However, some traders have stubbornly attempted to short Treasuries with some doing so with leveraged ETFs. The ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (NYSEArca: TBT), a double-leveraged bearish play on TLT, has added nearly $1.27 billion in assets this year despite tumbling almost 29%. To put that $1.27 billion into context, that is about $65 million more than investors have put into the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEArca: VYM), an ETF that is up 9.4% this year. [Crazy to Short Treasury ETFs]
Traders have not stopped at TBT. The Direxion Daily 20-Year Treasury Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: TMV) has added nearly $125 million since the start of the current quarter and has seen positive creation activity over the past 30 days, according to Direxion data.
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF
Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of TLT.