Even lost decades have to end sometime. That notion offers little solace right now to investors in beaten-down financial stocks. But it may present an opportunity for those who think the US economy will right itself, at least before 2020.

One way to play that is through warrants on financial firms developed as part of government bailouts. Firms with such warrants include Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Capital One Financial and Hartford Financial Services Group. These mostly expire in 2018 or 2019. Given that, the warrants offer a way for investors to make a long-term wager on the US outlook without having to tie too much capital over such a lengthy period.