DUST vs PSQ

DUSTCDirexion Daily Gold Miners Index Bear 2X ETF

PSQBProShares Short QQQ

In short

DUST The gold-miner short, in one ticker. Running since 2010, DUST aims for 200% of the inverse of the daily move in global gold miners, then resets at the bell. Direxion dialed the target back from 3x to 2x in 2020.

PSQ The plain short on the Nasdaq-100: PSQ aims for -1x the index's daily move, with no leverage multiplier bolted on. It has been running since 2006, making it one of the original one-for-one bear tools.

Stated mandate

DUST The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to 200% of the inverse performance of the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index. The issuer states that achieving this objective is not guaranteed.

PSQ The fund is designed to provide -1x exposure to the Nasdaq-100 Index's daily price movement, seeking to benefit when that index declines.

Why people hold it

• DUST A bearish miner view without borrowing shares: one ticker aims for 200% of the inverse of the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index each trading day.direxion.com
• Listed since 2010 and actively traded, which is what a one-session trading tool needs most: a market you can get into and out of.
• At 0.94%, the fee lands near the category median for geared funds, and a shade under the 0.95% net that PSQ charges (net of a waiver through September 30, 2027).
• Direxion reset the target from 3x to 2x in 2020, so each day's miner move is magnified less than it was in the fund's first decade.sec.govsec.gov 2

• PSQ ProShares bills it as the only -1x ETF built to profit when the Nasdaq-100's daily price falls. Sibling QID doubles the dose at -2x; PSQ stays one-for-one.proshares.com
• 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (0.96% gross), near the category median and the same net fee as -2x QID, also waived through September 30, 2027.
• Among the most actively traded funds in the bear category, and one of the closest to its stated daily target in a peer group of 50-plus funds.

Worth knowing

• DUST Built for a day. Hold longer and your result is each day's compounded return, which the prospectus says will very likely differ from -200% of the index over that span.sec.gov
• Mining stocks move hard on their own. Doubling and flipping that daily move puts DUST at the high-risk end of its category, and Direxion notes the fund may not achieve its objective.direxion.com
• Distributions land quarterly, but income is not the mechanism here; the stated job is the inverse daily move, not a yield stream.

• PSQ The -1x goal resets daily. Over weeks or months, compounding means results can differ from -1x the index's move across that stretch, especially in choppy markets.sec.gov
• Cheap for this corner of the market, pricey next to a broad index fund. The fee accrues every day you hold it, hedge or trade.
• It cuts one way: when the Nasdaq-100 rises on the day, PSQ is designed to fall roughly in step.

Full DUST profile⁠

Full PSQ profile⁠