Demolition spreads past financials into broad sell-off; meanwhile, GLD soars and bonds avoids heavy damage.

It was a brutally down day on Wall Street by just about any
measure on Monday. And exchange-traded funds were not
spared any of the punishment.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering
its biggest single-day drop ever (777 points, or a loss of 6.98%), all the
broad market equity ETFs received a complementary backlash, and the beating
was no longer focused on financial ETFs.

The SPDR Trust (AMEX: SPY) hit a 52-week low mark of 110.97,
before closing at 111.38, a 9.47% drop for the day. The S&P 500 Index was
down 8.79% for the day, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 9.14%. The Dow’s
massive loss was not among its 10-biggest drops ever on a percentage basis, but
avoiding placement in that infamous group provided little reason to celebrate.

The Diamonds Trust (AMEX: DIA) closed at a 52-week low of 104.75, down 6.40%
for the day. ETFs pegged to Russell indexes also showed serious bruising.

Among the 10-largest ETFs as ranked by assets, the iShares
Russell 2000 Index (NYSE Arca: IWM) was down 5.58%, and finished just short of
its 52-week low of 64.10. The iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index (NYSE Arca:
IWF) was down 3.68% for the day.

Outside of the equities market, but among the top 10 ETFs by
assets, the iShares Lehman Aggregate Bond Index (NYSE Arca: AGG) was down 0.45%;
while SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE Arca: GLD) finished the day up 2.93%, and really
gained in the late afternoon after news of the bailout plan’s defeat in
Congress was announced. Among sector ETF giants, PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQQ)
was down 3.26%, also hitting a 52-week low water mark of 37.82.

The overseas markets fared no better than the U.S. equities
fiasco. Brazil had to shut down its stock exchange, the Bovespa, after it
dropped near 10%, its largest loss in a decade. The MSCI World Index dropped
6.8%, its largest drop in its 38-year history. And international ETFs shared in
the bleeding.

The iShares MSCI EAFE (NYSE Arca: EFA) was down 6.67%, hitting a
52-week low of 53.08. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSE Arca: EEM)
dropped more than 4% and came close to its 52-week low of 31.21, ending the day
at 31.61. At least it beat something. The Vanguard FTSE All World (NYSE Arca:
VEU) was down 4.63%, falling to a 52-week low of 40.50.

The good news? Well, investors in the ELEMENTS Australian
Dollar exchange-trade note saw a day during which their fund was up 9.5%, or an
intra-day change of 88.95%, finishing the day just short of a 52-week high. And
inverse international ETFs had a good day as well.

ProShares Ultrashort FTSE/Xinhua China ended that day up
26.59%, and the same hefty intra-day return profile was achieved by ProShares
inverse MSCI EAFE and emerging markets ETFs, not surprisingly. When Asian
markets open tomorrow morning, one does not need to have a fanciful imagination
to hazard a guess as to which direction ETFs with significant concentrations in
Asia will trend.

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