Is FAS a buy? - Seeking Alpha

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HEADLINES:

Protected Principal Retirement Strategy: Money Honey!
Akaralph • Wed, May 8 • 6 Comments
Will We Hold It Wednesday: Dow 15,000 Edition
Philip Davis • Wed, May 8 • 5 Comments
Short Selling A Pair Of Leveraged ETFs: A Goldmine Or A Bad Idea?
Ypa Finance • Tue, Apr 2 • 27 Comments
Don't Become The Biggest ETF Loser
Adam Aloisi • Mon, Apr 1 • 23 Comments
Farmer Mac Is Too Risky
Michael Nau • Wed, Mar 20 • 7 Comments
Which Way Wednesday: Sequestration Dead Ahead
Philip Davis • Wed, Feb 27 • 10 Comments
Short-Selling Daily Leveraged ETFs: Some Practicalities To Consider
Swedish Speculator • Tue, Feb 26 • 13 Comments
Best And Worst ETFs And Mutual Funds: Financials Sector
David Trainer • Mon, Feb 18 • 2 Comments
Time Investment Means More To Your Portfolio's Performance Than Capital Investment
Peter F. Way • Mon, Feb 18 • 12 Comments
Worth Repeating: Why Buy-And-Hold In Daily Leveraged ETFs Should Be Avoided
Swedish Speculator • Fri, Feb 15 • 142 Comments
Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs Year To Date
Bespoke Investment Group • Tue, Feb 12 • 2 Comments
5 Best U.S. ETFs For 2013 - January Update
Macro Investor • Mon, Jan 28 • 5 Comments
5 Best U.S. ETFs For 2013
Macro Investor • Tue, Jan 1 • 40 Comments
The Foundation Of Options Trading
Andrew Crowder • Tue, Dec 18, 2012 • 11 Comments
December Options Expiration Week Is Upon Us
Andrew Crowder • Mon, Dec 17, 2012 • 1 Comment
An Almost Risk-Free Way For Annual Return Of 50%+
Macro Investor • Sat, Dec 15, 2012 • 111 Comments
Tempting Tuesday: Things Begin To Look Up Again
Philip Davis • Tue, Dec 11, 2012 • 7 Comments
Lest We Forget: The 2011 Debt Crisis And The U.S. Credit Rating
Edward Moseley • Wed, Dec 5, 2012 • 2 Comments
Best And Worst ETFs And Mutual Funds: Financials Sector
David Trainer • Thu, Nov 1, 2012
Thank GDP It's Friday: Apple On Sale For 10x Earnings
Philip Davis • Fri, Oct 26, 2012 • 17 Comments

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Using Options To Make Money In The ETF Direxion Daily Financial Bull x3 Shares FAS
John Mylant • Wed, Nov 9, 2011 • 10 Comments
FAS and Leveraged ETF Call Spreads
David Oldenburg • Tue, Jan 11, 2011 • 1 Comment
Sector Pick of the Day: Direxion Daily Financial Bull ETF (FAS)
The Oxen Group • Mon, Oct 18, 2010
Buy Pick: Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x ETF
The Oxen Group • Sun, Oct 3, 2010 • 6 Comments
Leveraged ETFs: A Seeking Alpha Expert Panel
SA Editors • Wed, Nov 11, 2009 • 10 Comments
Using Options to Tame Leveraged ETFs
Richard Glenn • Wed, Oct 7, 2009 • 2 Comments
Using Options to Control the Risks of Leveraged ETFs
Bill Luby • Thu, May 28, 2009
What Happens When You Hold Leveraged ETFs for More than One Day?
Marc Gerstein • Wed, Mar 25, 2009 • 22 Comments
Astounding Volume in 3x Financial ETF FAS May Signal Turnaround
Microcap Speculator • Tue, Mar 10, 2009 • 15 Comments
Are FAS Options Cheap With Implied Volatility of 232?
Bill Luby • Sat, Dec 13, 2008 • 2 Comments

