Pass on this ETF

Article Excerpt

DIREXION DAILY AEROSPACE & DEFENSE BULL 3X SHARES ETF $19.11 (New York symbol DFEN) aims to generate returns of three times the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace and Defense Index. The fund started in May 2017 and has an asset base of $366.8 million; the MER is 0.95%. The daily excess return of the ETF is created through the use of derivative instruments and swap arrangements. When the daily movement in the index is up, the ETF aims to generate 300% of the positive return; the opposite will happen when the index declines. Since the ETF launched in 2017, the underlying index generated a return of 55%. By comparison, the ETF lost 6%. That’s because complexly leveraged ETFs like this one often lose value more readily than they gain it. Our view is that if you like the outlook for a market index, you should invest in stocks that will profit from a rise in the index. If you don’t like the…