Zinger Key Points
- Consumer confidence dropped, long-term inflation expectations reached their highest since 1993.
- Despite overall market weakness, some ETFs performed better than the rest last week.
- Join Nic Chahine live on Wednesday, March 19, at 6 PM ET for a step-by-step breakdown of how to to capitalize on post-Fed volatility and manage risk in this fast-moving market. Register for this free strategy session today.
Wall Street closed its fourth consecutive losing week, its longest slide since May 2022.
The S&P 500 fell into correction territory, down 10% from its February highs. Investors continue to have anxiety over trade tensions and government spending cuts. While weaker-than-expected inflation data fueled hopes for Fed interest-rate reductions, markets still lingered on policy uncertainty from the White House.
Nevertheless, despite overall market weakness, some ETFs performed better than the rest last week.
The Top Five Best-Performing ETFs
These ETFs highlight areas of opportunity amid broader volatility.
GraniteShares 2x Long INTC Daily ETF INTW: This leveraged ETF surged as Intel INTC shares resumed their rise amid expectations of AI-supported chip demand.
- Weekly Gains: 32.71%
- Expense Ratio: 1.3%
Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SMCI ETF SMCX: Super Micro Computer’s SMCI share rise, fueled by strong earnings and growing AI server demand, drove the return on this ETF.
- Weekly Gains: 17.62%
- Expense Ratio: 1.29%
T-Rex 2X Inverse Ether Daily Target ETF ETQ: A pullback in Ethereum prices benefited this inverse ETF, which profits on downturns in the cryptocurrency.
- Weekly Gains: 15.85%
- Expense Ratio: 1.25%
T-Rex 2X Long NVIDIA Daily Target ETF NVDX: NVIDIA’s NVDA continued dominance of the AI chip space pushed this leveraged ETF up.
- Weekly Gains: 14.62%
- Expense Ratio: 1.05%
Global X Silver Miners ETF SIL: Rising silver prices, driven by safe-haven demand in times of economic uncertainty, boosted silver miners and this ETF.
- Weekly Gains: 8.82%
- Expense Ratio: 0.65%
What Moved The Markets Last Week
Investor anxiety is high as a result of pending trade tariffs under President Trump and sudden spending reductions spearheaded by the DOGE office under Elon Musk. Even softer-than-expected inflation readings—February’s CPI climbed 2.8% YoY, down from the 2.9% consensus—kept markets fixated on White House policy actions.
Trump vowed a 200% tariff on European wines if the EU drops its 50% tax on American whiskey and doubled tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, threatening auto tariffs.
Consumer confidence dropped and long-term inflation expectations reached their highest since 1993. In response to economic uncertainty, gold hit a record $3,000 per ounce and has increased in 10 of the last 11 weeks.
Markets bounced modestly at the end of the week on confirmation that a government shutdown would be averted and the lack of fresh trade news. The Federal Reserve is set to keep rates unchanged next week, although fears of stagflation—slowing growth coupled with ongoing inflation—are growing.
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