I’ve always said that Wall Street’s favorite trick is tossing a bunch of bizarre, disparate assets into one unclassified bucket and pretending it makes sense. This group is a literal financial junk drawer: ranging from tax-dodging arbitrage ETFs and high-risk leveraged instruments to the dying embers of millennial digital media. This is stupid and here's why.

Let's start with Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF (BOXX.US). It’s a classic piece of financial engineering, trying to deliver T-bill returns via an options box spread to score tax advantages. But mid-2026 reports indicate the IRS has finally started asking questions about this strategy. Trying to play a long-term tax arbitrage game under the IRS’s nose? Good luck with that.

Speaking of yield traps, look at Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund (GOF.US). This closed-end fund has long lured retail investors with eye-popping dividend yields. Despite posting USD 94.9M in latest operating cash flows, recent analyst warnings point to a harsh reality: its 19-year streak of monthly distributions is under severe threat. If you are blindly chasing paper yield in this environment, you deserve to get wiped out.

Then there is BuzzFeed (BZFD.US), continuing its slow-motion decay. Q2 2026 revenue cratered by roughly 22% to just USD 36.3M, and net losses widened to USD 11.8M. Sure, Byron Allen’s family office just bought a majority stake and installed him as CEO, but that doesn't fix the core business model. They are still trying to monetize outdated brand quizzes and sponsored content? Why aren't you moving faster to evolve? It is acting like a relic of the Web 2.0 era.

On the flip side, Kurv Memory Select ETF (KMEM.US) is at least playing in the right sandbox. It offers concentrated exposure to the AI memory chip ecosystem, holding names like SK Hynix and Micron. But market timing is brutal—despite the AI supercycle, the fund has faced a notable pullback recently. The bottleneck of AI is indeed memory, but in this volatile sector, you better buckle up.

The rest of this list is essentially a playground for degenerate day traders and random international dart throws. The leveraged vehicles—AdvisorShares MSOS Daily Leveraged ETF (MSOX.US) for 2x cannabis, ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (UCYB.US) for 2x cyber, and GraniteShares 2x Long P Daily ETF (PUL.US)—are strictly designed for short-term tactical hits. If you hold these overnight hoping for a miracle, you are financially illiterate. As for the global exposure, iShares MSCI Poland ETF (EPOL.US) has been pushing toward near-term highs, while VanEck Vietnam ETF (VNM.US) is flashing technical exhaustion. You can throw money at these fringe markets, but it is just geopolitical roulette.

In short, when Wall Street bundles these leftovers together, don't just swallow the pill. Look at who is actually swimming naked.

This article does not constitute investment advice.