It probably isn’t material for your 401(k), alright, it isn’t, but the newly minted Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bull Shares (NYSEArca: LABU) could prove to be an ideal way for active traders to juice their profits on an already high-flying industry.
Data suggest some fans of leveraged exchange traded funds are buying into that notion meaning they are buying into LABU itself. Trading in a range of more than $6.50 Monday, LABU saw turnover of about 205,000 shares , or more than five times the average volume in the ETF since it debuted on May 28. [Triple-Leveraged Biotech ETFs Come to Town]
Monday’s brisk turnover in LABU led to 100,000 new shares outstanding being created in the rookie ETF, helping its assets under management quickly double to more than $8.3 million. That may not sound like much, but hey, give LABU some credit. Monday was merely the ETF’s third trading day.
LABU attempts to deliver three times the daily returns of the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index. The S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index is the underlying benchmark for the well-known SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: XBI), the third-largest biotech ETF by assets. [More to Come for Biotech ETFs]
“The companies included in the Index have a median market capitalization of $1.54 billion and are concentrated in the energy and biotechnology sectors as of April 30, 2015. Component securities have capitalizations ranging from $320.9 million to $149.0 billion as of April 30, 2015,” according to Direxion.
LABU’s bearish cousin is the Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bear Shares (NYSEArca: LABD). The two are the first triple-leveraged biotech ETFs to come to market.
From 2012 through 2014, an average of three biotech ETFs were found among each year’s 10 best sector ETFs. This year, that number has swelled to six, which is to say there have certainly been times when a leveraged bullish biotech ETF was a fine idea.
Direxion has had success with leveraged healthcare ETFs, namely the Direxion Daily Healthcare Bull 3x Shares (NYSEArca: CURE). CURE is one of the fastest-growing leveraged ETFs and was recently split 4-for-1, giving it a more approachable price tag of just over $40 at Monday’s close.
Tables Courtesy: Direxion