Castigated and vilified, leveraged ETFs are good something and that something is rapid gains. Think about it. Prior to the debut of these highly controversial products, traders in search of double-digit returns in, say a few days or a week, were forced to rely on the futures and options markets.
Those are still worthy avenues for those willing to embrace in the name of large short-term gains, but leveraged ETFs add more ammunition to traders' arsenals. Of course, there is a cautionary tale here and it must be acknowledged. As ProShares and Direxion, the two largest issuers of inverse and leveraged ETFs, make perfectly clear on their Web sites, these are daily instruments, not investments to be held for the long-term like shares of Coca-Cola KO.
Do NOT throw caution to wind with leveraged ETFs, but do realize the current market environment is favorable to at least taking a nibble at a leveraged product or two. Here are five with the potential to offer double-digit gains by the end of next week.
ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas DUG
Following a gain of 6.1% on Wednesday, we admit we're not going out on a limb by saying this ETF could jump another 10% over the next seven trading days. The way things are setting up, there may not be a better time to give DUG a whirl than right now.
Oil inventories remain high, U.S. demand remains slack and that much was affirmed on Wednesday when the Energy Information Administration said U.S. oil demand fell to a 15-year low in the first quarter. Not to mention the charts of major oil stocks such as Exxon Mobil XOM and Chevron CVX are getting worse by the day. Ten percent from current levels takes DUG just over $31.
Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares NUGT
This one is for the true believers and the real risk takers. With those disclaimers in mind, it should be noted that traditional long precious metals mining ETFs have been showing signs of life recently. Even the downtrodden Market Vectors Gold Mining ETF climbed higher on Wednesday while the broader was being drubbed. We know NUGT can notch a double-digit gain in a week because in the past week, the ETF is up 11.5%. A 10% move from here takes it just north of $12. Note NUGT's bearish cousin is the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares DUST.
PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN DTO
Many of the same sentiments that apply to DUG apply to the PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN as well. If West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, fall below $85 per barrel, a return to $80 is likely and the violation of $85 could hasten that move to $80. Even a move to $82-$83 could be enough to spark DTO higher by 10% or more.
Direxion Daily India Bear 3X Shares INDZ
The Direxion Daily India Bear 3X Shares would really be interesting to trade and observe if it even traded 100,000-200,000 shares per day. Those aren't particularly large volume figures, but INDZ's ADV isn't even 16,000 shares.
What's important is that is that it's really just a matter of days before the iPath MSCI India Index ETN INP, the WisdomTree India Earnings ETF EPI and other major India ETFs see new 52-week lows. If that helps INDZ break resistance at $40, watch out because 10% could arrive in just a day or two.
ProShares UltraShort MSCI Europe EPV
The ProShares UltraShort MSCI Europe could actually be the riskiest play on this list. All it would take to punish this ETF severely would be on iota of somewhat decent news out of Greece or Spain. Plus, asking for a 10% pop from Wednesday's close means EPV has to climb to levels not seen since December 2011.
Then again this is Europe we're talking about and with no legitimate reason to be bullish on the continent, EPV might be the best Europe ETF out there right now. EPV just cleared its 200-day moving average around $45 and that would be a wise place to put a stop-loss order.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Loading...
Posted In: Long IdeasNewsSector ETFsShort IdeasSpecialty ETFsEmerging Market ETFsFuturesTechnicalsCommoditiesEventsGlobalPre-Market OutlookAfter-Hours CenterMarketsTrading IdeasETFs
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
Join Now: Free!
Already a member?Sign in