Protected Principal Retirement Strategy: Money Honey!
Akaralph • Wed, May 8 • 6 Comments
Will We Hold It Wednesday: Dow 15,000 Edition
Philip Davis • Wed, May 8 • 5 Comments
Short Selling A Pair Of Leveraged ETFs: A Goldmine Or A Bad Idea?
Ypa Finance • Tue, Apr 2 • 27 Comments
Don't Become The Biggest ETF Loser
Adam Aloisi • Mon, Apr 1 • 23 Comments
Farmer Mac Is Too Risky
Michael Nau • Wed, Mar 20 • 7 Comments
Which Way Wednesday: Sequestration Dead Ahead
Philip Davis • Wed, Feb 27 • 10 Comments
Short-Selling Daily Leveraged ETFs: Some Practicalities To Consider
Swedish Speculator • Tue, Feb 26 • 13 Comments
Best And Worst ETFs And Mutual Funds: Financials Sector
David Trainer • Mon, Feb 18 • 2 Comments
Time Investment Means More To Your Portfolio's Performance Than Capital Investment
Peter F. Way • Mon, Feb 18 • 12 Comments
Worth Repeating: Why Buy-And-Hold In Daily Leveraged ETFs Should Be Avoided
Swedish Speculator • Fri, Feb 15 • 142 Comments
Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs Year To Date
Bespoke Investment Group • Tue, Feb 12 • 2 Comments
5 Best U.S. ETFs For 2013 - January Update
Macro Investor • Mon, Jan 28 • 5 Comments
5 Best U.S. ETFs For 2013
Macro Investor • Tue, Jan 1 • 40 Comments
The Foundation Of Options Trading
Andrew Crowder • Tue, Dec 18, 2012 • 11 Comments
December Options Expiration Week Is Upon Us
Andrew Crowder • Mon, Dec 17, 2012 • 1 Comment
An Almost Risk-Free Way For Annual Return Of 50%+
Macro Investor • Sat, Dec 15, 2012 • 111 Comments
Tempting Tuesday: Things Begin To Look Up Again
Philip Davis • Tue, Dec 11, 2012 • 7 Comments
Lest We Forget: The 2011 Debt Crisis And The U.S. Credit Rating
Edward Moseley • Wed, Dec 5, 2012 • 2 Comments
Best And Worst ETFs And Mutual Funds: Financials Sector
David Trainer • Thu, Nov 1, 2012
Thank GDP It's Friday: Apple On Sale For 10x Earnings
Philip Davis • Fri, Oct 26, 2012 • 17 Comments

There are no Transcripts on FAS.

Howard Gold's No-Nonsense Investing: Leveraged ETFs are the worst investment ever

at MarketWatch.com (Oct 28, 2011)
ETF Focus: Top ETFs show extent of market rout

at MarketWatch.com (Sep 22, 2011)
US Stocks to See Significant Upside: Fund Manager

at CNBC.com (Sep 19, 2011)
Cody Willard: Favorite short right now, market predictions and more

at MarketWatch.com (Aug 18, 2011)
Seeking a Bet Big on Banks? Try These Triple-X ETF Funds

at CNBC.com (May 12, 2010)

FAS vs. ETF Alternatives

FAS Description

The Financial Bull 3X Shares seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300% of the price performance of the Russell 1000® Financial Services Index ("Financial Index"). There is no guarantee the fund will meet its stated investment objective.
See more details on sponsor's website

