SQQQ Profits When Tech Drops, But the Math Gets Ugly After a Few Days

Core Viewpoint - ProShares SQQQ is designed to profit when the Nasdaq-100 declines, but its daily rebalancing mechanism leads to significant long-term losses, making it suitable only for short-term tactical plays [1] Group 1: Performance Metrics - SQQQ gained 6.2% year-to-date as tech stocks faced pressure from higher interest rate concerns [1] - Over the past year, SQQQ dropped 42.3%, illustrating the decay effect from daily rebalancing despite the Nasdaq-100's modest rise [1] Group 2: Market Dynamics - The performance of SQQQ is heavily influenced by the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, particularly whether it maintains a restrictive stance or signals a dovish pivot [1] - Tech valuations are sensitive to real interest rates, with higher rates leading to downward repricing of growth stocks, benefiting SQQQ [1] Group 3: Leverage Mechanics - SQQQ employs 3x daily leverage, which creates a compounding problem over time, making its performance over longer periods unpredictable [1] - The fund's daily reset means that during volatile markets, the expected returns may not align with the 3x inverse of the Nasdaq-100's movement [1]