“There was a head and shoulders forming in the Russell, which still could be there. It’s definitely possible the market goes lower,” LaRosa added. “There’s always a reason. We’re in earnings season. It has been the weakest of the major indices, and it was the one that refused to confirm the uptrend.”
Consequently, investors interested in hedging against further declines in the Russell 2000 can take a look at inverse or short ETF options. For instance, the ProShares Short Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEArca: RWM) reflects the -1x or -100% daily performance of the Russell 2000 Index. Over the past wee, RWM increased 4.0%.
For the more aggressive trader, there are a number of leveraged inverse options available as well. The ProShares UltraShort Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEArca: TWM), which tracks the -2x or -200% daily performance of the Russell 2000, jumped 8.1% over the past week. The Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: TZA), which tracks the -3x or -300% daily performance of the Russell 2000, surged 12.1% over the past week.
Potential investors should be aware that these types of inverse and leveraged fund should not be used for long-term, buy-and-hold positions since the the funds rebalance on a daily basis, and due to the compounding effects, the ETFs can diverge from their target strategies over long periods.
For more information on small capitalization stocks, visit our small-cap category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.