LABD is the bear side of the biotech pair, targeting -300% of the index's daily move. It is one of the most actively traded inverse sector funds, largely because biotech's volatility gives it something to work with almost every session.
Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bear 3X ETF (LABD) is currently trading at $6.48. Over the past 52 weeks, LABD has traded between a low of $5.91 and a high of $59.60. Recent daily volume is around 18.2M. These figures update live as the market moves.
Short swap exposure to an equal-weighted biotech index, rebalanced daily. Because the index is equal-weighted and its constituents are volatile, the decay from daily resetting bites harder here than in a broad-market inverse fund — choppy sideways action in biotech is unusually destructive to a held LABD position.
Short-term traders positioning against speculative risk appetite, and holders of biotech positions hedging around a binary event they cannot exit. It also attracts traders using it as a proxy for small-cap risk generally, since the two tend to sell off together.
Failed trial readouts, adverse FDA rulings, and any sharp rise in rates — long-duration growth assets reprice hardest when discount rates move. Watch it alongside TZA: when both bid at once, the market is shedding speculative risk broadly rather than reacting to sector news.