Data as of .
SCO vs UCO: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, SCO finished 1.6 points over and UCO 0.8 points short.
ETFIQ Decay Resistance Score: UCO scores higher
Did it keep up with its own daily multiple, compounded day by day?
A percentile among the 121 inverse ETFs over three months. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All leveraged ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Multiple would give | Difference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCO | UCO | SCO | UCO | SCO | UCO | |
| 1 month | −20.4% | +23.8% | −23.2% | +23.2% | +2.8 pts | +0.6 pts |
| 3 months | −26.5% | +22.8% | −25.6% | +25.6% | −0.9 pts | −2.8 pts |
| 6 months | −39.5% | +28.1% | −35.5% | +35.5% | −4.0 pts | −7.4 pts |
| 1 year | −70.6% | +128.8% | −124.4% | +124.4% | +53.9 pts | +4.4 pts |
| 3 years | −69.2% | +44.8% | −88.6% | +88.6% | +19.4 pts | −43.8 pts |
| Since launch | −99.4% | −58.1% | −111.2% | +111.2% | +11.8 pts | −169.3 pts |
| SCO ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil Aims to return twice the opposite of the daily move of Bloomberg Crude Oil (OILK) | UCO ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil Aims to return twice the daily move of Bloomberg Crude Oil (OILK) | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | ProShares | ProShares |
| Sets out to return | -2x | +2x |
| On | OILK | OILK |
| Segment | commodity | commodity |
| Fund returned, 3 months | −26.5% | +22.8% |
| Underlying returned, 3 months | +12.8% | +12.8% |
| What the stated multiple implies, 3 months | −25.6% | +25.6% |
| Difference from stated, 3 months | −0.9 pts | −2.8 pts |
| Fund returned, 1 year or since launch | −70.6% | +128.8% |
| Difference from stated, over that window | +53.9 pts | +4.4 pts |
| Underlying volatility | 34% | 34% |
| Expense ratio | not published | not published |
| Launched | Jan 4, 2010 | Jan 4, 2010 |
SCO in plain words
Three months to Sep 11, 2026: SCO returned −26.5% where its own daily promise gave −28.1%, 1.6 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times OILK's 12.8% implies −25.6%, which makes SCO look 0.9 points short. 2.5 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SCO aims to return -2 times OILK's move each day, then resets. Over one day it does that. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not -2 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more. OILK moved at 34% annualized over that window. That is what decides how far the two figures separate: the same fund on a calm underlying and a violent one is a different product.
UCO in plain words
Three months to Sep 11, 2026: UCO returned +22.8% where its own daily promise gave +23.6%, 0.8 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and +2 times OILK's 12.8% implies +25.6%, which makes UCO look 2.8 points short. 2.0 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any +2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. UCO aims to return +2 times OILK's move each day, then resets. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not +2 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more.
Questions people ask
- Which came closer to its stated multiple, SCO or UCO?
- Over the window to Sep 11, 2026, SCO finished 0.9 points from what its multiple implies and UCO finished 2.8 points from its own, so SCO came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are SCO and UCO levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on Bloomberg Crude Oil, SCO at -2 times and UCO at +2 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, SCO or UCO?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window SCO’s moved at 34% annualized and UCO’s at 34%, so SCO has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold SCO or UCO for a year?
- Both reset every day, so the multiple in the name applies to a single day and the daily results compound. Over a year the total is not the multiple times the year’s move, and in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less. ETFIQ makes no recommendation either way.
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, SCO against UCO, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/SCO-UCO Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.