Aims for twice the daily return of an index of gold mining companies worldwide, using swaps. Because it resets daily, longer-term returns can differ a lot from twice the index.
NUGT, the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bull 2x ETF, is a $1.0 billion ETF whose main story is hard asset flight. Over the past year it returned −5.9%, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs. Figures to October 2, 2026; past performance, not a recommendation.
The narrative it carries
This is its only narrative.
Hard asset flight →
Gold, silver and the miners: assets held because no government issues them.
The band is where this narrative’s level sits among the 22 this week. QUIET means less talked about, not falling.
| # | ETF | SHARE | ASSETS | 1 YEAR | COST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GLD | 36.5% | $141.70bn | +7.1% | 0.40% |
| 2 | IAU | 16.0% | $62.22bn | +7.3% | 0.25% |
| 3 | GLDM | 7.9% | $30.71bn | +7.5% | 0.10% |
| 4 | SLV | 7.7% | $29.96bn | +28.7% | 0.50% |
| 5 | GDX | 6.8% | $26.25bn | +14.7% | 0.51% |
| 101 other ETFs | 25.1% |
Share is each ETF’s slice of the capital carrying this narrative. 1 year is market price total return; cost is the expense ratio. See all 106 ETFs on the narrative page →
FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN
| 1M | 3M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y* | 5Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NUGT | −20.7% | +16.9% | −19.6% | −5.9% | +82.9% | +29.6% |
| Hard asset flightits narrative | −5.7% | +3.3% | +0.3% | +14.9% | +33.7% | +19.5% |
| The marketbroad US ETFs | +0.8% | +2.6% | +14.6% | +16.8% | +22.9% | +12.9% |
1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualised. A dash means the ETF has not traded for the whole period. Since it started trading on December 8, 2010: −32.2% a year.
$10,000 invested October 31, 2016
Year by year
Total return in each calendar year; this year is year to date. A year appears only if NUGT traded for all of it.
Total return on the market price, with each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. Not the NAV return the issuer publishes; the two differ when the ETF trades above or below the value of its holdings. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it. The market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN
How closely it moves
NUGT moves largely apart from the market. When the market has moved 1%, NUGT has tended to move 1.76%.
NUGT moves closely with hard asset flight. When hard asset flight has moved 1%, NUGT has tended to move 3.64%.
Weekly returns over 157 weeks. The narrative is measured without NUGT in it, so it is not compared with itself.
ETFs it moves most and least like
Correlation of weekly returns over the last 3 years, among unlevered ETFs StoryVector covers.
Where it sits in Hard asset flight
Each dot is one of 54 unlevered ETFs whose main narrative is hard asset flight, placed by its return (up) and how much it swung (right) over the last year. NUGT is levered or inverse, so it is shown against them but not counted among them.
Risk
Cost against its peers
NUGT is levered or inverse, so it is shown against the unlevered ETFs but not ranked among them.
How it is built
Seeks 2x the daily return of its exposure, and gets its exposure through swaps. It carries the narrative but does not count toward Share of Narrative, because only unlevered long exposure does.
Narrative exposure
Common questions
What story is NUGT selling?
NUGT’s main story is hard asset flight, which covers gold, silver and the miners: assets held because no government issues them.
Which ETFs compete with NUGT?
The ETFs whose weekly returns move most like NUGT’s over the past 3 years are GDX (1.00), RING (1.00) and SGDM (0.99).
How has NUGT performed against its story?
Over the past year NUGT returned −5.9%, the ETFs carrying hard asset flight +14.9% and broad US ETFs +16.8%, to October 2, 2026. Its weekly returns have a correlation of 0.91 with the story. Past performance only.
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