ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500

SPXU is the ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 — an inverse-leveraged ETF designed to deliver -3× the daily return of the S&P 500 Index. When the S&P 500 falls 1% in a day, SPXU aims to rise ~3% (and vice versa). The exposure resets every trading day. TER is 0.91%. Used for daily-cycle bearish bets on the broad US market.

SH is ProShares Short S&P 500 — -1× daily inverse, no leverage. SPXU is -3× daily inverse — leverage applied. Both reset daily, but SH has no leverage decay, only inverse decay (compounding mismatch over multi-day periods, smaller magnitude). SPXU has both kinds of decay layered. SH is closer to a "hedge ETF you can hold for weeks-months". SPXU is strictly a daily trade.

Two structural drags. First, daily-reset volatility decay. Second, the S&P 500 has appreciated ~10% per year on average over multi-decade periods — so a -3× inverse product is fighting an 30%/year structural headwind on top of decay. Over multi-year buy-and-hold periods, SPXU has lost effectively all of its starting value. ProShares routinely executes reverse splits to keep the share price tradeable.

Strictly intra-day or 1-3 day bearish bets on the broad US market. Some institutional traders use it for short-term portfolio hedging during specific event windows (Fed announcements, recession signals). For NZ retail investors with multi-year horizons, SPXU is structurally inappropriate. Holding it as a "permanent hedge" is one of the most consistently money-losing trades in retail investing.