The takeaway
Direxion Daily MSCI Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares shows a pronounced seasonal pattern over 10 years of data — strongest in February (+5.2%) and softest in July (−4.9%).
Right now
In July, the fund has fallen 20% of years, averaging −4.9%, roughly 7.1 pts behind the S&P 500.
The full picture
Direxion Daily MSCI Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares's most dependable month has been February, higher in 6 of 10 years; July has been its least reliable, up just 20% of the time.
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Month by month
The fund's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in February (+5.4 pts); it has trailed the market most in July (−7.1 pts).
“vs S&P” is Direxion Daily MSCI Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating Direxion Daily MSCI Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, February has closed higher 60% of the time versus 60% across the last 10 years — the pattern is holding.
Figures are the typical (median) February return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 10(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 10-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
February looks the standout, up in 6 of 10 Februaries — yet the appeal is lumpy, leaning on the occasional blow-out year rather than dependable strength.
The headline flatters a touch — its +5.2% average sits well above the +3.0% a typical year delivers, the work of a few big Februaries. That reliability comes with real swings, mind — even February ranges by 11.5% from year to year, so any single year can land far from the average. Crucially, the gain is the fund's own rather than a rising tide's: February has cleared the S&P 500 by +5.4 points above the index. It bucks the broad tape, besides: February lifts just 49% of stocks across the market.
Only November comes anywhere near it for reliability. At the other end of the calendar, July has been the soft spot — the weakest of 9 months that average a loss (−4.9%), and the edge isn't year-round — the fund has trailed the S&P 500 in July, November, and January. Its roughest month on record was a −33.3% November in 2022 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
Reassuringly, the tendency has held its shape: the recent five years still track the years behind them.
Hold it loosely, then: the February tendency is genuine but lumpy, more about the occasional outsized year than a gain to bank on. With returns that swing hard year to year, the signal is best held loosely.
Short answers on the fund's best month (February), its worst (July), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a pronounced degree. Since 2016 its best month (February, +5.2%) has run well ahead of its worst (July, −4.9%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
February has been the strongest, averaging +5.2% and closing higher in 6 of 10 years since 2016.
It's the weakest, averaging −4.9% — historically a soft spot, though it still varies from year to year.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
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