SOXS vs SQQQ

SOXSBDirexion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF

SQQQAProShares UltraPro Short QQQ

In short

SOXS The bear half of Direxion's semiconductor pair. SOXS aims for 300% of the inverse of the NYSE Semiconductor Index for one trading day, then resets. A short-term instrument for doubting chips.

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

SOXS The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to 300% of the inverse of the NYSE Semiconductor Index's performance.

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

• SOXS Charges 1.00% a year, below the typical fee among leveraged and inverse funds. Cheap is relative here, but it is the cheaper side of a pricey neighborhood.
• One of the most heavily traded inverse funds around, so bearish chip exposure comes without a margin account or borrowing shares.
• Running since 2010, through multiple boom-and-bust chip cycles. Among the longest-tenured -3x sector bear funds on the tape.
• Stands in the upper half of its leveraged and inverse peer group on cost and tradability.

• 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

• SOXS The -3x objective is a daily one. Leverage resets each session, so results over a week or a month can diverge sharply from three times the index move, especially in choppy tape.
• Triple leverage on semiconductors, a sector that swings hard on its own. This is one of the most volatile risk profiles in the ETF wrapper.
• A 1.00% expense ratio is many times what a plain index fund charges, and distributions come quarterly rather than monthly.

• 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 SOXS profile⁠

Full SQQQ profile⁠