Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 1x Shares

Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 1x Shares (SPDN) aims to deliver the opposite of the S&P 500's return for a single day. It does this mainly through swap agreements rather than by owning stocks, and it resets that exposure every trading day, so results over months or years can drift far from -1x the index. Its 0.48% expense ratio is well below the 0.89% charged by ProShares Short S&P500 (SH), the other -1x S&P 500 fund in its group.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, SPDN returned -6.7%, 1st of 6 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was -7.4% and its 10-year -12.4%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash, while stocks fell, it gained 42.9%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2020 (-24.6%); its best was 2022 (+18.6%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 75.7% (Jun 27, 2016 to Aug 13, 2026), not yet recovered.

As of Jul 31, 2026, most of the fund sat in cash, Treasury bills and money-market holdings (83.43% of net assets), with its inverse exposure coming from 2 swap and futures positions rather than from owning the stocks outright.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $70.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: -4.53%, +1.31%, +0.56%.

SPDN tracks the S&P 500 in reverse. S&P Dow Jones Indices picks the index's 500 leading large US companies based on size, financial health, sector, public float (shares available to trade) and trading volume, then weights them by market value. As of December 31, 2025, the index had 503 members and was concentrated in information technology. The fund doesn't buy those stocks. It invests at least 80% of net assets in swaps, futures or short positions that gain when the index falls. A swap is a contract in which a financial firm agrees to pay the fund the opposite of the index's return. As of July 31, 2026, the fund held two S&P 500 index swaps, with 83.43% of assets in cash and similar holdings.

At each day's close, Rafferty Asset Management resets exposure to -1x. After the index falls, the fund's assets rise and exposure is increased. After it rises, exposure is cut. Because each day's return compounds on the last, the prospectus says returns over longer periods will very likely differ from -100% of the index. The fund loses money if the index ends flat, and it can lose money even while the index falls.

The fund creates and redeems shares mainly for cash, so it isn't expected to be tax efficient. It also depends on a small number of swap counterparties (the firms on the other side of its contracts).

• SPDN charges 0.48% a year, versus an average of 0.89% for the similar funds below.
• Of that, 0.35% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• The fee includes a 0.06% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $49 in the first year and $671 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

The prospectus says the fund targets the opposite of the S&P 500 for one day only, and its value fell 73% over the 10 years through October 27, 2026.

SPDN launched in 2016, so it has no 2008 record. It did rise during sell-offs: it gained 42.9% from the market's February 19, 2020 peak to the March 23, 2020 low, and 28.3% during the 2022 bear market. Those gains faded as stocks recovered. It lost money in every full calendar year from 2017 to 2025 except 2018 and 2022, with its worst year in 2020 (-24.57%). From its June 27, 2016 peak it fell 75.7% to August 13, 2026 and had not recovered. Anyone holding it long term and needing to sell in a bad year would likely have sold at a loss. The 3.79% trailing yield, paid quarterly as of October 27, 2026, didn't make up for those losses. The expense ratio is 0.48%. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by leveraged/inverse funds on the same index (s&p 500), same direction.