautioned brokers and registered investment advisors about their fiduciary duties when selling inverse and leveraged ETFs, which it said are typically unsuitable for retail investors.

Ken Leon and Tom Graves, analysts with the ETF Research team at Standard & Poor’s, said the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney announcement underscored the idea that these ETFs are not a "buy and hold" investment. "They are not intended to be used by, and are not appropriate for, investors who intend to hold positions in an attempt to generate returns through time,” they said.

Launching Pad
The ETFS Silver Trust (SIVR) began trading Tuesday, offering investors an investment linked to physical silver bullion. It is the first ETF securities product available to investors in the U.S. The introductory expense ratio for the fund is 0.3% through July 24, 2010, after which it increases to 0.45%.

WisdomTree Investments filed a request with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an exchange-traded fund based on closed-end bond funds. The prospectus for the WisdomTree CEF Fixed-Income fund would be based on an index of 75 closed-end bond funds that invest in taxable U.S. and international issues. The funds would include both investment-grade and high-yield debt. WisdomTree did not include pricing information in the prospectus.

Economic Data

Monday
Motor Vehicle Sales
ISM Mfg Index 10:00 a.m.
Construction Spending 10:00 a.m.
4-Week Bill Announcement 11:00 a.m.
3-Month Bill Auction 1:00 p.m.
6-Month Bill Auction p.m.

Tuesday
ICSC-Goldman Store Sales 7:45 a.m.
Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 a.m.
Redbook 8:55 a.m.
Pending Home Sales Index 10:00 a.m.
4-Week Bill Auction 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday
MBA Purchase Applications 7:00 a.m.
Challenger Job-Cut Report 7:30 a.m.
ADP Employment Report 8:15 a.m.
Treasury Refunding Announcement 9:00 a.m.
30-Yr Bond Announcement 9:00 a.m.
Factory Orders 10:00 a.m.
ISM Non-Mfg Index 10:00 a.m.
EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 a.m.
3-Yr Note Announcement 11:00 a.m.
10-Yr Note Announcement 11:00 a.m.

Thursday
Chain Store Sales
Monster Employment Index
Jobless Claims 8:30 a.m.
RBC CASH Index 9:00 a.m.
EIA Natural Gas Report 10:30 a.m.
3-Month Bill Announcement 11:00 a.m.
6-Month Bill Announcement 11:00 a.m.
Treasury STRIPS 3:00 p.m.
Fed Balance Sheet 4:30 p.m.
Money Supply 4:30 p.m.

Friday
Employment Situation 8:30 a.m.
Consumer Credit 3:00 p.m.
Earnings and Conference Calls

Monday
Administaff, American Technology, Anadarko Petroleum, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Barclays, Brookdale Senior Living, Bryn Mawr Bank, Carmike Cinemas, Centex, Chesapeake Energy, Clorox, CNA Financial, Duff & Phelps, Entercom Communications, First Financial Bancorp Ohio, First Mercury Financial, FirstEnergy, Herbalife, Ingles Markets, Integral Systems, Intertek Group, James River Coal, Loews, Marathon Oil, MGM Mirage, Molson Coors Brewing, National Retail Properties, Portland General Electric, Pulte Homes, Tasty Baking, Ultra Petroleum, WMS Industries

Tuesday
Acorda Therapeutics, Allegheny Energy, Allied Healthcare, Allied Motion Technologies, American Capital, American Equity Investment Life Holding, American Medical Systems, American Pacific Corporation, American Physicians Service Group, Archer Daniels Midland, Avis Budget Group, BNP Paribas, Boston Beer, Cephalon, Charles River Laboratories International, Church & Dwight, Cincinnati Bell, Clarient, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Coherent, Coinstar, Conseco, Cray, Ctrip.com International, CVS Caremark, D.R. Horton, Denny's, Diebold, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Duke Energy, Electronic Arts, Emerson Electric, Entergy, First Industrial Realty Trust, Gartner, Gaylord Entertainment, Genomic Health, Global Cash Access, GMAC, Health Net, Hewitt Associates, Immucell, Jack in the Box, Jones Lang LaSalle, Kraft Foods, Louisiana-Pacific, Martin Marietta Materials, Marvel Entertainment, New York Mortgage Trust, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, Ocwen Financial, Odyssey Healthcare, Papa Johns International, Perot Systems, Playboy Enterprises, RCN, Senomyx, Simon Property Group, Sotheby's, Southwest Gas, Spectra Energy, Stanley, Tenet Healthcare, The St. Joe Company, Toyota Motor, Unum Group, ValueClick, Vornado Realty Trust, Westlake Chemical, Whole Foods Market, ZipRealty

