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 increase in value over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 69.5%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (106.8%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (71.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value of 59.8% is lower, thus worse.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a useful measure of growth over multiple time periods. It can be thought of as the growth rate that gets you from the initial investment value to the ending investment value if you assume that the investment has been compounding over the time period.'

• The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 11.1%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.7%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (19.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 16.9% is lower, thus worse.

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 volatility of 27.6% in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (18.9%)
• Looking at volatility in of 31.8% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (21.9%).

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.'

• Looking at the downside deviation of 19.5% in the last 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (13.8%)
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 22.6%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 15.9% 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.'

• The risk / return profile (Sharpe) over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 0.31, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.69) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.45, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.79 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 (0.95) in the period of the last 5 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.44 of ProShares Ultra Gold is smaller, thus worse.
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 0.64 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.09).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (5.61 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 17 of ProShares Ultra Gold is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 19 , which is larger, thus worse than the value of 6.08 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -37.3 days of ProShares Ultra Gold is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley is -37.3 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -33.7 days from the benchmark.

MaxDuration:

'The Maximum 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. It is the length of time the account was in the Max Drawdown. A Max Drawdown measures a retrenchment from when an equity curve reaches a new high. It’s the maximum an account lost during that retrenchment. This method is applied because a valley can’t be measured until a new high occurs. Once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the bottom of the largest trough is recorded.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (139 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 449 days of ProShares Ultra Gold is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (119 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 370 days is greater, 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.'

• The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of ProShares Ultra Gold is 151 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (32 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark is 112 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 22 days from the benchmark.