ProShares UltraPro S&P500 3x (UPRO)

[Jaydixson1]

Stock moe recommended upro

[Windbag1014]

Been buying this week. little bit at a time.

[fourdint]

I have TQQQ too ... hard not to like when it's up right now.

I also have WEBL but I don't like low volume and so fear it'll be hard to offload on a dive. So have an exit order in ... but then have to find place to put the $$$. It does OK and probably room to grow but low volume just bothers me.

Siting on $$$ so I've been looking for new ideas and/or a correction. Correction looking to be a ways off with all Fed, money, and recovery ... but also don't like buying high ... don't like daytrading ... more a buy and hold guy.

[leftovers]

I love this one and TQQQ for selling Put premium. In Jan , Feb, and March I have been able to sell 4-6 strikes out of the money and collect 1-2 dollars per contract per week.

Now I have to move up the ladder and go 3 strikes to collect .80 so it is getting much more risky.

It defiantly wants to continue to go up for sure. It will change course sooner or later though.

My 3 Puts for tomorrow look like a winner at the moment. 3 times leverage could change on a dime though. Normally I would just roll out to the next week today and collect more but too pricy for me.

Cheers

[fourdint]

I didn't see recent activity -- thought I would ask lol

Good sound strategy! No telling how long or high this will ride but it doesn't seem ready to correct just yet -- but a nice big correction, big buys, and wwaiting out the climb would be welcomed for sure!

[leftovers]

Yep have sold 94 strike put premium for friday expiration. Been selling for months and winning every week. Starting to get way over sold and looking harder to do.

Need a good sell off soon.

Cheers

[fourdint]

Is anybody out there?

[luckydude777]

Just picked up some SDOW. DOW hyper-extended this morning.

[luckydude777]

Bought some shares earlier. Think we might get a little upside today and tomorrow. We'll see.

[luckydude777]

Sold my 2,000 shares of SPXU for a small profit earlier today. Good thing I did. Momentum building upwards on the bigboards due to Planavirus hopes.

No more short ETF's with the bigboards for the foreseeable future.

[luckydude777]

Thanks for saying. GREATLY APPRECIATED!

I'm truly a novice at the ETF's, but what I do feel is that going short on the major indexes for much more than a day is only asking for trouble.

The Fed is using their ammunition to prop up the major markets, (don't care what ANYONE would say differently) and so their involvement can make major UPWARD movement happen against all logic.

And besides ... what would happen if one is in a big short position say with the S&P, and something happens where you can't get out of it (Internet sabotage for instance) for several days? Fed could put billions to LONG positions once the Internet comes back, and there could be a gap UP that could constipate a person the rest of their lives, as they see their short position drop lower and lower.

[Toofuzzy]

Leveraged funds in general are investments of mass destruction.

The longs are probably OK as we come out of the virus issues.

I would never invest in the short leveraged funds because of the way they are constructed. Also you spend too little time being right with them.

Toofuzzy

[Toofuzzy]

Leveraged funds in general are investments of mass destruction.

The longs are probably OK as we come out of the virus issues.

I would never invest in the short leveraged funds because of the way they are constructed. Also you spend too little time being right with them.

Toofuzzy

[luckydude777]

I'm only going to do very limited trading with the SHORT ETF's

The money I have to trade with is out of my wife's "Don't you DARE ask me to let you put this money into the stock market - fund!"

I'll be paper trading short positions, but with actual money? LONG only.

Thinking short messes with my head at this juncture, but as I paper trade the short ETF's, perhaps that will change.

My thought has always been for a long time is that if one doesn't look at BOTH sides of a given equation, they aren't seeing the FULL picture.

[zsvq1p]

I have a "play" account...

a few weeks ago, I owned 100 shares of ERY. It went up $100 in one day.

These leveraged funds are like going to the casino.

[luckydude777]

Just starting to trade ETF's. Starting out with UPRO & SPXU to see if I can be trusted to trade them without losing my rear-end.

You play them?

I think I'm going to use this board to track my trades. No one has shown much interest in posting on it in the past, so I doubt many will be offended by my postings.

