Banking Crisis 2.0? The "Contagion" ETF That Gains 3% for Every 1% Banks Drop
2026-02-22 12:20:00 ET
Lost in the commotion of the Global Financial Crisis was the fact that, back then, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were young. They still are in financial market terms, but in 2008, the State Street SPDR® S&P 500 ETF Trust , which was the first ETF to trade in U.S., was just 15 years old.
Yet even with that relative youth, one of the "stars" of the crisis was an ETF: The Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSEMKT: FAZ) . That fund and its bullish counterpart, the Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSEMKT: FAS) , rose to prominence during the crisis, to the point that they were bandied about in mainstream financial media by their tickers alone.
This famous ETF is a contrarian bet against the financial services sector. Image source: Getty Images.
NASDAQ: FAZ
FAZ Trading
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