SPXL’s worst drop since 2008 was 77%
Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3X (SPXL) fell 77% from Feb 2020 to Mar 2020. It took 0.9 years from that peak to close at a new high, in Jan 2021. Over the same years the S&P 500 fell as much as 34%.
That drop is milder than most. It ranks 10th of the 12 leveraged ETFs PortfolioAutopsy tracks, counted from the deepest.
Drawdown from the last high, 2008 to now
How SPXL held up in each crash
| Crash | Years | SPXL | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot-com bust | 2000–02 | not trading yet | −47.5% |
| Financial crisis | 2007–09 | not trading yet | −55.2% |
| COVID crash | 2020 | −76.9% | −33.7% |
| 2022 rate shock | 2022 | −63.8% | −24.5% |
Each number is the deepest fall from a high inside that window, using daily prices with dividends reinvested.
See how SPXL behaves inside your whole mix, with the worst 12 months, loss odds and crash replays. Free, no signup, and the math runs in your browser.
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What was SPXL’s maximum drawdown?
SPXL’s deepest fall since 2008 was 76.9%, from its high on February 19, 2020 to its low on March 23, 2020. The figure uses daily prices with dividends reinvested.
How long did SPXL take to recover?
0.9 years. SPXL first closed above its Feb 2020 high again on January 8, 2021.
Was SPXL riskier than the S&P 500?
Over the same years, SPXL’s worst drop was 76.9% against 33.7% for the S&P 500 (SPY), and its worst 12 months were −60.8% against −19.7%.
Compare with
Daily adjusted closes from Yahoo Finance, November 6, 2008 through October 13, 2026, dividends reinvested. Historical facts, not a forecast and not investment advice.