“Betting against Russian stocks this year was a bad idea, so tripling down was even worse. Direxion Daily Russia Bear 3x Shares — an exchange-traded fund which makes leveraged investments against Russian equities that essentially triple the wager — fell 61 percent through Friday in the third-worst performance among almost 1,000 U.S.-domiciled funds. Among the top performers as recently as January, the $53 million fund now trades near a record low as Brent crude’s slump and rebound whipsawed investors in the world’s largest energy producer,” reports Elena Popina for Bloomberg.
Recent price action in RSX is encouraging, particularly when considering market observers widely expect Russia’s worst post-Soviet era recession to extend throughout this year.
Related: Russia ETFs Reward, but Caution is Required
Onlookers remain cautious over the market outlook. While President Vladimir Putin and other Russian politicians argue that the worst is over, the economy is expected to remain in a recession for the year. Russia’s GDP is expected to contract again this year, extending what is becoming a lengthy recession.
Investors could also be lured back to RSX and Russian stocks due to some of the emerging world’s cheapest valuations. RSX is home to some of the emerging world’s least expensive stocks. The largest Russia ETF trading in the ETF allocates over 37% of its weight to energy stocks, by far its biggest sector weight.
Direxion Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares
