ProShares Ultra QQQ

QLD

Market cap $14.4B

With AI optimism and easing Washington-Tehran tensions lifting markets, investors may consider these leveraged ETFs for amplified upside.

ProShares Ultra QQQ provides 2x daily leverage while ProShares UltraPro QQQ offers 3x daily leverage on the same underlying tech-heavy index. ProShares UltraPro QQQ has experienced a significantly deeper maximum drawdown of 81.80% compared to the 63.80% seen by ProShares Ultra QQQ.

The market environment is challenging, to say the least. We discuss how one should invest in today's market. The article presents five different investment strategies, including a fixed-income strategy, high-income strategy, sleep-well-at-night strategy, growth-focused strategy, and the Near-Perfect Portfolio strategy. Selecting a strategy aligned with personal risk tolerance and sticking to it through cycles is critical for long-term success.

There's been a lot of upbeat change in the Nasdaq since the last time Kevin Davitt (@nasdaq) appeared on our network in March. He examines the index's outperformance over recent years and how it compares to historical trends.

After a long wait, tech stock investors have plenty to cheer about. It took a whopping 167 days, but the Nasdaq-100 index last week surpassed its previous closing high from back in October 2025 while also racking up its longest daily positive streak since 1992.

TQQQ and QLD both deliver leveraged exposure to the Nasdaq-100, but TQQQ amplifies daily moves by 3x versus QLD's 2x. TQQQ has a higher one-year return but also a deeper five-year drawdown, reflecting greater risk.

I am downgrading ProShares Ultra QQQ ETF from Buy to Sell due to its underperformance in a sideways, volatile market. QLD's 2x leveraged derivatives strategy fails to deliver returns when equities and indices remain flat, leading to NAV erosion. I recommend rotating into the Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF, which offers capital preservation and an 11.6% TTM yield in the current environment.

QLD takes a much heavier tilt into technology and communication services than SSO. Both funds deliver similar one-year total returns, but QLD has shown deeper historical drawdowns.

QLD charges a slightly higher expense ratio and yields less than SPXL SPXL delivered a stronger five-year growth of $1,000 and a higher beta, but both funds saw similarly steep drawdowns QLD leans more heavily into technology and Nasdaq-100 names, while SPXL offers broader S&P 500 exposure These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›

SOXL and QLD both use daily leverage resets, but SOXL amplifies semiconductor sector moves while QLD targets the broader tech-heavy Nasdaq-100. SOXL saw a 103.9% one-year return as of Feb. 4, 2026, but with a much deeper five-year drawdown and higher volatility than QLD.