On Dec 3 ProShares announced the availability of four new Exchange Traded Funds designed to give investors 2x leveraged and 2x inverse exposure to the price movements of gold and silver.
These are the first leveraged and inverse ETFs designed to track the price of silver. Although, there are other leveraged and inverse products tracking gold prices, the ProShares offerings are the first in an ETF format. All previously available products of this nature are Exchange Traded Notes. ETNs are bonds and carry a risk of default from the issuer; a lesson that holders of Lehman Brothers ETNs learned the hard way in October.
The four new ETFs are:
- ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL)
- ProShares UltraShort Gold (GLL)
- ProShares Ultra Silver (AGQ)
- ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL)
These four ETFs were originally unveiled November 25 along with eight other new ETFs offering leveraged and inverse exposure to various commodities and currencies. The first eight began trading on November 25, while the four gold and silver ETFs began trading yesterday.