Proshares' Short ETFs

Last Thursday ProShare Advisors LLC listed four index-linked ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) on the American Stock Exchange. These innovative ETFs seek to provide twice the daily opposite return of the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) , Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) , S&P MidCap 400 (XX) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) .

Ticker symbols of these new ETFs are UltraShort QQQ ProShares (QID) , UltraShort S&P 500 ProShares (SDS) , UltraShort MidCap 400 ProShares (MZZ) and UltraShort Dow 30 ProShares (DXD) . These attempt to give 200% of the opposite return of the targeted benchmarks. So, if the index falls 1%, the corresponding fund is designed to gain 2%. The new ETFs can thus also be used to hedge stock portfolios against market pullbacks.

Caution: Investors in these ETFs can lose money when markets rise. So, such volatile, leveraged investments should be approached with care. If you are not mature enough in investment market, it's better to avoid these funds.

Last month the company introduced its first 8 ETFs of the following two kinds:
(i) 4 leveraged funds that seek to provide double the index's normal return:
Ultra QQQ ProShares for Double the NASDAQ-100 Index (QLD), Ultra S&P500 ProShares for Double the S&P 500 Index (SSO), Ultra MidCap400 ProShares for Double the S&P MidCap 400 Index (MVV), Ultra Dow30 ProShares Double the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DDM).

(ii) 4 ETFs that provide 100% of the inverse, or opposite, return:
Short QQQ ProShares Inverse of the NASDAQ-100 Index (PSQ), Short S&P500 ProShares Inverse of the S&P 500 Index (SH), Short MidCap400 ProShares Inverse of the S&P MidCap 400 Index (MYY), Short Dow30 ProShares Inverse of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOG).