What Do Ford, LockMart, and Shopify have in Common?

Let's talk specifically about some new bull and bear ETFs that Direction recently launched, linked to Ford Motors, Shopify, and Lockheed Martin. Congrats on the recent launches. What type of traders might be interested in Direction's bull and bear ETFs linked to these companies?

I think what's interesting about these three names is, in some ways, they're non-traditional in terms of how they fit together. The through-line between Lockheed Martin and Shopify is quite wide. If you were to look at Direction Social Media, I think we did a very nice job of highlighting a fighter jet with a shopping cart on top of it, which makes the story kind of tell itself. As it pertains to the underlying names, I think what we see is traders are interested in three companies that are leaders within their given industries.

Thinking about someone like Ford, clearly in the midst of an evolution, there's been some more recent news off of the second wave of the Model T movement within Ford and this Christmas tree assembly line that they're putting together. A nice social plug as well, in terms of some of the things that are behind that. One who wants to ride the wave from a potential electronic shift happening at someone like Ford, there is an opportunity there. If one thinks that the moment maybe has passed for a long-time automotive American-made manufacturer, you have an opportunity to take the other side from a trading perspective and express that short-term view.

With something like Shopify, I think we see an emerging e-commerce company that's really the backbone of a number of not only online sites but increasingly brick-and-mortar retailers that exist not only here in the US but globally as well. I think offering investors and traders an opportunity to be on either side is valuable.

When we look at Lockheed Martin, the news yesterday with President Trump and Mr. Putin meeting in Alaska is very telling in terms of the geopolitical landscape. It is ever-evolving, and at the nexus of that is aerospace and defense companies, with Lockheed Martin here in the US being a leader. The same trend kind of applies, allowing for our traders to seek those opportunities that may present themselves in the market to express a view on either side.