When the Bears Come Out, the Short ETFs Aren’t Far Behind

Are you feeling a bit bearish on your exchange traded fund (ETF) bets because of the market turmoil? You’re not alone.

Some of the strongest funds in trading yesterday were the shorts, including ProShares UltraShort Semiconductors (SSG), ProShares UltraShort Financials (SKF) and ProShares UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (FXP).

Indie Research points out that this is not the first time the mood has soured on Wall Street, but the difference this time around is that investors can now make broad, bearish bets with ETFs. One can sell short any of the ETFs they want, or investors can buy shares of any of the short or ultrashort funds available.

Short ETFs:

• UltraShort QQQ ProShares (QID), up 4.7% year-to-date
• PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish (UDN), up 4.8% year-to-date

UltraShort ETFs:

• UltraShort Russell 2000 ProShares (TWM), up 1.4% year-to-date
• UltraShort S&P 500 ProShares (SDS), up 11.1% year-to-date
• UltraShort Financials ProShares (SKF), up 24.9% year-to-date

Rydex is the latest provider to get into the inverse game, with the launch of some new ETFs meant to short the market.

Read the disclosure, as Tom Lydon is a board member of Rydex Funds.