Last week was moderate for Wall Street.The S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq Composite added about 0.2%, 0.07% and 0.8% in the past week, respectively. Tech stocks benefited mainly on the hype surrounding Apple AAPL and Amazon AMZN. The new iPhone launch event of Apple while Amazon’s annual Prime Day shopping event on Oct 13 and 14 led to such gains.
In the event, Apple announced four new iPhones — iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, plus a new HomePod (which is a smaller version of its HomePod speaker). This is the first time that iPhone has come up with 5G for faster connectivity. Meanwhile, Amazon’s Prime Day sales surged 36%.
Early Q3 results show earnings recovery is in place. Third-quarter earnings season is off to a good start, with the banks and brokers coming out with a notably improved profitability picture compared to what they reported in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, election-related tensions and vaccine-related uncertainties remained alive. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) JNJ halted dosing in all clinical studies on its coronavirus vaccine candidate, JNJ-78436735. Last month, AstraZeneca/Oxford University paused the global studies on their coronavirus vaccine candidate as a patient in the U.K. suffered an unspecified illness. However, while studies have resumed in the U.K., Brazil, South Africa, India and Japan, the study in the United States remains on hold and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) is working with the FDA over when the studies can be resumed.
Some economic datapoints came in upbeat. Retail sales in the United States gained 1.9% sequentially in September 2020, following a 0.6% gain in August and beating forecasts of a 0.7% increase. It marked the biggest rise in three months. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment increased to 81.2 in October 2020 from 80.4 in September but remained below pre-coronavirus levels.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few leveraged/inverse ETFs that gained the most last week.
Direxion Daily Real Estate Bear 3x Shares (DRV) – Up 8.1%
The underlying Direxion Daily MSCI Real Estate Bear 3X Shares seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300% of the inverse (or opposite), of the performance of the MSCI US IMI (LON:IMI) Real Estate 25/50 Index. President Trump’s decision to hold the stimulus talks till the end of the election, has hurt real estate stocks.
ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE:ZSL) (ZSL) – Up 7.9%
ProShares UltraShort Silver seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to two times the inverse (-2X) of the daily performance the Bloomberg Silver Subindex. Silver prices had a blast a few months back on reopening of economies. However, such price gains led to a correction in silver in recent weeks.
Direxion Daily China 3x Bull Shares YINN – Up 5.5%
China stocks jumped in the week on fresh policy support and upbeat data that pointed to an economic recovery from the COVID-19-induced weakness. China’s imports increased at their fastest pace this year in September. New bank loans grew more than expected in September, fueled by a jump in corporate loans, per Reuters.
Direxion Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bear 3X Shares HIBS – Up 4.4%
The product seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300% of the inverse (or opposite), of the performance of the S&P 500 High Beta Index. Vaccine uncertainty kept risk-on investing somewhat subdued last week.
ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (BOIL) – Up 4.4%
ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to two times (2X) the daily performance of the Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex. Weather concerns have led to the spike in natural gas prices.
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Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Direxion Daily MSCI Real Estate Bear 3x Shares (DRV): ETF Research Reports
ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (BOIL): ETF Research Reports
Direxion Daily FTSE China Bull 3X Shares (YINN): ETF Research Reports
ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL): ETF Research Reports
Direxion Daily SP 500 High Beta Bear 3X Shares (HIBS): ETF Research Reports
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