Wednesday
Agilysys, Alon USA Energy, Ambac Financial Group, American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, American Railcar Industries, AmeriCredit, Ameristar Casinos, AXA, Blackboard, CardioNet, Cbeyond, Cisco Systems, Clayton Williams Energy, Corrections Corp. of America, Cross Country Healthcare, Dean Foods, Devon Energy, D-Link, El Paso Electric, Excel Maritime Carriers, Fortress Investment Group, Garmin, Goodrich Petroleum, Healthsouth, Home Inns & Hotels Management, Kelly Services, Lenovo Group, Marsh & McLennan, Miller Industries, Murphy Oil, Northeast Utilities, Orbitz Worldwide, Owens Corning, Penn Virginia Resources, Petrohawk Energy, PG&E, Plains All American Pipeline, Polo Ralph Lauren, Procter & Gamble, Prudential Financial, RR Donnelley, Service Corporation International, Societe Generale, Standard Life, Standard Parking, Sunoco, The Allstate Corp., Transocean, United Online, Vonage Holdings, Workman

Thursday
Affiliated Computer Services, Air Methods, Alliant Energy, American Italian Pasta, Amtech Systems, Apollo Investment Corporation, Assured Guaranty, Assystem, Beazer Homes USA, Biovail, Blue Nile, California Pizza Kitchen, CBS, Celera, Comcast, Cooper Tire & Rubber, Crocs, Crown Media Holdings, Dana Holding, Dollar Tree Stores, El Paso, Emergent Biosolutions, EOG Resources, Frontier Oil, Frozen Food Express Industries, Gold Fields, Grubb & Ellis, Hansen Natural, Huntsman, IMAX, ImmunoGen, Integra LifeSciences, Kenneth Cole, KKR Financial Holdings, Lifetime Brands, Live Nation, Manulife Financial, MBIA, Microvision, Natural Resource Partners, Nuveen Investments, NVIDIA, Pioneer, Primedia, Princeton Review, Sapient, Silicon Graphics International, Sirius Satellite Radio, SkyWest, Smart Balance, Speedway Motorsports, Spheris, Swift Energy, Teradata, The Blackstone Group, The DIRECTV Group, The Knot, Tim Hortons, Unilever, VeriSign, W. P. Carey & Co., Warner Music Group, Weight Watchers International, Wendy's / Arby's Group, World Wrestling Entertainment

Friday
Allianz, Beacon Roofing Supply, Cogent Communications, Dune Energy, Exide, H.H. Gregg Appliances, Liberty Media, LifePoint Hospitals, Penwest Pharmaceuticals, Sun Communities, U.S. Concrete, Warner Chilcott

A look at how the industry's most popular ETFs did on Friday:

10 Largest ETFs

Symbol	Net Assets	Price	52 Week High	52 Week Low	Volume
SPY	63,739	98.81	130.7	68.13	207,268,597
EFA	29,392	50.41	66.76	32.16	20,636,080
EEM	28,449	35.78	43.11	19.12	119,531,353
GLD	33,655	93.35	97.24	70.14	14,385,364
IVV	18,337	99.17	130.92	68.24	3,430,850
QQQQ	14,025	39.45	48.32	25.51	78,109,563
IWF	9,479	43.81	55.45	30.49	5,173,592
SHY	7,044	83.69	85	82.65	622,269
VTI	10,258	49.85	65.56	33.75	1,122,699
IWD	7,068	50.95	70.64	34.22	2,481,319