Some Short Index Exchange Traded Funds

It's hard to believe there are over 300 Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) to choose from today. Before the year 2000, investors pretty much had to be content with their stock picking ability or by staying with vanilla index etf's such as the dia or spy. It was especially hard for retirement accounts between 2000 and 2003 because most were unable to either hedge their long positions or take advantage of short funds to profit from the most recent market downturn.

Over the recent holiday, my aunt wanted to be aware of some of the Short ETF funds offered by ProShares and traded on the AMEX. It's always wise to understand both sides of the market especially when you are unable to locate individual stocks on certain trends. By participating in these index ETF's, an investor with a retirement account no longer has to give up potential gains when the markets are no longer rising. Beware of investor fees however, as there are periodic holding costs to pay, so timing is more crucial with these investments.

DXD - Ultra Short Dow 30
MZZ - Ultra Short S&P MidCap 400
QID - Ultra Short Nasdaq 100
TWM - Ultra Short Russell 2000
SDS - Ultra Short S&P 500
SDD - Ultra Short S&P Small Cap 600