SDOW vs SQQQ

SDOWAProShares UltraPro Short Dow30

SQQQAProShares UltraPro Short QQQ

In short

SDOW The only -3x ETF pointed at the Dow. SDOW aims to deliver three times the inverse of the index's daily move, reset at each close, for 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.

SQQQ The workhorse of the short-Nasdaq trade. Running since 2010, it aims at three times the inverse of the Nasdaq-100's daily move, resets every session, and charges 0.94% a year, below the going rate in the 3x bear category.

Stated mandate

SDOW SDOW seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, corresponding to three times the inverse of the daily performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

SQQQ The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to three times the inverse of the Nasdaq-100 Index’s daily performance.

Why people hold it

• SDOW ProShares calls it the only -3x ETF built to move against the Dow's daily price, so a bearish view on the 30 blue chips has one address, not a Nasdaq or small-cap stand-in.proshares.com
• 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (0.98% gross) lands below the 3x bear median, next to SQQQ at 0.94% and SRTY at 0.95% net of a waiver through the same date.
• Running since 2010 and actively traded, it sits among the stronger implementations in the 3x bear group, which matters for a tool used in days rather than years.

• SQQQ 0.94% a year with no waiver propping it up, and below what 3x bear peers charge: SDOW and SRTY each sit at 0.95% net of waivers through September 30, 2027.
• One of the most actively traded funds in its category, with a billion-dollar-plus asset base behind it. Depth is the reason traders reach for this one.
• ProShares has run this single-day mandate since February 2010, and it tracks its stated -3x daily target about as closely as anything in its peer group.proshares.com
• The mandate is blunt and public: three times the inverse of the Nasdaq-100's daily performance, before fees, measured NAV to NAV. No discretion, no stock picking.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• SDOW The -3x target is a one-day target. Held longer, compounding can push results away from -3x the Dow's move over the same stretch, especially after choppy markets.proshares.com
• Leverage cuts both ways: on a day the Dow rises, the fund is designed to lose roughly three times as much.proshares.com
• Exposure comes from swaps and futures rather than Dow shares, and the fee runs above a plain Dow index fund.proshares.com

• SQQQ Returns compound daily. Over any period longer than a single day, results will very likely differ from -3x the index, and the fund can lose money when the index is flat.sec.gov
• It holds swaps and futures on the index, not shorted stocks, so counterparty exposure and financing costs ride along with the price.sec.gov
• At 0.94%, the fee is heavy freight for a vehicle built around single-day results. Distributions, when declared, come quarterly.

Full SDOW profile⁠

Full SQQQ profile⁠