Direxion Adds Leveraged Long/Short Treasury ETFs
February 26, 2010

SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) – Direxion Shares has launched a pair of leveraged bull and bear ETFs linked to the performance of short term U.S. Treasuries.

The Direxion Daily 2-Year Treasury Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: TWOL) has the investment goal of delivering 300% daily leverage to 2-year U.S. Treasury notes.  Aiming to do the exact opposite, is the Daily 2-Year Treasury Bear 3x Shares (NYSEArca: TWOZ) which attempts to deliver 300% daily inverse performance to 2-year U.S. Treasury notes.

The NYSE Current 2-Year U.S. Treasury Index is a one-security index comprised of the most recently issued 2-Year Treasury Note.  Notes eligible for inclusion must be U.S. dollar-denominated Treasury notes with a fixed rate, non-zero coupon that are non-callable with a maturity of 2 years at issuance.

Both Direxion ETFs have annual expense ratios of 0.95%.

The Boston, MA-based investment manager also offers bull and bear Treasury ETFs with longer durations. 

The Direxion Daily  10-Year Treasury Bull 3x Shares (NYSEArca: TYD) and Direxion Daily  30-Year Treasury Bull 3x Shares (NYSEArca: TMF) attempt to deliver 300% daily performance to U.S. Treasuries with 10 and 30 year maturities.

For investors who are bearish on the prospects of U.S. government debt, the Direxion Daily 10-Year Treasury Bear 3x Shares (NYSEArca: TYO) and the Direxion Daily 30-Year Treasury Bear 3x Shares (NYSEArca: TMV) aim for triple daily inverse performance.  For example, if 30-year Treasuries declined by 1% on any given day, TMV should theoretically increase by roughly 3% in value.

Direxion manages 28 leveraged long/short ETFs with close to $5 billion under management.

In related new product offerings, Emerging Global Advisors (EGA) debuted a Brazil Infrastructure ETF (NYSEArca: BRXX). BRXX is linked to a basket of 30 Brazilian stocks which are free-float market capitalization weighted. The fund is heavily weighted towards companies involved in mining, telecommunications and electric utilities. The median market size of stocks inside BRXX is $5.4 billion.

Over the past several months EGA has been rolling out industry sector ETFs that target emerging markets. At the end of January, EGA had $61 million in ETF assets.

BRXX’s annual expenses are 0.85%.