Notable ETF Movers of the Day 02/22: USO, XLE, VXX Higher; XLF, XLY, EWJ Lower

• United States Oil (NYSE: USO) up 5.03% to $38.19. Unrest in Libya, where leader Gadhafi said that he'll fight until "his last drop of blood" is sending oil prices higher. Concerns are focused on whether or not unrest in the north African nation could spread to Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia.
  
  
• Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLE) up 0.58% to $77.47. The ETF hit an intraday 52-week high of $78.06 today as unrest in the Middle East is causing concerns that oil supplies might tighten. Oil prices have nearly broken the $100 per barrel price level, with March contracts touching $99.84 before receding.
  
  
• iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSE: VXX) up 6.17% to $30.82. The CBOE VIX is surging over 14% better today as investors sell off on Libyan news, as consumer confidence hitting a three-year high of 70.4 isn't enough to offset unrest in the Middle East.

• Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLF) down 2.09% to $16.82. Financials keeping pace with the rest of the markets today on Middle East unrest. One CIO from Haverford Trust was actually impressed with the resiliency that the broader markets are showing, hinting that stability will return to the region or a smaller than expected dent will be absorbed rather quickly.
  
  
• Consumer Discret Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLY) down 1.55% to $39.39. Lower today as Wal-Mart (NYSE:
  WMT) reported a 1.1% drop in comps amid posting mixed fourth quarter 2010 results. WMT reported adjusted EPS of $1.34 on revs of $116.3 billion, versus the consensus EPS of $1.31 on revs of $117.68 billion. The retail giant is expecting Q111 EPS of $0.91 - $0.96, compared to the consensus of $0.96. WMT is 3.3% lower today.
  
  
• iShares MSCI Japan Index (NYSE: EWJ) down 1.64% to $11.41. Japan stocks fell following a downgrade by Moody's Investors Service on the country's Aa2 bond rating from stable to negative.

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