UCO +2x ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil
BULL ETV standard · Issuer ProShares · Tracks WTI Crude Oil (USO) · Listed 2008-11-24
Realized vs theoretical +2x WTI Crude Oil
Cumulative return of UCO against a clean +2x of WTI Crude Oil's return over the same window; the red line (right axis) is the gap between them.
Other leveraged products on WTI Crude Oil
1| Symbol | Factor | Direction | Issuer | Name | Implied AUM | 30d volume | Options |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCO | -2x | BEAR | ProShares | ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil | $1.0B | 5,993,814 | ✓ |
How UCO works
UCO targets +2x the daily return of WTI Crude Oil — not the return over longer windows. It rebalances every day, so over weeks and months its result drifts away from +2x × the index, usually downward when the market chops around.
The maths: the drag is roughly −½ × N × (N−1) × σ² per period (N = leverage, σ = the index's volatility). For a +2x fund on an index with 25% annual volatility that is several percent a year before fees — the red line above is that drag measured.
Short-term trades (a day or a few) are what these funds are built for. Premium sellers like their rich option IV — see the quote page. Multi-day directional bets work in strong trends and get eaten in chop.
Not investment advice.