Sector: Financial

Country: United States

Key Info

In Your Portfolio: Financial Sector ETFs
Asset Class Performance: Sectors

All
| Earnings
| Dividends
| M&A
| On the move

Friday, May 17, 8:13 AM Thomas Lee lifts his year-end S&P 500 (SPY) forecast to 1,715 from 1,580 as the bull has already outrun his expectations. His team sees clues economic performance is picking up, including the outperformance of semiconductors (XSD) vs. transports (IYT), and the steepening of the 10 year/30 year Treasury curve. Risk/reward is particularly appealing in tech (XLK), healthcare (XLV), and financials (XLF). Comment!
Friday, May 17, 5:56 AM UBS upgrades global financials to Overweight from Underweight on a healing global economy, rebuilt capital, and the sector's shift "from being a net issuer to a net distributor of cash." Furthermore, the U.S. banking sector (XLF) is taken to Overweight as balance sheet strength and attractive valuations play well with the housing market recovery to create compelling opportunities. European banks (EUFN) are lifted to Neutral "with a preference towards Nordic and U.K. banks." Financials respond in London with LLoyds Banking Group (LYG) +2.3%, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) +3.3%, and Barclays (BCS) up 0.5%. 5 Comments [Financials, Global & FX]
Wednesday, May 15, 7:54 AM "You're getting cost cuts as a means of sustaining performance and that's not a great sign," says analyst Simon Maughan. "What HSBC (HBC) is showing you (job cuts earlier) is that there is very little growth in the banking industry (XLF) for years to come." CEO Stuart Gulliver notes HSBC has met its savings target, but hasn't met a goal to reduce costs as a percentage of revenue because revenue hasn't grown. 1 Comment [Financials]
Wednesday, April 24, 3:58 PM Richard Pzena (PZN) - still heavily overweight financials (XLF) and mature tech (XLK) - makes his case for global banks in today's earnings call (transcript): With capital levels of 11-13% at JPM, C, and BCS double what they were pre-crisis, will regulators allow banks to earn a decent return on said capital? A definite "yes," says Pzena, seeing no reason demand for financial products won't continue to grow faster than GDP, and noting bank managers' "laser-like focus" on improving returns. An average price-to-book ratio of 0.7x combined with a modest ROE of 12-13% suggests fair value more than double current prices. Comment! [Financials, Tech, Quick Ideas]
Thursday, April 18, 7:37 AM Coming alongside a rise in lender earnings are calls for tougher regulation, including even more stringent capital requirements. Bank profits have thrived the past few years even with all the new rules, but maybe at the expense of economic growth. "The government aimed a Stinger missile at the banking industry and missed and hit the consumer as well," says Dick Bove. The XLF has about matched the S&P's 120% rise since the March 2009 bottom. 1 Comment [Financials]
Monday, April 15, 12:28 PM The Brown/Vitter bill being rolled out in Congress is essentially Armageddon to the TBTF banks, says Goldman, seeing it as mandating another $1.1T in equity for the banking system. Banks would need 12 years of earnings to build this amount organically, though the bill would give just 5 - say goodbye to lending. Break up the banks? BAC, C, JPM, and WFC all have multiple divisions with more than $400M in assets - the level at which the bill gets tough on lenders. 22 Comments [Financials]
Monday, April 15, 11:24 AM A 2.5% move up in Citigroup following earnings is allowing the banks (XLF) to tread water or even move higher in an otherwise bright red tape. Leading the S&P on the downside is the resources sector, XLE -2.9%, XLB -2.5%. S&P 500 (SPY) -0.7%. Comment! [Financials]
Friday, April 12, 12:09 PM "Expect more pronounced slowing" in mortgage banking and loan demand, says Sterne Agee's Todd Hagerman after this morning's earnings from Wells Fargo and JPMorgan. Mortgage banking income fell as expected, but both banks reported slowing application volumes as well, suggesting future cuts to earnings estimates. XLF -0.8%. 7 Comments [Financials]
Wednesday, April 10, 3:59 PM In comments with potential implications for the banking sector, CLSA analyst Mike Mayo says he sees a rebirth of shareholder rights in the sector with institutional investors taking control of their ownership stake. A "country club sort of attitude" has been prevalent for too long among bank boards, with directors getting fired one out of 3,000 times, Mayo says. (video) Comment! [Financials]
Tuesday, April 9, 6:43 PM A Goldman Sachs note helps explain some of the recent weakness in big bank stocks and adds a warning signal: Banks that gain more than 10% in Q1 usually give back nearly all those profits in Q2 when future earnings estimates begin falling. Goldman's top concern heading into Q1 earnings is that "lackluster fundamentals could lead to a negative EPS revision cycle (which has been the trend the past few years)." 5 Comments [Financials, Quick Ideas]
Tuesday, April 9, 9:48 AM JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will lead big U.S. banks in job cuts with 17K expected through 2014, according to Bloomberg, after the six largest U.S. banks announced cuts to 1.8%, or 21K positions, during Q1. The housing rebound means many of the cuts will come in foreclosure units. Banks may tell more about their personnel plans starting this Friday when JPM and Wells Fargo (WFC) report Q1 results. 1 Comment [Financials]
Monday, April 1, 10:06 AM Each time a PNC customer deposits a check by snapping its picture on a smartphone, it saves the bank $3.88 compared to going to a teller window, says President William Demchak. Underway and gaining steam is the trend of banks nationwide closing branches and/or shrinking their size. 2 Comments [Financials]
Wednesday, March 27, 11:08 AM Stocks more than halve early losses 90 minutes into the session, SPY -0.4% an QQQ -0.3%. The financial sector (XLF -0.6%) is lit up red - not surprising given Europe's shuddering banking system. Google and Apple - each down more than 1% - lead tech lower. 5 Comments
Wednesday, March 20, 3:17 PM Bernanke press conference: Banks can not only handle a sustained increase in interest rates, but should thrive, he says, as higher rates mean increased net interest margins and a higher franchise value. Suggestion for a follow-up: What if it's short-term rates which increase? 16 Comments [U.S. Economy]
Monday, March 18, 10:12 AM Some green enters the screen a half hour after a big down open, with Apple and Hewlett-Packard (after an upgrade) notably higher. Not surprisingly banks are feeling the brunt of what's left of the EU bank-induced selloff, the XLF -1.4%. SPY -0.8%, DIA -0.4%, QQQ -0.6%. Europe's about 1% off the lows, the Stoxx 50 (FEZ) -1.5%. 4 Comments
Thursday, March 14, 5:14 PM After hours movers in the banks: JPM -2.5% and GS -2.1% after the two had their capital proposals approved but were asked to submit new plans "to address weakness in their capital planning processes." WFC +0.4%, BAC +3.8% after no dividend hike, but a whopping $10.5B in share repurchases and redemption of high-yielding preferreds. Morgan Stanley +0.9%. The XLF +0.1%. 18 Comments [Financials, On the Move]

