Gold prices were rising Monday after leveling off towards the end of last week following the recent steep sell-off. Bearish put buyers entered the picture in gold futures — in contrast, upside November call buyers surfaced in the largest exchange traded fund for gold, SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD).
These buyers appear to be positioning for a bounce as the precious metal has declined about 15% from its early September peak, while the ETF is down from its high of $185.85 a share. [Gold ETFs Rise on Greek Default Worries]
We highlight increased options flows not only in GLD but in underlying gold futures as well in recent trading sessions as the metal has fallen steeply from its early September highs.
Call buyers in GLD surfaced on Friday which presents the chance to focus two leveraged “long” gold funds, PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN (NYSEArca: DGP) and ProShares Ultra Gold ETF (NYSEArca: UGL).
For those not interested or equipped to trade options but desiring exposure to the long side of the Gold trade for a potential short term opportunity, both funds offer two times daily leveraged exposure to the performance of gold bullion.
To demonstrate that these leveraged funds are likely best utilized as hedges that should be rebalanced frequently and/or short term trading devices, the relative performance numbers of these funds over time displays some disconnect to “spot” as would be expected due to the daily reset of the leverage component within the funds themselves and the effects of compounding. [How Volatile Markets Impact Leveraged ETFs]
GLD is up 13.93% year to date while UGL has returned 23.51% and DGP is up 22.14%.
PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN
For more information on Street One ETF research and ETF trade execution/liquidity services, contact pweisbruch@streetonefinancial.com.