FAS targets three times the daily move of the Financial Select Sector Index — the large US banks, insurers, exchanges and asset managers. Financials are the sector most directly geared to interest rates and the credit cycle, which gives FAS a character quite unlike the technology-leveraged funds.
Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X ETF (FAS) is currently trading at $184.23. Over the past 52 weeks, FAS has traded between a low of $106.91 and a high of $187.25. Recent daily volume is around 338.2K. These figures update live as the market moves.
Swap exposure to the financial sector index, rebalanced daily. The index is market-cap weighted and concentrated in the largest banks and payment networks, so a handful of names drive most of the movement — this is not a broad bet on regional banking.
The shape of the yield curve, more than its level: banks borrow short and lend long, so a steepening curve widens net interest margins. Beyond that, credit quality, loan-loss provisions and regulatory capital rules matter. Financials also front-run the economic cycle, which is why the sector often turns before the broader index does.
Big-bank earnings, which cluster at the start of each reporting season and set the tone for the whole market. Also Fed decisions, the annual stress-test results, and any episode of credit stress. FAS and DPST move together, but DPST's regional-bank focus makes it the more violent of the two.