25 Best Long ETFs (Bullish ETFs) in 2024

Written by Blain Reinkensmeyer, Sam Levine, CFA, CMT
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis

September 23, 2024

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are a great way to invest in the stock market as a whole, a specific industry, or an index. ETFs trade like stocks, meaning their price fluctuates each day as buyers and sellers trade shares. Thus, the value of an ETF is not calculated like a mutual fund.

Long ETFs are a great way for investors to go long on different sectors or indices without having to actually buy physical shares of stock.

With leveraged ETFs, Ultra (2x) and UltraPro (3x), the return is twice and triple the regular performance of the benchmark index the ETF tracks. Note this is twice the DAILY return; leveraged ETFs should not be traded long, only day traded, to avoid pricing differentiation.

Best long ETFs

Following up on our popular list of the best Inverse / Short ETFs For Bearish Investors, here is a full list of the best long and leveraged ETFs, including 2x and 3x long (bullish) ETFs.

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Long / Bullish S&P 500 ETFs (1x, 2x, 3x)

ETF NAME	TICKER	LEVERAGE	BENCHMARK INDEX
Long S&P 500	SPY	1x	S&P 500
UltraLong S&P 500	SSO	2x	S&P 500
Direxion S&P 500 Bull 2x	SPUU	2x	S&P 500 Index
UltraPro Long S&P 500	UPRO	3x	S&P 500
Direxion S&P 500 Bull 3x	SPXL	3x	S&P 500 Index
Long Mid Cap 400	IJH	1x	S&P Mid Cap 400
UltraLong Mid Cap 400	MVV	2x	S&P Mid Cap 400
Direxion Mid Cap Bull 2x	MDLL	2x	S&P Mid Cap 400 Index
UltraPro Long Mid Cap 400	UMDD	3x	S&P Mid Cap 400
Direxion Mid Cap Bull 3x	MIDU	3x	S&P Mid Cap 400 Index
UltraPro Long Small Cap 600	SAA	3x	S&P Small Cap 600

Long / Bullish NASDAQ 100 ETFs (1x, 2x, 3x)

ETF NAME	TICKER	LEVERAGE	BENCHMARK INDEX
Long QQQ	QQQ	1x	Nasdaq 100
UltraLong QQQ	QLD	2x	Nasdaq 100
UltraPro Long QQQ	TQQQ	3x	Nasdaq 100

Long / Bullish Russell ETFs (1x, 2x, 3x)

ETF NAME	TICKER	LEVERAGE	BENCHMARK INDEX
Long Russell 2000	IWM	1x	Russell 2000
UltraLong Russell 2000	UWM	2x	Russell 2000
Direxion Small Cap Bull 2x	SMLL	2x	Russell 2000
UltraPro Long Russell 2000	URTY	3x	Russell 2000
Direxion Small Cap Bull 3x	TNA	3x	Russell 2000
Direxion Financial Long 3x	FAS	3x	Russell 1000 Financial Services
Direxion Retail Long 3x	RETL	3x	Russell 1000 Retail
Direxion Energy Long 3x	ERX	3x	Russell 1000 Energy

Long / Bullish Dow Jones ETFs (1x, 2x, 3x)

ETF NAME	TICKER	LEVERAGE	BENCHMARK INDEX
Long Dow 30	DIA	1x	Dow Jones Industrial Average
UltraLong Dow 30	DDM	2x	Dow Jones Industrial Average
UltraPro Long Dow 30	UDOW	3x	Dow Jones Industrial Average

FAQs

What is an ETF?

An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is a basket of individual securities held under one product that tracks an index, group of stocks, commodity, etc. but is traded like a stock on a stock exchange. The first big point to note is that an ETF is NOT a mutual fund; ETFs prices change throughout the day just like a stock. You can read more about ETFs and how they work in this article.

The most popular ETFs are the index funds. Want to invest in the NASDAQ? Then buy shares of ETF "QQQ". Want to be short the NASDAQ? Then buy some shares of "PSQ", which is the 1x inverse of the Nasdaq 100. There are also ETFs that track the S&P 500, using the ticker "SPY", or the Dow Jones Industrials, with the ticker "DIA".

Bottom line: Every major stock market index has an ETF representing both long and short.

What is a bullish ETF?

A bullish ETF is an exchange-traded fund that moves more in the same direction than its reference stock or index. Though these investments are called “bullish,” note that they are just leveraged in the same direction as the reference stock or index. That can lead to significant losses when the reference declines.

What is a 3x Bull ETF?

A 3x Bull ETF uses leverage to provide its investors three times the daily (or some other period’s) performance of an underlying stock, index, or other financial asset. For example, if the Dow moves up by 2% in a day, a corresponding 3x daily Bull ETF should increase in value by 6%.

What is 2x leverage?

An investment with 2x leverage should experience twice the performance of an underlying financial asset, which could be an index, a stock, or virtually any financial asset. Be sure to read the fine print to determine how that leverage is obtained and what it costs.

Read this article from ETFDB, 7 Risks of Trading Leveraged ETFs and How to Avoid Them for important education on leveraged ETFs.

About the Editorial Team

Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.

Sam Levine has over 30 years of experience in the investing field as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and writer. He also taught investing as an adjunct professor of finance at Wayne State University. Sam holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Market Technician designations and is pursuing a master's in personal financial planning at the College for Financial Planning. Previously, he was a contributing editor at BetterInvesting Magazine and a contributor to The Penny Hoarder and other media outlets.

Carolyn Kimball is a former managing editor for StockBrokers.com and investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.