Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Best Inverse/Leveraged ETFs of Last Week

Read MoreHide Full Article

Last week was eventful for the global market as it kicked off with Cyber Monday. After record online sales on Black Friday, Cyber Monday has probably become the heaviest online spending day ever. This is especially true as shoppers spent a record $11.3 billion on online shopping, up 5.8% year over year, according to Adobe (read: 5 ETFs to Splurge on Cyber Monday Record Sales).

Meanwhile, last week, the Federal Reserve chief predicted a smaller interest rate hike in December. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting,” Chairman Jerome Powell said lately. Still, he cautioned that the central bank would need “substantially more evidence” of inflation declining before pausing rate hikes. This has boosted the risk-on sentiments to some extent.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in November 2022, above market forecasts of 200,000, per tradingeconomics. Although it marked the weakest reading since April of 2020, figures continued to point to a strong albeit slowing labor market as workers shortages continue.

Overall, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones, the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 added 1.1%, 0.24%, 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively. Against this backdrop, below, we highlight the top-performing inverse/leveraged ETFs of last week.

ETFs in Focus

China

CSI China Internet Index Bull 2X Direxion (CWEB - Free Report) – Up 52.4%

FTSE China Bull 3X Direxion (YINN - Free Report) – Up 40.0%

After being the world’s worst performer for much of this year, China’s stocks have staged a solid turnaround lately, driven by a series of good news as Chinese President Xi Jinping cemented power for the third term (read: Bet on China ETFs on a Solid Turnaround).

Investors now see warmer ties between the world’s two largest economies after the G20 (Group of Twenty) summit, reducing delisting risks for hundreds of New York-listed Chinese firms and boosting the outlook for trade. China’s supportive measures to its struggling housing market added to the strength.

Natural Gas

Ultrashort Bloomberg Natural Gas ETF (KOLD - Free Report) – Up 38.2%

U.S. natural gas futures extended losses to over 5% to $6.3/MMBtu on Friday, marking the lowest since Nov 14 as Freeport delayed the restart of its LNG export plant to the end of the year from mid-December, leaving more gas in the domestic market, per tradingeconomics. Natural gas futures also declined on forecasts of less cold weather and lower heating demand. Also, average gas output increased in November.

FANG

Microsectors Fang+ 3X ETN (FNGU - Free Report) – Up 23.1%

As rates dived last week, the benchmark U.S. treasury yield fell from 3.69% to 3.51% on Dec 2, 2022. In mid-October, benchmark U.S. treasury yield touched as high as 4.36%. Such a decline helped growth stocks like FANG as these perform better in a low-rate environment.

Marijuana

ETFMG Daily Alternative Harvest 2X ETF – Up 22.3%

The legal marijuana market has ballooned lately, resulting in a multibillion-dollar business. President Joe Biden has officially signed a marijuana research bill into law. It marked history as it was the first piece of standalone federal cannabis reform legislation in U.S. history, reported Marijuana Moment, as quoted on Benzinga.

Biotech

S&P Biotech Bull 3X Direxion (LABU - Free Report) – Up 16.7%

Biotech stocks have been on the rise as investors look for companies that are developing revolutionary new treatments for a wide range of diseases. The Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bull 3X Shares fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300% of the performance of the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index.

Published in