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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (143%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 120.5% of ProShares Ultra Gold is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at total return, or performance in of 62.9% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to SPY (39%).

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 compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.2% in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (19.5%)
• During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 17.8%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 11.7% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (19.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the volatility of 31.5% of ProShares Ultra Gold is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at volatility in of 29.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (17.1%).

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 volatility over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 21.9%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.5%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 20%, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 12% from the benchmark.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio was developed by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, and is used to help investors understand the return of an investment compared to its risk. The ratio is the average return earned in excess of the risk-free rate per unit of volatility or total risk. Subtracting the risk-free rate from the mean return allows an investor to better isolate the profits associated with risk-taking activities. One intuition of this calculation is that a portfolio engaging in 'zero risk' investments, such as the purchase of U.S. Treasury bills (for which the expected return is the risk-free rate), has a Sharpe ratio of exactly zero. Generally, the greater the value of the Sharpe ratio, the more attractive the risk-adjusted return.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.87) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.47 of ProShares Ultra Gold is smaller, thus worse.
• Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of 0.52 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.54).

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio measures the risk-adjusted return of an investment asset, portfolio, or strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe ratio but penalizes only those returns falling below a user-specified target or required rate of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes both upside and downside volatility equally. Though both ratios measure an investment's risk-adjusted return, they do so in significantly different ways that will frequently lead to differing conclusions as to the true nature of the investment's return-generating efficiency. The Sortino ratio is used as a way to compare the risk-adjusted performance of programs with differing risk and return profiles. In general, risk-adjusted returns seek to normalize the risk across programs and then see which has the higher return unit per risk.'

• Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.67 in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1.26)
• Compared with SPY (0.77) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.76 is smaller, 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 Downside risk index 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 (8.32 )
• Compared with SPY (8.6 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 16 is higher, thus worse.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown is defined as the peak-to-trough decline of an investment during a specific period. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak value. The maximum drawdown can be calculated based on absolute returns, in order to identify strategies that suffer less during market downturns, such as low-volatility strategies. However, the maximum drawdown can also be calculated based on returns relative to a benchmark index, for identifying strategies that show steady outperformance over time.'

• Looking at the maximum reduction from previous high of -46.2 days in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
• Compared with SPY (-22.1 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -35.9 days is lower, thus worse.

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'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 950 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 500 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 325 days from the benchmark.

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.'

• 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 377 days of ProShares Ultra Gold is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 181 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 90 days from the benchmark.