I’m a big fan of ETF’s that offer unique ways to play the market and while ProShares and Direxion are the best in this regard, Rydex has a few inverse and leveraged ETFs worth a look.  The Rydex ETFs aren’t as liquid as some of the other ETFs so you certainly have to be careful, but thought I’d provide a couple of the more liquid Rydex ETF funds. 

– Rydex 2x S&P 500 (RSU) trades 292K shares a day and seeks to double the return of the S&P
– Rydex Inverse 2x S&P 500 (RSW) trades 86K shares a day and seeks to return double the inverse of the S&P, great for hedging
– Rydex S&P Equal Weight (RSP) trades 555K shares a day and seeks to return the performance of the S&P Equal Weight Index

– Rydex Russell Top 50 (XLG) trades 280K shares a day and seeks to return the performance of the Russell Top 50.  The Russell Top 50 includes large cap growth companies such as Exxon Mobile, Proctor & Gamble, GE, Microsoft, J&J, AT&T, Chevron, JP Morgan, IBM and Walmart.

Excluding the inverse Rydex ETFs which have obviously done very well in this bear market, their best performing ETF year to date is the Rydex S&P Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RHS) with a YTD return of -27%.  It’s highly illiquid though, trading just 8K shares a day.  No surprise on the worst performer this year…. its the Rydex S&P Equal Weight Financial ETF (RYF) down 63% this year! Ouch.