STSM vs TSMX: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, STSM finished 0.1 points short and TSMX 3.2 points short. Defiance Daily Target 2X Short TSM ETF and Direxion Daily TSM Bull 2X ETF.
STSM returned −13.9% while −2 times TSM's move would have been −5.9%
TSMX returned −0.2% while 2 times TSM's move would have been +5.9%
STSM among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
TSMX among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. TSMX 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 | STSM | TSMX | STSM | TSMX | STSM | TSMX |
| 1 month | −18.9% | +19.6% | −20.3% | +20.3% | +1.3 pts | −0.7 pts |
| 3 months | −13.9% | −0.2% | −5.9% | +5.9% | −8.0 pts | −6.1 pts |
| 6 months | −57.5% | +55.6% | −68.5% | +68.5% | +10.9 pts | −12.9 pts |
| 1 year | not published | +106.7% | not published | +130.1% | not published | −23.4 pts |
| Since launch STSM Nov 2025 · TSMX Oct 2024 | −76.1% | +283.2% | −131.7% | not meaningful | +55.6 pts | not meaningful |
STSM and TSMX over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
STSM and TSMX on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
STSM in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: STSM returned −13.9% where its own daily promise gave −13.8%, 0.1 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times TSM's 3.0% implies −5.9%, which makes STSM look 8.0 points short. 7.9 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. STSM aims to return -2 times TSM'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. TSM moved at 34% 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.
TSMX in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: TSMX returned −0.2% where its own daily promise gave +3.0%, 3.2 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 2 times TSM's 3.0% implies +5.9%, which makes TSMX look 6.1 points short. 2.9 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. TSMX aims to return +2 times TSM's move each day, then resets. 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.
Questions people ask
- Which came closer to its stated multiple, STSM or TSMX?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, STSM finished 8.0 points from what its multiple implies and TSMX finished 6.1 points from its own, so TSMX came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are STSM and TSMX levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, STSM at -2 times and TSMX at +2 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, STSM or TSMX?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window STSM’s moved at 34% annualized and TSMX’s at 34%, so STSM has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold STSM or TSMX 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, STSM against TSMX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/stsm-vs-tsmx
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, STSM against TSMX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/stsm-vs-tsmx Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, STSM against TSMX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/stsm-vs-tsmx
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). STSM against TSMX. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/stsm-vs-tsmx
- Markdown
- [STSM against TSMX (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/stsm-vs-tsmx)