[zsvq1p]

I think what you did was exactly a the play.
Nice.

[luckydude777]

Sold the 1,000 shares at $34.00. ($1,000 profit)

Just bought 2,000 shares of SPXU at $16.70 just for the heck of it.

[luckydude777]

Picked up 1,000 shares at $33.00 a few minutes ago. Will sell them tomorrow most likely. Looking for $1,000 profit minimum. We'll see what happens.

[zsvq1p]

When to enter... When the virus bell curve turns down?

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=upro

[4toSchool]

I agree. Banking a big return makes perfect sense to me. Congratulations

[Windbag1014]

Selling. May be early but don't want to let a 35% return get away.

$44.63

[Windbag1014]

S&P 500 is down 14.36% from this years peak. Has to be a bottom here somewhere.

[Windbag1014]

I'm thinking now/soon might be a good time to start pecking away.

[4toSchool]

I'm here. Bought in at the exact peak this fall

[Windbag1014]

Anyone poking around here yet?

[WovenO2]

...and now...
Not so much.
Oil not holding gains...
Mixed earning reports.
GM beats (earnings just out)
Great day to get whipsawed and still an hour before markets open. LOL
Geeezz

[WovenO2]

Very nice pre-market action.

[stocktrademan]

$UPRO recent news/filings

bullish 67.56

## source: finance.yahoo.com

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 15:30:17 GMT ~ Leveraged Funds Leading the Way in Record Year for ETF Creation


read full: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/leveraged-funds-leading-way-record-153017220.html
*********************************************************

Mon, 12 Oct 2015 18:33:31 GMT ~ Anyone who claims “stocks are not overvalued” is either tragically myopic or completely disingenuous


read full: http://finance.yahoo.com/tumblr/blog-anyone-who-claims-stocks-are-not-overvalued-is-183336690.html
*********************************************************

Wed, 07 Oct 2015 22:08:44 GMT ~ The S&P 500 Will Not Make a New High in 2015


read full: http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/the-sp-500-will-not-make-a-new-high-in-2015-375863/
*********************************************************

Fri, 11 Sep 2015 13:30:01 GMT ~ The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF, Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull & Bear 3x Shares, ProShares Ultra S&P500 ETF, Daily Gold Miners Bull 3 x shares and ProShares UltraPro S&P500 ETF


read full: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/zacks-analyst-blog-highlights-proshares-133001216.html
*********************************************************

Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:39:28 GMT ~ Odds Favor A Year-End Rally...After A New Low


read full: http://finance.yahoo.com/tumblr/blog-odds-favor-a-year-end-rallyafter-a-new-low-203933205.html
*********************************************************

$UPRO charts

basic chart ## source: stockcharts.com



basic chart ## source: stockscores.com



big daily chart ## source: stockcharts.com



big weekly chart ## source: stockcharts.com



$UPRO company information

## source: otcmarkets.com

Link: http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/UPRO/company-info
Ticker: $UPRO
OTC Market Place: Not Available
CIK code: 0001409741
Company name: ProShares Trust
Incorporated In: DE, USA

Business Description:

$UPRO share structure

## source: otcmarkets.com

Market Value: Not Available
Shares Outstanding: Not Available
Float: Not Available
Authorized Shares: Not Available
Par Value: No Par Value

$UPRO extra dd links

Company name: ProShares Trust
## STOCK DETAILS ##
After Hours Quote (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/after-hours
Option Chain (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/option-chain
Historical Prices (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=UPRO+Historical+Prices
Company Profile (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=UPRO+Profile
Industry (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/in?s=UPRO+Industry

## COMPANY NEWS ##
Market Stream (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/stream
Latest news (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/UPRO/news - http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=UPRO+Headlines

