The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 climbed to new record levels on Friday, closing out a strong month for equities. The Dow Jones rose 1.4% last week, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.1%.

Semiconductor stocks provided a boost to the markets after reports from Bloomberg indicated that the United States was considering less strict export restrictions on Beijing than previously feared. The United States will now reportedly add fewer Chinese companies to an export restriction list than previously planned.

Overall, November marked the best month of 2024 for the Dow and the S&P 500, driven by optimism over potential tax cuts and a post-election rally stemming from President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that gained the most last week.

Winning ETFs in Focus  

Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SMCI ETF SMCX – Up 72.2%

Super Micro Computer SMCI stock gained more than 6% last week. The stock has been on a volatile ride in recent months. The tech stock has quickly gone from a hot artificial intelligence (AI) play to becoming a risky investment that faced the chances of getting delisted.

A Hindenburg short report, DOJ probe, and the resignation of auditor Ernst & Young weighed on the stock. However, SMCI stock started to recover in late November after filing a Nasdaq compliance plan and naming a new independent auditor, easing investor concerns. The leveraged SMCI ETF SMCX was a top gainer last week.

Defiance Daily Target 2x Short MSTR ETF SMST – Up 26.8%

MicroStrategy (MSTR) stock slumped about 4% last week, probably on profit booking. The company loaded up Bitcoin and earned huge profits out of this purchase in the past month thanks to its mammoth rally. As the Trump rally fizzled a bit last week and investors booked profit on MSTR, the inverse leveraged ETF SMST managed to record sizable returns last week.

YieldMax SNOW Option Income Strategy ETF SNOY – Up 26%

Snowflake SNOW stock was up 52% last month while it was flat last week. The YieldMax SNOW Option Income Strategy ETF, which seeks current income and exposure to the share price of the common stock of Snowflake Inc., subject to a limit on potential investment gains, surged last week as it offers a less volatile exposure to SNOY investment. The SNOY ETF yields 26.14% annually.

YieldMax SMCI Option Income Strategy ETF SMCY – Up 24%

The YieldMax SMCI Option Income Strategy ETF seeks current income and exposure to the share price of the common stock of Super Micro Computer, Inc., subject to a limit on potential investment gains. The ETF SMCY offers less-volatile exposure to the SMCI stock. The ETF SMCY yields 26.17% annually.

Direxion Daily Retail Bull 3X Shares RETL – Up 20.7%

Last week embraced sales-boosting holiday season events like Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  According to the National Retail Federation, a record 183.4 million Americans are expected to shop in store or online during the Thanksgiving weekend (spanning five days from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday), surpassing last year’s record of 182 million. The shopping spree has veered investors’ focus to this leveraged retail ETF.

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