Wall Street offered a downbeat performance last week, with the S&P 500 falling about 1.4%, the Nasdaq declining about 2%, the Dow Jones slipping about 0.4%, and the small-cap index Russell 2000 retreating about 1.3%. Inflation woes returned as the U.S.-Iran standoff continued, which stoked fears about a global rise in oil-led price levels.
The weakness extended beyond U.S. equities, with the MSCI All Country World Index falling nearly 1% for the week. However, on the final day of the week, U.S. stocks recovered as investors attempted to regain their footing, following a sharp sell-off triggered by rising Treasury yields.
U.S. Dollar Slips to a Three-Month Low
The U.S. dollar fell to a three-month low against the euro on Aug. 21, 2026, as concerns grew that the U.S. Treasury’s plan to expand buybacks of longer-dated government debt could put additional pressure on the greenback.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Aug. 20, 2026 that the government could further increase its Treasury repurchases, a day after the department surprised markets by pledging to at least double the size of its buybacks of longer-dated debt. The move is aimed at containing rising bond yields.
Note that U.S. dollar fund Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund UUP, which offers direct exposure to the U.S. dollar, slumped about 0.6% last week. Since the U.S. dollar slipped, safe-haven asset gold jumped 5.2%.
Jump in Cryptocurrencies
Crypto-related shares rallied. Bitcoin, which is often viewed as an alternative to traditional fiat currencies, extended its rally. Bitcoin jumped about 20% last week to cross the $79K-mark. Ethereum added about 27% last week (read: Bitcoin Reclaims $69K on Treasury Move: More ETF Upside Ahead?).
A White House meeting involving President Trump and cryptocurrency executives revived expectations for progress on the CLARITY Act and a more favorable U.S. digital-asset framework.
Rising Yields Raise Correction Risks
The latest market pullback has raised concerns that equities could face additional pressure, particularly if Treasury yields continue climbing and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East remain elevated.
The 10-year Treasury yield increased to 4.74%, while the 30-year yield also climbed more than 3 basis points to 5.27% on Aug. 21, 2026.
Winning Leveraged ETF Areas in Focus
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning leveraged ETF areas of last week.
Moderna-Heavy Long ETFs
Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MRNA ETF MRNX – Up 160.7%
YieldMax MRNA Option Income Strategy ETF MRNY – Up 117%
Biotech company Moderna MRNA saw a massive 123% surge last week after the company and Merck announced that their experimental personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, met its primary goals in a landmark Phase 3 clinical trial.
The combination of the vaccine with Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda significantly delayed cancer recurrence and prevented it from spreading in high-risk patients.
Tempus AI-Heavy Long ETFs
Tradr 2X Long TEM Daily ETF TEMT – Up 85.4%
Corgi TEM 2x Daily ETF TEMC – Up 84.8%
The healthcare technology company Tempus AI Inc.’s TEM shares added about 41.9% last week. Successful Phase 3 results for a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine paired with Keytruda increased investor enthusiasm for AI-enabled precision medicine.
In mid-August, the TEM CEO said FDA approval for tumor-only xT CDx should lift average selling prices by an estimated $200, translating to about $85 million of annual revenue uplift beginning in 2027 (read: Tempus Q2 Earnings Call Highlights Data Growth and Pricing Upside).
Crypto-Heavy ETFs
Volatility Shares Trust XRP 2X ETF XRPT – Up 83.2%
2x Ether ETF ETHU – Up 61.6%
Thanks to the rebound in the entire crypto space, Ripple surged about 52% last week. Ripple (XRP)'s partnerships with Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, and Mastercard continue expanding cross-border payment rails and the Bitwise spot XRP ETF keeps amassing institutional capital through regulated channels.
Strategy-Heavy ETFs
GraniteShares 2x Long MSTR Daily ETF MSTP – Up 60%
Corgi MSTR 2x Daily ETF MSTC – Up 59.5%
Strategy Inc MSTR shares advanced 27.7% last week because Bitcoin rallied sharply, with additional support from improving U.S. crypto-policy expectations and easier-liquidity signals. Note that Strategy is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin.Strategy often acts as a leveraged play of Bitcoin.
When Bitcoin rises, the company’s asset value improves, its financing options become more attractive, and short sellers may rush to cover, creating a leveraged upside effect in the stock.
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Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (UUP): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).