## STOCK ANALYSIS ##
Analyst Research (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/analyst-research
Guru Analysis (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/guru-analysis
Stock Report (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/stock-report
Competitors (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/competitors
Stock Consultant (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/stock-consultant
Stock Comparison (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/stock-comparison
Investopedia (investopedia.com): http://www.investopedia.com/markets/stocks/UPRO/?wa=0
Research Reports (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/UPRO/research
Basic Tech. Analysis (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=UPRO+Basic+Tech.+Analysis
Barchart (barchart.com): http://www.barchart.com/quotes/stocks/UPRO
DTCC (dtcc.com): http://search2.dtcc.com/?q=ProShares+Trust&x=10&y=8&sp_p=all&sp_f=ISO-8859-1
Spoke company information (spoke.com): http://www.spoke.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=ProShares+Trust
Corporation WIKI (corporationwiki.com): http://www.corporationwiki.com/search/results?term=ProShares+Trust&x=0&y=0

## FUNDAMENTALS ##
Call Transcripts (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/call-transcripts
Annual Report (companyspotlight.com): http://www.companyspotlight.com/library/companies/keyword/UPRO
Income Statement (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/financials?query=income-statement
Revenue/EPS (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/revenue-eps
SEC Filings (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/sec-filings
Edgar filings (sec.gov): http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001409741&owner=exclude&count=40
Latest filings (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/UPRO/filings
Latest financials (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/UPRO/financials
Short Interest (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/short-interest
Dividend History (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/dividend-history
RegSho (regsho.com): http://www.regsho.com/tools/symbol_stats.php?sym=UPRO&search=search
OTC Short Report (otcshortreport.com): http://otcshortreport.com/index.php?index=UPRO
Short Sales (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/UPRO/short-sales
Key Statistics (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=UPRO+Key+Statistics
Insider Roster (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ir?s=UPRO+Insider+Roster
Income Statement (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=UPRO
Balance Sheet (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=UPRO
Cash Flow (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cf?s=UPRO+Cash+Flow&annual

## HOLDINGS ##
Major holdings (cnbc.com): http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/UPRO/tab/8.1
Insider transactions (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=UPRO+Insider+Transactions
Insider transactions (secform4.com): http://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/UPRO.htm
Insider transactions (insidercrow.com): http://www.insidercow.com/history/company.jsp?company=UPRO
Ownership Summary (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/ownership-summary
Institutional Holdings (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/institutional-holdings
Insiders (SEC Form 4) (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/UPRO/insider-trades
Insider Disclosure (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/UPRO/insider-transactions

## SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER VARIOUS SOURCES ##
PST (pennystocktweets.com): http://www.pennystocktweets.com/stocks/profile/UPRO
Market Watch (marketwatch.com): http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/UPRO
Bloomberg (bloomberg.com): http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/UPRO:US
Morningstar (morningstar.com): http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/s?t=UPRO
Bussinessweek (businessweek.com): http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ticker=UPRO



$UPRO DD Notes ~ http://www.ddnotesmaker.com/UPRO

[zsvq1p]

Does this have any type of decay or no?

It can. It is time related. Keep in mind this is only daily 3x's. You can do a perf chart and see what it is.. it likely varies.

Same as with UCO and the example is below... It is called contango.



However.. you can have the opposite effect too. This is called normal backwardation.

And this is what has happened with UPRO

[JSUPSTARZ]

Does this have any type of decay or no?

[zsvq1p]

Timing is everything..

http://scharts.co/1jgbgAy

[zsvq1p]

upro
http://www.proshares.com/funds/upro.html

[zsvq1p]

1 year chart


http://scharts.co/1m2HWxu

[zsvq1p]

Chart



http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=upro

[zsvq1p]

Fed sends markets tapering message
Wednesday, 20 Nov 2013 | 5:47 PM ET

The Federal Reserve looks set to move sooner rather than later to taper back its bond buying, once more surprising markets that have been repeatedly confused about when the Fed will begin to step back from its extraordinary easing policy.

Treasury yields ripped higher Wednesday and stocks fell after minutes from the Fed's October meeting revealed that central bank officials felt that they could decide to start scaling back their quantitative easing bond buying at one of its next few meetings, depending on economic growth.

That immediately sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury above 2.79 percent, a level it was last at on Sept. 18, the day the Fed surprised markets by not moving to taper back its $85 billion bond-buying program. Since the strong October jobs report, markets have suspected the Fed could move as early as December though the probability appeared low.

