Europe's Search for Yield to Support Treasury Bond ETFs

The Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF (NYSEArca: EDV), which has a 24.8 year duration and a 3.22% 30-day SEC yield, has increased 26.9% year-to-date. More aggressive traders can consider leveraged options, such as the ProShares Ultra 20+ Year Treasury (NYSEArca: UBT) and Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3x Shares ETF (NYSEArca: TMF), which are up 36.5% and 56.8% so far this year, respectively.

Meanwhile, traders can also hedge against falling short-term Treasury bonds through the ProShares UltraShort 3-7 Year Treasury ETF (NYSEArca: TBZ). TBZ is down 4.9% year-to-date.

Potential investors should keep in mind that leveraged and inverse ETFs are not meant as long-term, buy-and-hold positions. The ETFs rebalance on a daily basis, and compounding effects could cause the funds to diverge from their target strategies over the long-term.

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

For more information on Treasuries, visit our Treasury bonds category.