Direxion Airline Shares Take Off Into Turbulence

Direxion Airline Shares (FLYX) began trading December 8, 2010.  The new ETF marks the first time that Direxion has offered a non-leveraged ETF.  Given the fact Guggenheim Airlines ETF (FAA) has only attracted $38 million in assets in nearly two years, Direxion's strategy with this offering is not clear.

FLYX will track the NYSE Arca Airline Index while FAA tracks the NYSE Arca Global Airline Index.  However, both indexes are “global” as FLYX also holds South American and European airlines.  The major difference, although it's not stated as such, is that the index underlying the new FLYX ETF appears to take an equal weighted approach.

The 13 holdings (csv) appear to have been equally weighted at 7.7% each at the last rebalancing.  The current largest holdings simply reflect the best performers since that time:  US Airways Group Inc (LCC) 8.3%, Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL) 8.3%, AMR Corp (AMR) 8.2%, Alaska Air Group Inc (ALK) 7.7%, and JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU) 7.6%.

FLYX will cap expenses at 0.55% and additional information is located in the FLYX overview and FLYX fact sheet (pdf).  Additional information on Guggenheim Airlines ETF (FAA) (formerly known as Claymore/NYSE Arca Airline ETF) is located in the FAA overview.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.