Notable ETF Movers of the Day 12/15: (SPY) (SMH) (XHB) Higher; (VXX) (USO) (TAN) Lower

• SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) up 0.54 percent to $122.39. Along with a general bounce today, markets are loving economic data. Initial claims fell 19,000 to 366,000, which was far below the rise to 390,000 expected on the Street. The Empire Manufacturing index also came in at 9.53, better than the 3.0 expected.
  
  
• Semiconductor HOLDRS (NYSE: SMH) up 1.11 percent to $29.18. The ETF is being led higher by Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN)(Nasdaq: TXN) which announced it would shift from the NYSE to Nasdaq Stock Exchange. TI shares are up about 1 percent on the session.
  
  
• SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB) up 1.96 percent to $16.14. Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) is bolstering the move today, with in-line third-quarter results and comps up 7 percent. Pier 1 shares are trading 1.8 percent better on the session.

• iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSE: VXX) down 3.80 percent to $39.22. The CBOE VIX is less VIX-like Thursday, down about 5.3 percent
  
  
• United States Oil (NYSE: USO) down 0.87 percent to $36.34. Crude futures are lower Thursday, following mixed economic data out of the U.S. and as traders still try to figure out the fallout from OPEC keeping caps relatively flat for 2012. January 2012 contracts are $0.73 lower to $94.22 per barrel on the Comex at last check.
  
  
• Guggenheim Solar (NYSE: TAN) down 1.15 percent to $2.59. The ETF is being led lower by First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), which cut its outlook yesterday. Earlier, Baird downgraded shares to Neutral, slashing its price target from $80 to $35. Click here for more analyst color on First Solar.

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