ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL)

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.'

• The total return, or performance over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 116.2%, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (87.4%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 34.5%, which is larger, thus better than the value of 26.8% 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.'

• The annual performance (CAGR) over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 16.7%, which is greater, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (13.4%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (8.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4% is larger, thus better.

Volatility:

'In finance, volatility (symbol σ) is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time as measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns. Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option). Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security.'

• Looking at the 30 days standard deviation of 31% in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (20.9%)
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 27.9%, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 17.3% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (15%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 21.5% of ProShares Ultra Gold is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 19.2%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 12.1% 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 (0.52) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.46 of ProShares Ultra Gold is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.33) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.28 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.66 in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.73)
• Compared with SPY (0.47) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.41 is smaller, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The Ulcer Index is a technical indicator that measures downside risk, in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines. The index increases in value as the price moves farther away from a recent high and falls as the price rises to new highs. The indicator is usually calculated over a 14-day period, with the Ulcer Index showing the percentage drawdown a trader can expect from the high over that period. The greater the value of the Ulcer Index, the longer it takes for a stock to get back to the former high.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Ratio of 25 in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.33 )
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 20 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 10 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -46.2 days of ProShares Ultra Gold is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of -40.2 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-24.5 days).

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'

• Looking at the maximum days under water of 934 days in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 518 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (488 days).

AveDuration:

'The Average Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. 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.'

• Looking at the average time in days below previous high water mark of 369 days in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (122 days)
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 209 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 179 days from the benchmark.