Top-Performing Leveraged ETFs of Last Week

Wall Street was downbeat last week, with the S&P 500 losing 2.6%, the Dow Jones retreating 2.5%, and the Nasdaq falling 2.5%. Growing investor concerns over the United States' ballooning fiscal deficit weighed on Wall Street. Gold bullion-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) SPDR Gold Trust GLD advanced 4% last week, on rising safe-haven demand (read: Gold Eyes Best Week in a Month: Will ETFs Sustain the Rally?).

Investor Worries Grow Amid Credit Downgrade

Investors are now eyeing President Donald Trump’s tax legislation, which has passed the House and heads to the Senate, as a potential driver of an even larger deficit. Meanwhile, Moody’s Ratings stripped the United States of its top-tier credit rating (read: ETF Strategies to Follow on Moody's Downgrade of U.S. Debt).

Surging US Debt Fuels Concern

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the amount of outstanding U.S. Treasuries has ballooned from $4.5 trillion in 2007 to nearly $30 trillion today. Over the same period, public debt as a percentage of GDP has jumped from 35% to 100%.

Trump Tensions With EU and Apple

President Trump called for 50% tariffs on the European Union from June 1, after complaining that trade negotiations have stalled. The announcement came after Trump threatened to impose a tariff of at least 25% on Apple AAPL if the company does not start manufacturing iPhones in the United States.

Economic Data Shows Steady Growth

On the macroeconomic front, data released last week showed strength. U.S. business activity accelerated in May, signaling growing demand and business confidence. Initial jobless claims declined, pointing to continued strength in the labor market. These indicators support the view that the U.S. economy remains on a stable footing despite trade-related headwinds.

Winning Leveraged ETFs in Focus

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning leveraged ETFs of last week.

Defiance Daily Target 2X Long IONQ ETF IONX – Up 56.9% Last Week

The Defiance Daily Target 2X Long IONQ ETF seeks daily leveraged investment results of two times the daily percentage change in the share price of IonQ Inc. IONQ. The company, which provides quantum system through the cloud on Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, as well as through direct API access, gained 36% last week.

Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RGTI ETF RGTX – Up 32.3% Last Week

The Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RGTI ETF seeks daily leveraged investment results of two times the daily percentage change in the share price of Rigetti Computing Inc RGTI. RGTI is a stock of a pioneer in full-stack quantum-classical computing company. Shares of RGTI gained 22% last week.

Defiance Daily Target 2X Short SMCI ETF SMCZ – Up 30.7% Last Week

The Defiance Daily Target 2X Short SMCI ETF seeks daily inverse investment results of -2 times the daily percentage change in the share price of Super Micro Computer Inc. SMCI. The SMCI stock lost 9.3% last week.

MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN GDXU – Up 29.3% Last Week

The MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETNs is linked to three times leveraged participation in the performance of the S-Network MicroSectors Gold Miners Index. As gold mining ETF GDX gained 7.4% last week, this leveraged ETF soared.

2x Long VIX Futures ETF UVIX – Up 27.8% Last Week

The 2x Long VIX Futures ETF seeks to provide daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond generally to twice the performance of the Long VIX Futures Index. The volatility ETN VXX surged 8.7% last week due to an uncertain investing backdrop, giving rise to this leveraged fund.

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