Those bullish performances could be a sign that markets have priced what are expected to be troubling results from bullion producers. Last month, Goldcorp said it expects to record an impairment charge of $2.3 billion to $2.7 billion, which could negate retained earnings of $2.2 billion. Due to significant writedowns in years when gold prices sank, Goldcorp, Barrick and other members of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index are left with negative retained earnings, according to The Financial Post.
Investors have largely ignored that theme this year, pouring over $885 million into GDX, one of the best inflow tallies among all non-leveraged sector ETFs.
Still, there is evidence risk-tolerant traders are willing to bet there is downside to come for the miners. NUGT, the triple-leveraged bullish answer to GDX, has seen year-to-date departures of $226 million while DUST has added over $144 million in new assets. [Interesting Action in Leveraged Miners ETFs]
Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares
