Risk-off events that coincide with greater market volatility may be a headache for some, but for others, the wide swings open an opportunity to quickly capitalize on the turns with leveraged and inverse exchange traded funds.
The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, surged 41.9% Thursday. Additionally, VIX futures-related ETFs climbed, with the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (NYSEArca: VXX) up 13.9%, ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSEArca: VIXY) up 14.7%, VelocityShares Daily Long VIX Short-Term ETN (NYSEArca: VIIX) up 13.9% and REX VolMAXX Long VIX Weekly Futures Strategy ETF (BATS: VMAX) up 18.7%.
Traders may have also jumped on proxies for safe-haven gold through gold miners, like Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bull 3x Shares (NYSEArca: JNUG) and Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: NUGT), which are up 4.8% and 6.4%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the equities market and sector-specific plays have been hit by the recent risk-off sentiment. For instance, the Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: TECL) declined 5.9% Thursday.
As traders seek out ways to hedge their fixed-income and equity portfolios against these swift short-term turns, it is better to have a plan in place than to give in to emotional trades, which may often do more harm than good.
“We encourage people to be looking, thinking and implementing a strategy,” Andy O’Rourke, Managing Director, Chief Marketing Officer of Direxion, told ETF Trends in a call.
“Traders should get a handle on entry and exit points,” David Fajardo, SVP, ETF Marketing, Chief Content Officer of Direxion, told ETF Trends.
On-Demand Webcast: ETF Strategies to Capitalize on Short-Term Moves
Traders may implement a trend-following strategy based on technical analysis of short-term moves around the 50-day moving average. If an ETF breaks above its 50-day after a prolonged period of underperformance, then an investor may consider a position.
Alternatively, after a pullback from recent highs, a trader could consider re-positioning in an ETF that slipped below its 50-day. If conditions are painful enough and an ETF goes below its 200-day line, it may also signal a buying opportunity, especially given the ongoing positive outlook for U.S. markets.
For more information on geared products, visit our leveraged ETFs category.