Wall Street was downbeat last week amid geopolitical uncertainty. The S&P 500 lost 0.4%, the Dow Jones retreated 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a new wave of protectionist measures against European allies.
The tension centered on the “Greenland row,” with the U.S. administration threatening across-the-board duties of 10% to 25% on eight European nations, while some reports flagged potential tariffs of up to 200% on French exports (read: European ETFs in Spotlight Following Trump's Tariff Retreat at Davos).
Gold bullion ETF SPDR Gold Trust GLD surged 8.4% last week on increased safe-haven demand for the yellow metal. Against this backdrop, we highlight the winning leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of the week.
Leveraged USA Rare Earth
Leverage Shares 2X Long USAR Daily ETF USGG – Up 89.1% Last Week
Tradr 2X Long USAR Daily ETF USAX – Up 87.4% Last Week
Shares of USA Rare Earth Inc. USAR jumped about 46% last week. The Trump administration plans to acquire a 10% stake in USA Rare Earth through a $1.6 billion debt-and-equity investment package, in order to support the development of a domestic rare-earth mine and magnet manufacturing facility.
Leveraged Natural Gas
ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas BOIL – Up 72.4% Last Week
U.S. natural gas futures skyrocketed amid severe winter weather. Futures surged more than 17% on Monday, climbing above $6 per MMBtu for the first time since December 2022 (as quoted on Trading Economics), as a historic winter storm tore across the United States, choking supply and boosting the heating demand.
The severe weather shut down almost 10% of U.S. gas output.Monday’s rally prolonged last week’s huge gains, with U.S. natural gas prices soaring about 70% over the week – the biggest weekly increase in more than three decades, as mentioned in Trading Economics.
Leveraged Lemonade
Defiance Daily Target 2x Long LMND ETF LMNX – Up 34.2% Last Week
Lemonade LMND stock surged 15.7% last week. Lemonade Inc. provides homeowners and renters insurance in the United States. The shares of LMND likely have gained as Lemonade launched its new Lemonade Autonomous Car insurance business. Lemonade will collaborate with Tesla, giving drivers using FSD a 50% lower per-mile rate. This deal is a strategic fit into Lemonade's AI-powered insurance operations.
Leveraged Gold Miners
MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN GDXU –Up 34.1% Last Week
January has seen a fair share of market volatility. President Trump’s announcement of tariffs on eight European nations has made matters worse for an already volatile market environment. Since gold is viewed as a market hedge, this leveraged gold mining ETF GDXU has surged last month (read: Gold ETFs Glitter Amid Renewed Transatlantic Trade Strains).
Leveraged Albemarle
Leverage Shares 2X Long ALB Daily ETF ALBG – Up 34.1% Last Week
Shares of Albemarle ALB advanced 13.5% last week. The company is a premier specialty chemicals company with leading positions in attractive end markets globally. Earnings estimates for Albemarle for the fourth quarter have been going up over the past month. The company should gain from long-term growth in the battery-grade lithium market. Demand for lithium is expected to rise on significant global electric vehicle (EV) penetration. The company has already surpassed its initial cost-saving target for 2025.
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Albemarle Corporation (ALB): Free Stock Analysis Report SPDR Gold Shares (GLD): ETF Research Reports ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (BOIL): ETF Research Reports Lemonade, Inc. (LMND): Free Stock Analysis Report USA Rare Earth Inc. (USAR): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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