inandoutnevertoolate
Shorted 500 $FAS AH $70.02
18 hours ago
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ltfinger
New Downgrades (4/2/13): $ACIW, $ADT, $ALK, $AOS, $BDC, $CCMP, $CNX, $CRZO, $DRN, $ESI, $FAS, $FET, $FICO, $GASL, $GCO, $GD, $GLD, $GLF
Apr 3, 1:15 AM
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ltfinger
New Upgrades (3/5/13): $ADSK, $AMP, $AMZN, $AOS, $BEAV, $BMC, $BTH, $BYI, $CAR, $CB, $CERN, $COF, $CREE, $CVX, $EXP, $FAS, $FLS, $GRA
Mar 5, 11:51 PM
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Perkins Cove
$TNA, $TZA, $FAS, $FAZ, and more Direxion....heads up, splits coming.... http://bit.ly/10c1vxy
Mar 5, 7:56 PM
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nasdaqczar
$FAS is a Sell at these levels market will likely consolidate gains with everyone looking for exits at same time $FAS could drop 20% eom
Feb 18, 6:17 AM
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Macro Investor
Go $FAS!
Jan 16, 7:41 AM
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Daniel Nadler
Citigroup historically faces very weak January Seasonality: http://stks.co/eI65 $C $SPY $XLF $FAS $FAZ
Jan 15, 8:18 PM
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Karel Ondriash
Bought some $FAS @120.05 #stockaction
12/21/12
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Joshua Hayes
Stocks Power Ahead as Strength Continues http://bit.ly/T6HkMx $FAS $XHB
12/19/12
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pablo63
SOLD FAS 110.60 , bought yesterday 107.65.
10/24/12
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Ocean Man: Nice one!
10/24/12
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LATEST REPLIES