"It probably was underappreciated that December may be in play, especially after some of the recent commentary we've had over the last couple of weeks," said Tom DeMarco, market strategist at Fidelity Capital Markets. "I don't think it is, and I don't think the odds are minuscule for that. If I had to try to put a number on that, I'd say the odds are significant but that's not my base case. ... I'm thinking more January."

"I would say on the margin, it brings forward tapering expectations by the market, although we still think December has a relatively low probability of seeing a taper," said Ian Lyngen, senior Treasury strategist at CRT Capital. "They'll have the December employment report but they'll still be in the midst of budget negotiations and a possible debt ceiling debacle in January."

The flow of economic data now becomes even more important, as the markets try to handicap the Fed's next move and whether it sees strong enough employment growth in the Dec. 6 jobs report.

"I think we're probably going to hang more on some Fed comments going forward, and I think the November jobs report takes on a little more importance as we try to get some clarity," DeMarco said.

There is a heavy dose of economic reports Thursday, including PPI and jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Markit manufacturing PMI is released at 8:58 a.m. and leading indicators are at 10 a.m. The Philadelphia Fed survey is also released at 10 a.m.

"Today they got October retail sales and that was a pleasant surprise despite the fact it was during the government shutdown," said Zane Brown, fixed income strategist at Lord Abbett. Retail sales rose 0.4 percent, and showed improvements in automobile purchases but also other areas, like restaurants, furniture and sporting goods.

"It just shows the Fed was accurate in its interpretation there wasn't much impact form the government shutdown, and if it was, it was transitory," he said.

Brown said the Fed is still looking for sufficient evidence to move in December or January, and data like retails sales support the idea that the economy is making progress. "I really didn't think they were going to to do anything until March, but looking at these minutes and the economic data since they last met gives them the ammunition," he said.

Brown also said rates will now be under more pressure. "This is the beginning of a longer-term process that's going to translate to higher yields," he said. "We could get to 3 percent 10 years by March ... people are going to wait to see how aggressive they are."

DeMarco sees a higher range currently. "We're in a 2.60 to 3 percent range on the 10 year through the fourth quarter," he said.

Fed speakers Thursday will now get even more attention, including Fed Gov. Jerome Powell who speaks on over-the-counter derivatives at 9:45 a.m., and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who speaks on policy and the economy at 12:50 p.m.


The minutes also showed that Fed officials discussed how to distinguish between their intentions on the asset buying program and their forward interest rate guidance, which they want to emphasize once they start to taper bond buying. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech Wednesday, emphasized the separate paths of the programs and emphasized that the Fed could keep rates near zero well into the future.

"I believe they know what they're doing. They're in control. They're just at a juncture that is moving from where they were to where they're going and struggling a little bit to get there. Look, like you and me, it's not black and white," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management.

"It's gray and they're struggling with 'what do we do, when do we do it and how do we do it,' and that's the danger of this full transparency ... a transparency is great when you're trying to be very clear about something when you're in transition and don't know quite how to do it. It does leave the reader very confused."

Stock traders said while rising rates were a concern, the market was not really that bothered by it. "I would say yes to more volatility with the way Treasurys are acting, but the Vix is flatlining," said one trader. The VIX, the CBOE's volatility index was up 1 cent to 13.40.

But bonds are another story. "the Treasury market is tapering before our eyes," wrote Peter Boockvar, chief market strategist with Lindsey Group, in a note.

[zsvq1p]

When will it be good time exit stocks?

[catchmeifyoucan]

Have seen it lately...? still a good play for its ups and down....! play the option/put chain but... can't lose it for a minute bc what could be 5 now it's 2 in minutes..!!!

[NFLFan]

Grabbed some shares Monday in the 45 range. Looking forward to a great ride back to $60-65 in Sept. GL to all!

Go UPRO!

