The ETF 50 Index™, the industry's leading measure of ETF performance, sank 1.9% in December to finish the year ahead 8.5%.

Only five of the 50 largest exchange-traded funds finished the month in the black, paced by the 8.0% advance of the Energy SPDR (XLE) and a gain of 6.7% for StreetTracks Gold (GLD).

The biggest losers were foreign-stock funds, including iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA), down 5.4%, and iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (FXI), off 9.1%. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) declined 2.7%.

SPDR S&P 500 Index (SPY) slipped 1.7% in the month. Most domestic equity ETFs were little changed in December, except for the Financial SPDR (XLF) and iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Majors (ICF), each down 6.7%.

The final four months of 2007 were the most volatile of the year, up sharply in September and October and down steeply in November.

The ETF 50 Index™ represents the price-only asset-weighted price performance of the 50 largest exchange-traded funds. The index consists of a broadly diversified universe of funds representing domestic and foreign stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate, and is a better indicator of actual investor returns than indices tied to particular markets.