pablo63
SOLD FAS 110.60 , bought yesterday 107.65.
10/24/12
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Ocean Man: Nice one!
10/24/12
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pablo63
BOUGHT FAS @ 107.65
10/23/12
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The Berenstain Bulls: no fear with u, eh?
10/23/12
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Justin M. Hall
9/21/12 4:33A ET: [CORRELATION] Bullish Flags & Pennant Patterns are abundant. Flags: IWM, EWM, BAC, BTU, FAS, ORB, SBND, TBT, UGAZ, UNG.
9/21/12
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Justin M. Hall: It is good to be long.
9/21/12
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Buddaus: And Strong
9/21/12
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bullbear1
CNN Fear & Greed Index has a current rating of "Extreme Greed", http://bit.ly/OpukxT VXX $UVXY $TVIX $SPY $DIA $GOOG $AAPL $FAS $XLF $VIX
8/18/12
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Bob de'Long: Their greed = my fear. Too high of market averages is what I watch; CNN's is broader.
8/18/12
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realornot: Buffet will tell you to leave as quickly as possible.
8/19/12
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briandiplacido
Bought FAS pm @ 0719. Waited all day to make 2% at the close. I'm sorry...did we rally?
6/29/12
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Ocean Man: Yes, I think it will do just that, as it did earlier this month.
7/1/12
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briandiplacido: Thanks. Several factors here that make this a better trade than most, will see about an entry tomorrow at the open.
7/1/12
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Chines33
I'm covering half of FAS short at 95
5/7/12
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Robin Heiderscheit: doubt it will see 95 today although it came close this a.m.
5/7/12
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Chines33
My fear order of business will be covering FAS in the am which will put me to all long at 30% invested will pick on further declines.
5/6/12
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Chines33: RL URBN GE ETN CMI DD QCOM SBUX KO AIG on radar
5/6/12
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1980XLS-2.0: AAPL defensive? Now that's funny.
5/7/12
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Chines33
My short FAS will be glorious in the AM
5/6/12
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Chines33: My longs not so much
5/6/12
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Ocean Man: 9400 shares of XIV short lookin pretty glorious too.
5/6/12
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Chines33
I feel really good about today...still long all my longs and finished green thanks to a lucky AIG ETP trade and short FAS
5/4/12
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Chines33: I just prefer to short the 3x ETF if I am pretty certain on the direction as opposed to dealing with potential decay.
5/4/12
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Brandon Gibbs: Ah ok that makes sense
5/5/12
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Chines33
I am short FAS still from this AM 98.40 heavy. Long AAPL ETP ESV DVN LRCX COST MDLZ EMC
5/4/12
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Chines33: So not in a hurray. I will add to ETP more quickly though.
5/4/12
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gcrain: Both look like winners with your staggered entry points.
5/5/12
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Chines33
I am excited to have cash.Finally patience paying off.I am adding slowly.Went from 20% to 30% invested today. Still short FAS while building
5/4/12
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Chines33: Will look to get 50-60% invested around 1330. If we hold there I will likely move it up to 70-75%. If we break there will wait for 1285ish.
5/4/12
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freefdawatchlist
Technical Level to watch for April 2nd http://stks.co/3ABU $PCLN,$AAPL,$GOOG,$CRM,$FOSL,$MA,$V, $FAS,$VXX,$TZA,$TVIX,$UVXY, $SPY,$DIA,$TNA,
3/31/12
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topgunner67: thank you for these updates
3/31/12
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O. Young Kwon
Sold Direxion Daily Finan. Bull 3x shs (FAS), taking a 2.9% profit (daytrading) to save cash. yk
3/15/12
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O. Young Kwon: DaLatin. Thanks. yk
3/15/12
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Oceanstats
Scottrades won't go any higher than 100.8 for FAS but it'd 102.67...LOL...what happened?
3/13/12
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Oceanstats: Still soaring in AH...103.20...DaLatin.,..see this?
3/13/12
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Kinetic Investments
Sell $FAS 250 @ $92.42 The $100K Challenge: http://bit.ly/w5vh3d
2/21/12
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SteveWa: $75 gain
2/21/12
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FAS Direxion Russell 1000 Financials Bullish 3X ETF

FAS

Direxion Russell 1000 Financials Bullish 3X ETF