ProShares Ultra QQQ (QLD)

TotalReturn:

'Total return, when measuring performance, is the actual rate of return of an investment or a pool of investments over a given evaluation period. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period of time. Total return accounts for two categories of return: income including interest paid by fixed-income investments, distributions or dividends and capital appreciation, representing the change in the market price of an asset.'

• Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 125.5% in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra QQQ, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (63%)
• Compared with SPY (33.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of 38.4% is higher, thus better.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate isn't a true return rate, but rather a representational figure. It is essentially a number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it had grown the same rate every year and the profits were reinvested at the end of each year. In reality, this sort of performance is unlikely. However, CAGR can be used to smooth returns so that they may be more easily understood when compared to alternative investments.'

• The annual performance (CAGR) over 5 years of ProShares Ultra QQQ is 17.7%, which is larger, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (10.3%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 11.4%, which is larger, thus better than the value of 10.1% from the benchmark.

Volatility:

'Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. Volatility can either be measured by using the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security. In the securities markets, volatility is often associated with big swings in either direction. For example, when the stock market rises and falls more than one percent over a sustained period of time, it is called a 'volatile' market.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (21.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the volatility of 52.7% of ProShares Ultra QQQ is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 59.9%, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 25.1% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

'Downside risk is the financial risk associated with losses. That is, it is the risk of the actual return being below the expected return, or the uncertainty about the magnitude of that difference. Risk measures typically quantify the downside risk, whereas the standard deviation (an example of a deviation risk measure) measures both the upside and downside risk. Specifically, downside risk in our definition is the semi-deviation, that is the standard deviation of all negative returns.'

• The downside risk over 5 years of ProShares Ultra QQQ is 37.9%, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.6%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside deviation is 42.9%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 18.1% from the benchmark.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio is the measure of risk-adjusted return of a financial portfolio. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess portfolio return over the risk-free rate relative to its standard deviation. Normally, the 90-day Treasury bill rate is taken as the proxy for risk-free rate. A portfolio with a higher Sharpe ratio is considered superior relative to its peers. The measure was named after William F Sharpe, a Nobel laureate and professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.36) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.29 of ProShares Ultra QQQ is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio is 0.15, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.3 from the benchmark.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio, a variation of the Sharpe ratio only factors in the downside, or negative volatility, rather than the total volatility used in calculating the Sharpe ratio. The theory behind the Sortino variation is that upside volatility is a plus for the investment, and it, therefore, should not be included in the risk calculation. Therefore, the Sortino ratio takes upside volatility out of the equation and uses only the downside standard deviation in its calculation instead of the total standard deviation that is used in calculating the Sharpe ratio.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.5) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.4 of ProShares Ultra QQQ is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.42) in the period of the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.21 is lower, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Index of 25 in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra QQQ, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.88 )
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 30 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 11 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

• Looking at the maximum DrawDown of -63.7 days in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra QQQ, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -63.7 days, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of -33.7 days from the benchmark.

MaxDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Max Drawdown Duration is the worst (the maximum/longest) amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs). Many assume Max DD Duration is the length of time between new highs during which the Max DD (magnitude) occurred. But that isn’t always the case. The Max DD duration is the longest time between peaks, period. So it could be the time when the program also had its biggest peak to valley loss (and usually is, because the program needs a long time to recover from the largest loss), but it doesn’t have to be'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (273 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 302 days of ProShares Ultra QQQ is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (273 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 302 days is larger, thus worse.

AveDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Avg Drawdown Duration is the average amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs), or in other terms the average of time under water of all drawdowns. So in contrast to the Maximum duration it does not measure only one drawdown event but calculates the average of all.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (57 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 73 days of ProShares Ultra QQQ is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 82 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 73 days from the benchmark.