The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) is trading slightly lower again Wednesday, extending the largest gold exchange traded fund’s one-month loss to almost 7.3%. GLD is also positioned to extend its losing streak to eight days.
None of that should be good for gold miners ETFs and it has not been, but the somber outlook for the miners has not deterred some traders from continuing to pour cash into leveraged bull ETFs tracking downtrodden gold miners equities.
On Tuesday, traders allocated nearly $30.5 million to the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: NUGT), more than was allocated to any other of Direxion’s leveraged bull funds, according to issuer data.
Inflows to NUGT, an ETF that has tumbled 58.5% over the past month and is hitting new lows again today, are not new. On Monday, traders added $40. 5 million to NUGT, nearly double the amount added to the next-best asset-gathering ETF sponsored by Direxion. Although NUGT and the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bull 3x Shares (NYSEArca: JNUG) were pounded last Friday, traders poured a combined $56 million into the funds, according to Direxion data. None of Direxion’s triple-leveraged ETFs saw larger inflows than the $39.1 million hauled in by NUGT last Friday. Only NUGT and the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3x Shares (NYSEArca: SPXS) took in more new cash than the $16.9 million added by JNUG. [Traders Crushed by Leveraged Miners ETFs]
Interestingly, some traders appear to be leery of NUGT’s one-day winning streak and poured $6.5 million into the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: DUST) on Tuesday. When NUGT closed higher on Tuesday, it snapped a five-day losing streak. On the other hand, DUST has more than doubled over the past month and has closed higher in five of the past six sessions prior to Wednesday. [Trouble Lurks for Gold Miners ETFs]