ProShares UltraShort Financials ETF (SKF)

The ProShares UltraShort Financials ETF (SKF) started trading in late January 2007. It tracks double the inverse of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index, minus expenses and fees. The ETF is supposed to go up twice as much as the index goes down, and down twice as much as the index goes up. The ETF's approach to tracking double the inverse of the index involves swap agreements and futures contracts. It does not short individual stocks.

The Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index, as its name suggests, tracks the performance of financial services companies in the US. As of August 2008, the index had 281component stocks. Their industry breakdown, as of July 2008 was the following:


Banks 33.95%
General financial 28.41%
Insurance 16.41%
Life insurance 7.19%
REITs 13.27%
Real estate services 0.77%


The index's holdings, as of August 2008 are as follows:




The ProShares UltraShort Financials ETF has an expense ratio of 0.95%.

The ETF pays quarterly dividends, in March, June, September, and December. Past distributions have been irregular and have ranged from $0.17 a share to $0.774 per share.