[*~1Best~*]

UPRO Sell ~ snap out of false hope: Because the FED Greenspan manipulated Economy creating bubble/crash, we are worse off, and the FED Bernanke is walking the similar path hyping markets using the US debt. The fact is Americans are broke ~ and higher markets go up, worse impact which we will see. The Fed/Gov/IMF does not deal with real issues.

~~~

500 More Banks to Fail By End of 2010: Wilbur Ross
Posted By: JeeYeon Park | News Associate
| 02 Sep 2009 | 11:23 AM ET

The list of failed bank continues to grow as the FDIC’s troubled bank list currently stands at 416 troubled banks. Wilbur Ross, chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co. explained that he expects to see further trouble ahead for banks.

“I’m not surprised that the [FDIC’s] list is continuing to grow,” Ross told CNBC. “I think there’s going to be at least 500 more banks fail between now and end of next year.”

Ross said commercial real estate is the currently the biggest problem for banks as opposed to residential.

“The first wave of the big banks were the securitizations," he said. "The regional banks are the ones now going down. They mostly didn’t have much in the way of securitization but they all have construction loans, they have development loans, they all have loans on little shopping centers and they’ve got that kind of portfolio very heavily.”

In the meantime, Ross said the FDIC recently developed a system to get rid of Alt-A loans through bidding and said investors can benefit from the distressed assets.

“Yesterday, the FDIC held an auction for $1.3 billion of Alt-A loans, or liars loans, coming out of the failed Franklin Bank,” he said. “So that’s the first time FDIC has had an auction with them providing leverage to distressed investors. So we were bidders on it...I think it’s a good system that they’ve developed for getting rid of these assets.”

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/32657466/

[*~1Best~*]

UPRO 50% gain in one month -- astonishing

[*~1Best~*]

UPRO 112.81 1.58 1.42% 481,992

Bernanke snake printing

[*~1Best~*]

Aggravating ~ re In Blow to Housing, S&P Expects More Losses on Risky Mortgages

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16987142/Rothschild-Timeline-iamthewitnesscom
+
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16868596/How-Goldman-Sachs-Pumped-and-Dumped-US-Economy

Of course, markets are extremely manipulated -- saying this for years.

Posted by: rlfb06 Date: Monday, July 06, 2009 11:48:30 AM


Could it be the the current admin is using GS to help prop up the markets long enough to push through it's socialists programs at the expense of retail investors? Based on current economics, their window of opportunity is short, thus the ram jobs by admin/congress (conspiracy therory for sure but IMO - probably). Regards.

---------------------------------------------

In Blow to Housing, S&P Expects More Losses on Risky Mortgages
Reuters
| 06 Jul 2009 | 04:00 PM ET

Standard & Poor's Monday boosted its expectations for losses on risky loans backing U.S. mortgage securities to as much as 40 percent, suggesting a darkened outlook for the troubled housing market.

The more dire assessment will likely "significantly impact" bonds originally carrying AAA ratings, S&P said in a report.

Increased assumptions for total losses on subprime and Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities come amid declines in market value of the debt and a surge in the inventory of bank-owned properties, S&P said.

It is another blow to investors who are already suffering from downgrades to their portfolios over the past two years as the housing market fell to the weakest levels since the 1930s.

Many bonds are trading for cents on the dollar as investors value them based only on remaining interest payments that may be received.

S&P boosted loss projections for subprime loans made at the peak of the market in 2006 and 2007 to 32 percent and 40 percent from 25 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

For 2005 loans, loss projections rose to 14 percent from 10.5 percent. For Alt-A loans, which were made to borrowers that provided reduced proof of their ability to repay, loss projections for 2006 and 2007 mortgages rose to 22.5 percent and 27 percent from 17.3 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
# Slideshow: Highest End Real Estate

S&P expects Alt-A loans from 2005 to post losses of 10 percent, up from its previous estimate of 7.75 percent.

Loss severities, which include the costs to foreclose and liquidate a home and declines in property value, are expected to rise to 70 percent for 2006 and 2007 subprime bonds and 60 percent for Alt-A bonds issued in those years, S&P added.

