5 Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs of Last Week

Tuesday, Mar 24, 2026 12:02 pm ET2min read
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Aime RobotAime Summary

- Global markets faced volatility last week due to ongoing conflicts, with oil prices surging above $112/barrel and U.S. equities nearing correction levels.

- Trump's opposition to an Iran ceasefire heightened uncertainty, while major ETFs like SPYSPY--, DIA, and QQQQQQ-- dropped ~3% amid economic stability concerns.

- Leveraged inverse ETFs outperformed: SMCZSMCZ-- (+63.6%), GDXD (+51.7%), and ZSLZSL-- (+36.1%) capitalized on declines in SMCISMCI--, gold miners, and silver861125-- prices.

Wall Street was subdued last week. The ongoing conflict has fueled sharp swings across global markets, particularly in commodities.Oil prices surged past $112 per barrel on Friday, stoking concerns about inflation and economic stability.

U.S. equities also weakened, with the Russell 2000 falling more than 10% off its recent high, becoming the first of the major U.S. benchmarks to fall into correction territory this year, as quoted on CNBC.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite also neared a 10% drop from recent highs — a level typically considered a market correction.Adding to uncertainty, President Donald Trump signaled that he does not favor a ceasefire with Iran.

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Avg ETF Trust DIA and the Nasdaq-100-heavy fund Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ each retreated about 3%.

Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs in Focus

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning leveraged ETFs of last week.

Defiance Daily Target 2X Short SMCI ETF SMCZ – Up 63.6%

Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI lost about 35% last week. The Defiance Daily Target 2X Short SMCISMCI-- ETF seeks daily inverse investment results of -2 times the daily percentage change in the share price of Super Micro ComputerSMCI--, Inc. The expense ratio of the fund is 1.29%.

MicroSectors Gold Miners -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs GDXD – Up 51.7%

VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX was off 13.8% last week. The MicroSectors Gold Miners -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs is linked to a three times inverse leveraged participation in the performance of the S-Network MicroSectors Gold Miners Index. The expense ratio of the fund is 0.95%.

ProShares UltraShort Silver ZSL – Up 36.1%

iShares Silver Trust SLV retreated about 16% last week. The ProShares UltraShort Silver seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to two times the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance the Bloomberg Silver Subindex. The expense ratio of the fund is 0.95%.

Defiance Daily Target 2x Long LMND ETF LMNX – Up 25.5%

Lemonade Inc. LMND advanced about 14.4% last week. The Defiance Daily Target 2x Long LMND ETF seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of two times the daily percentage change in the share price of Lemonade, Inc. The expense ratio of the fund is 1.31%.


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Invesco QQQ (QQQ): ETF Research Reports

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY): ETF Research Reports

Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI): Free Stock Analysis Report

State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA): ETF Research Reports

iShares Silver Trust (SLV): ETF Research Reports

VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX): ETF Research Reports

ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL): ETF Research Reports

Lemonade, Inc. (LMND): Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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