A familiar face is dominating the exchange-traded fund leaderboard, with more than half of the top 10 ranked by annual gains coming from one firm: Direxion.
"All the Direxion ETFs referenced are magnified bull products and the corresponding underlying indices or individual single stocks that they track are all up +45%+ year-to-date, thus reflecting the strong performance of a magnified bullish view," Ed Egilinsky, managing director at Direxion, told FOX Business.
The list tracked is compiled by VettaFi.
The uptrend kicked in after stocks hit yearly lows in April concentrated in "gold miner stock indices, uranium stocks, semiconductors, and AI single stock names such as Micron and Palantir, along with defense stocks, have been leading the market higher," he added.
Gold prices, for example, have doubled in price this year, topping a record $4,000 an ounce as investors load up on safer assets amid global uncertainty and what is seen as a long-running government shutdown.
Stacked gold bars as prices hit a record in October 2025. (Mike Segar/Reuters / Reuters Photos)
Despite U.S. stocks hitting fresh record highs last week, Friday’s carnage, which shaved nearly 900 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average, came from an unexpected U.S.-China trade spat with President Donald Trump threatening a tariff slap after China outlined rare-earth export controls. The swift reversal is a cautionary tale of how quickly markets can turn.
Still, U.S. stocks rebounded on Monday.
"However, despite the strong performance year-to-date, most markets don’t trend higher indefinitely, and our products are designed as short-term trading tools for active traders and should be monitored daily," he advised before last week’s sell-off.
The firm’s inflows may also be flashing a directionary shift.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
"On the flip side, most of our biggest inflows year-to-date are within bear funds, as traders are either looking for a reversal in the market as they feel it is overextended or utilizing it as a short-term hedge," Egilinsky added.
Whether market sentiment is bullish or bearish, the ETF industry itself is on track for another record year topping $1 trillion of inflows as soon as this week, according to Matt Bartolini, global head of research strategists at State Street Investment Management.