ProShares Ultra S&P500 (SSO)

TotalReturn:

'The total return on a portfolio of investments takes into account not only the capital appreciation on the portfolio, but also the income received on the portfolio. The income typically consists of interest, dividends, and securities lending fees. This contrasts with the price return, which takes into account only the capital gain on an investment.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (109.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 202% of ProShares Ultra S&P500 is larger, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 35.5%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 34.3% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of 24.8% in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra S&P500, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (16%)
• During the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) is 10.7%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 10.4% 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.'

• Looking at the volatility of 35.6% in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra S&P500, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (18%)
• Compared with SPY (18.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 37.1% is larger, thus worse.

DownVol:

'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 volatility over 5 years of ProShares Ultra S&P500 is 25%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside volatility in of 25.9% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (13%).

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 (0.75) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.63 of ProShares Ultra S&P500 is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.22, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.42 from the benchmark.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio improves upon the Sharpe ratio by isolating downside volatility from total volatility by dividing excess return by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that differentiates harmful volatility from total overall volatility by using the asset's standard deviation of negative asset returns, called downside deviation. The Sortino ratio takes the asset's return and subtracts the risk-free rate, and then divides that amount by the asset's downside deviation. The ratio was named after Frank A. Sortino.'

• The downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of ProShares Ultra S&P500 is 0.89, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (1.07) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.6) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.32 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.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of ProShares Ultra S&P500 is 19 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 13 , which is larger, thus worse than the value of 5.75 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• Looking at the maximum DrawDown of -46.7 days in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra S&P500, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley is -35.2 days, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of -18.8 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 (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 541 days of ProShares Ultra S&P500 is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high is 303 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 199 days from the benchmark.

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 (118 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 140 days of ProShares Ultra S&P500 is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 80 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 45 days from the benchmark.