GUSH and DRIP are “not a 100% proxy to oil, but they are highly correlated,” David Fajardo, Senior Vice President of Direxion Investments, told ETF Trends in a call. “They seem to be a decent proxy.”
For those who are more faint of heart, consider the ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEArca: UOP), which takes the 2x or 200% daily performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index, and the inverse -2x version ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (NYSEArca: SOP). Over the past month, UOP rose 21.1% and SOP dropped 38.1%.
Aggressive oil traders, though, may still garner leveraged exposure to the oil market moves through other fund options. For instance, while they are not as big as the popular triple-leveraged ETNs, bullish traders can consider the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSEArca: UCO), which takes two times or 200% daily performance of WTI crude oil, and bearish investors can take a look at the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSEArca: SCO), which tries to reflect the two times inverse or -200% daily performance of WTI crude oil, and DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (NYSEArca: DTO), which also follows a -200% performance of oil.
Traders that like the idea of triple-leveraged oil exchange traded products might not be without for long. United States Commodities Funds (USCF) has already filed plans for a triple-leveraged crude oil product.
Potential investors should note that these geared ETFs are not like traditional beta-index funds and should be aware of the risks associated with these products. Traders should keep in mind that these leveraged ETFs are designed to produce double or triple the performance of the underlying market on a daily basis. Consequently, when investors look at the long-term performance of a typical leveraged ETF, people may notice that the funds do not perfectly reflect their intended strategies.