Pass on this ETF

Article Excerpt

PROSHARES ULTRAPRO 3X SHORT CRUDE OIL ETF $17.86 (New York symbol OILD; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $21.4 million) holds short positions in futures contract linked to the price of West Texas Intermediate Sweet Light Crude Oil. The objective is to provide returns equal to 3 times the daily price declines of West Texas oil, itself. The fund’s MER is 0.49%. During periods when the price of oil declines, the ETF will deliver positive returns. Oil price gains, on the other hand, should result in losses for the fund. Since the start of 2019, WTI oil has gained 46%, which resulted in a loss of 69% for the ETF. That makes it one of the worst-performing ETFs of the year to date. However, the fund can also deliver very positive gains; between early October and late December 2018, the ETF gained 320% as the price of oil declined by 44%. Still, another concern for this ETF is counterparty risk. That’s the chance the other party…