the gold miners' exchanged up, e.t.f., up 22%, and the gold fund, up 21%. a very close tracking. >> here you go again. there is really no need to get involved in some of the commodities physically based or futures based assets, when you have the stock based e.t.f.s that mirror the stock prices. >> tom: dan, any disclosures? >> no, i don't have anything in these e.t.f.s. >> tom: word on the street, our guest this evening, dan dicker with thestreet.com. >> susie: here's what we're watching for tomorrow: the decision on interest rates from federal reserve policymakers, and we get quarterly results from starbucks, u.s. airways and qualcomm. also, hilary kramer is back as our "street critique" guest. send us your questions. streetcritique@nbr.com. >> susie: merrill lynch has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges it used information on orders from customers to trade on its own behalf. the s.e.c. says the brokerage piggybacked its own trades based on what its institutional clients were doing. that's considered securities fraud. merrill admitted no wrongdoing

the spanish e.t.f. jumped 3%. banco santander and banco bilbao each saw some relief buying, fueling rallies of 4% and almost 7%, respectfully. while talking about spain, energy company repsol popped 7% on heavy volume. an indian oil firm wants to buy a 5% stake, according to reports. back in the states, marathon oil will spin off its refining and sales businesses. that led to a 6% rally. volume exploded to more than ten times usual as shares hit two year highs. marathon would keep its exploration and production operations when the split happens in june. finally, grocery store whole foods. there's been some concern about higher food prices pinching profit margins in grocery, but jefferies reiterated its buy rating and whole foods hit a new 52 week high, up more than 4%. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> tom: the healthcare sector has lagged the market rally over the past two years, but tonight's "street critique" thinks it will turnaround. she's hilary kramer, editor at gamechangerstocks.com. back with us, al

. >> suzanne: and the e.t.f. that came out as a result of that conversation has been on a steady climb up since its launch in 2004. you say investors could get burned. >> gold prices are really, really difficult to predict, even for the professionals who do it for a living. it has everything to do with nothing to do with gold. it has to do with fears about the economy. it has to do with fears about too much currency in the system, quantitative easing. it has to do with interest rates. it has to do with psychology, a lot more than anything in terms of production or consumption. gold just innocent like that. there are fears, that you know, gold eventually will have to fall, and that small investors who are just now paying attention to gold and piling in through these e.t.f.s could really pay a price. >> suzanne: a lot of people are talking about a bubble in gold. and from your reporting what were you hearing about the outlook for 2011? >> you know, the predictions are across the board. again, that's what makes it r

this emerging market e.t.f. dropped 3% on heavy volume. emerging markets have been a hot trade as the global economy recovers. tonight, the fund is at its lowest price since november. even before egypt heated up, the tech sector was a drag thanks to earnings and guidance last night. microsoft led the dow losers, falling almost 4%. amazon.com shed 7%. job recruitment website monster led the tech sector down, losing a quarter of its value. disappointing earnings and outlook, management changes and the possible i.p.o. of professional networking website linked-in get the blame. speaking of initial public offerings, this week saw the first ones of the year. earlier susie spoke with the chief at bank united on its first day of trading. it wasn't alone this week. adeco-agro is a south american agricultural conglomerate. it cut its initial asking price and saw a nice pop today. interxion operates computer data centers. it also saw some continued interest up 6%. earlier in the week, t.v. ratings company nielsen can public. it remains above its i.p.

the health care sector was the the health care e.t.f. was only 1%. the industry conference comes the same week the house of representatives is scheduled to vote on repealing health care reform. a couple of drug developers dendreon. shares jumped almost 8% today on strong volume, possibly making a run after $40 per share. it hasn't traded over $40 since october. the firm announced plans to ask for european okay for its prostate cancer drug by early next year. meantime, xoma continues with its stock volatility. shares fell 14% today after rallying more than 30% earlier this week. the drop today came as xoma said an interim review of its diabetes-2 drug experiment couldn't determine how well the drug is distributed in the body. that won't be possible for another three months. dean foods saw the biggest rally among s&p 500 stocks today, but even with this 11% rally, d.f. remains below where it was trading in november before it issues a disappointing outlook. the rally was ignited as hedge fund appaloosa management disclosed more than a 7% stake. finally,

we start with the semiconductor holders e.t.f. here it is. it rallied 2%, continuing the climb we've seen since its late august low. intel announced an additional $10 billion buyback. but it was chip maker nvidia that again led the way, adding another 11%. this is a 90-session chart. we can see the share price really ocming along. there's new speculation it may have a 3d chip for mobile devices. after the close, focus shifted to texas instruments. fourth quarter results came in a penny better than expected. orders, though, were down. texas instruments stock came into this report adding more than 2% today to just below its 52-week high. since august, t-x-n is up more than 40%. despite the upbeat forecast tonight, shares were down 2% in after-hours trading. watch technology tomorrow. texas instruments wasn't the only tech stock weaker after the close. software firm vmware lost 3% during the session and another 5% despite beating estimates and an upbeat outlook. american express came into its earnings report tonight down a fraction. it didn't co