U.S. stocks were in the red for the month of February, after charging higher to kick off 2023, the S&P 500 fell 2.61%, the Dow slid 4.19% and the Nasdaq shed 1.11%. However, these 10 best-performing ETFs gained over 20%. Short gold miners or Chinese stocks, and long Tesla are three strategies that can outperform the markets.
Gold Faces Worst Month Since June 2021 As Rate-Hike Fears Dominate
Gold prices touched their highest since April 2022 in early February, but soon reversed course. FUT:Gold - main 2304 fell 5.66% in February, but MicroSectors Gold Miners -3x Inverse Leveraged ETN, Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 2X Shares rose 57.87%、37.45% and 36.24% separately.
The main reasons are a stronger dollar and fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep raising interest rates weighed on the non-yielding asset’s appeal.
Fed Governor Philip Jefferson said he was under “no illusion” that the U.S. central bank’s fight to curb inflation would end soon.
Before that, a few members of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee favored raising the central bank's key rate by 50 basis points, according to the minutes of the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting. The central bank's policymaking arm had hiked its key rate by 25 bps and signaled more hikes ahead.
Alibaba and JD Which Fell Over 20% in February Dragged Chinese Stocks Down
Alibaba fell 20.34% while JD crashed 25.35% in February, but investors who bet on FTSE China Bear 3X Shares, ProShares UltraShort FTSE China 50 gained 39.33% and 24.88% separately. Alibaba turned down again as investors worried about its growth outlook, according to the company’s earnings release, growth was mainly bolstered by sales from its international units, which rose by 18% year-on-year. Its core China commerce business, including revenues from shopping sites Taobao and Tmall, actually slid by 1%.
JD is launching a 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) subsidy campaign in early March to compete against rival PDD Holdings, whose budget shopping app Pinduoduo has been on a meteoric rise. The falling stock prices showed that investors may believe JD.com is too late in responding to its challenger.
Moreover, the battle in China's e-commerce market has been fierce in the past few years, as traditional online retailers face increasing threats from short-video platforms Douyin and Kuaishou.
Master Plan 3 Cheered up Investors’ Enthusiasm for Tesla
Tesla is convening its first Investor Day event on March 1st at its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, the main showpiece of this event will be the third iteration of Tesla’s Master Plan.
Musk has said that it will outline “the path to a fully sustainable energy future for Earth,” adding that “the future is bright!” While that seems pretty vague, Musk has teased more specific aspects, tweeting in March 2022 that the plan will also represent a convergence of Tesla with two of his other companies, SpaceX and The Boring Company.
Tesla stock gained 18.76% in February and rose 67% in 2023, meanwhile, Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 1.5X Shares, GraniteShares 1.25X Long TSLA Daily ETF and YIELDMAX TSLA OPTION INCOME STRATEGY ETF rose 29.41%, 24.41% and 20.42% in February.