Leveraged ETFs have gone from niche tools to a hot corner of active trading, with volume growing faster than options or stock trading. Retail traders account for the vast majority of the activity, using these funds to place short term bets on stocks, sectors and commodities, from AI winners to gold and oil. Single stock versions, introduced only a few years ago, now make up a large share of equity fund volume. The catch is in the mechanics. Daily resets, financing costs and roll yield sit outside the expense ratio, and over longer periods they can outweigh the leverage investors thought they bought, so a two-time fund rarely delivers double the return of its stock. History shows trading behavior can be emotional too, with traders chasing momentum early in selloffs and flipping to bearish positions near the lows. The paper's takeaway is clear: these are tools for short term views that need frequent monitoring, not buy and hold investments. 

Finsum: Popularity is not a safety rating, and any investor tempted by leveraged products should treat them as short term instruments with an exit plan, not as a shortcut to bigger long term returns.