Some severities have already exceeded 100 percent, it said.

"We have observed increases in loss severities and we expect them to continue to rise until we reach the trough of the market value decline, which we believe will be in the first half of 2010," S&P said in the report.

Rating companies, including S&P, have frequently revised expectations for losses on subprime, Alt-A and prime loans to reflect the deteriorating environment since 2006.
# States With The Highest Foreclosure Rates

S&P said it now forecasts defaults on subprime loans issued in 2005, 2006 and 2007 at 11 percent, 30 percent and 49 percent, respectively.
Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31766221/

[*~1Best~*]

The same market manipulation. SPX trading at 894

$COMPX 1770.11
$INDU 8205.99
$INX 886.36

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16987142/Rothschild-Timeline-iamthewitnesscom
+
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16868596/How-Goldman-Sachs-Pumped-and-Dumped-US-Economy

Of course, markets are extremely manipulated -- saying this for years.

Posted by: rlfb06 Date: Monday, July 06, 2009 11:48:30 AM


Could it be the the current admin is using GS to help prop up the markets long enough to push through it's socialists programs at the expense of retail investors? Based on current economics, their window of opportunity is short, thus the ram jobs by admin/congress (conspiracy therory for sure but IMO - probably). Regards.

[*~1Best~*]

SPX 900 ~ pivot

$COMPX 1803.25 -42.47 -2.30% 1,391,859
$INDU 8326.84 -177.22 -2.08% 519,839
$INX 902.11 -21.22 -2.30%

----------------



Obama = Bush the same deception with new rhetoric.


http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=39245623

Obviously, the deception continues to fool many until the world is under the power.


http://www.scribd.com/doc/17039612/Goldman-Rothschild

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=39246211

[*~1Best~*]

ProShares Launches 3x S&P 500 Funds Despite Increased Scrutiny of Leveraged ETPs

http://www.proshares.com/funds/upro.html?utm_campaign=UltraPRO&utm_medium=Banner&utm_source=HOME&utm_content=UPRO&utm_term=62509

The appetite for risk is apparently healthy enough for ProShares that it launched its first 3x leveraged ETFs today. ProShares UltraPro S&P 500 (UPRO) and ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 (SPXU) will be the firm’s most aggressive products yet.

UPRO and SPXU are clearly intended as a counter to the very successful DirexionShares 3x ETFs. ProShares may have a slight advantage with these ETFs as they are benchmarked to the more familiar S&P 500 index. Direxion’s 3x Large Cap funds, Daily Large Cap Bull 3x Shares (BGU) and Daily Large Cap Bear 3x Shares (BGZ), are tied to the Russell 1000 Index, which includes many stocks that are considered mid cap or even small cap in the S&P scheme.

The providers of leveraged ETFs are coming under more and more scrutiny as investors discover - and all too frequently misuse - these products. This month the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reminded brokers of their obligation to make sure customers are fully prepared for the risks of leveraged ETFs. Despite abundant disclosure, people still have a hard time grasping that positions in these ETFs will not receive the stated 2x or 3x leverage if they are held for more than one day.

The release from FINRA contains something that ought to put a chill up the spine of leveraged ETF marketing executives: “…inverse and leveraged ETFs that are reset daily typically are unsuitable for retail investors who plan to hold them for longer than one trading session, particularly in volatile markets.” This is legal-speak for “Don’t sell these to anybody except day traders.”

Don’t be surprised to see brokerage firms place restrictions on who is allowed to trade these ETFs and under what conditions. The potential for large losses in a short time is significant, and brokers do not like dealing with unhappy customers - not to mention that the losses could result in your account balance with them dwindling in the future.

For its part, ProShares is trying to distinguish between its 2x and 3x products by adding an extra “Pro” to the otherwise very similar names. ProShares Ultra S&P 500 (SSO) is 2x, while ProShares UltraPro S&P 500 (UPRO) is the new 3x product. Not exactly crystal-clear but hopefully good enough.

ProShares now offers 86 leveraged and inverse ETFs. We are not sure what will come next, but the race for ETF product innovation is far from over. ProShares wins today’s battle.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/145493-proshares-launches-3x-s-p-500-funds-despite-increased-scrutiny-of-leveraged-etps