DUST vs GDXU: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, DUST finished 1.7 points over and GDXU 9.9 points short. Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bear 2X ETF and MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN.
DUST returned −37.3% while −2 times GDX's move would have been −33.9%
GDXU returned +25.4% while 3 times GDX's move would have been +50.9%
DUST among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
GDXU among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. GDXU is a percentile among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months, a different set, so the two marks are not on one scale. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All leveraged ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →
Performance, window by window
| Total return | Multiple would give | Difference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DUST | GDXU | DUST | GDXU | DUST | GDXU |
| 1 month | +21.4% | −34.1% | +21.7% | −32.6% | −0.3 pts | −1.4 pts |
| 3 months | −37.3% | +25.4% | −33.9% | +50.9% | −3.4 pts | −25.5 pts |
| 6 months | −12.6% | −53.6% | +17.1% | −25.6% | −29.7 pts | −27.9 pts |
| 1 year | −62.2% | −48.1% | −31.5% | +47.2% | −30.7 pts | −95.3 pts |
| 3 years | −97.0% | +349.3% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
| Since launch DUST Dec 2010 · GDXU Dec 2020 | −100.0% | −56.1% | −134.3% | not meaningful | +34.3 pts | not meaningful |
DUST and GDXU over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
DUST and GDXU on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DUST in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: DUST returned −37.3% where its own daily promise gave −39.0%, 1.7 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times GDX's 17.0% implies −33.9%, which makes DUST look 3.4 points short. 5.1 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. DUST aims to return -2 times GDX's move each day, then resets. Over one day it does that. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not -2 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more. GDX moved at 48% annualized over that window. That is what decides how far the two figures separate: the same fund on a calm underlying and a violent one is a different product.
GDXU in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: GDXU returned +25.4% where its own daily promise gave +35.3%, 9.9 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 3 times GDX's 17.0% implies +50.9%, which makes GDXU look 25.5 points short. 15.6 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. GDXU aims to return +3 times GDX's move each day, then resets. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not +3 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more.
Questions people ask
- Which came closer to its stated multiple, DUST or GDXU?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, DUST finished 3.4 points from what its multiple implies and GDXU finished 25.5 points from its own, so DUST came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are DUST and GDXU levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on gold miners, DUST at -2 times and GDXU at +3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, DUST or GDXU?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window DUST’s moved at 48% annualized and GDXU’s at 48%, so DUST has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold DUST or GDXU for a year?
- Both reset every day, so the multiple in the name applies to a single day and the daily results compound. Over a year the total is not the multiple times the year’s move, and in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less. ETFIQ makes no recommendation either way.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
ETFIQ, DUST against GDXU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dust-vs-gdxu
Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, DUST against GDXU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dust-vs-gdxu Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, DUST against GDXU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dust-vs-gdxu
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). DUST against GDXU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dust-vs-gdxu
- Markdown
- [DUST against GDXU (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dust-vs-gdxu)