DUG vs ERX: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, DUG finished 1.7 points over and ERX 1.8 points short. ProShares UltraShort Energy and Direxion Daily Energy Bull 2X ETF.
DUG returned −28.0% while −2 times XLE's move would have been −34.3%
ERX returned +33.9% while 2 times XLE's move would have been +34.3%
DUG among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
ERX among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. ERX is a percentile among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months, a different set, so the two marks are not on one scale. 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
| Total return | Multiple would give | Difference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DUG | ERX | DUG | ERX | DUG | ERX |
| 1 month | +6.7% | −7.0% | +6.5% | −6.5% | +0.1 pts | −0.5 pts |
| 3 months | −28.0% | +33.9% | −34.3% | +34.3% | +6.3 pts | −0.4 pts |
| 6 months | −13.2% | +6.0% | −11.3% | +11.3% | −1.8 pts | −5.4 pts |
| 1 year | −52.3% | +81.1% | −83.2% | +83.2% | +30.9 pts | −2.1 pts |
| 3 years | −57.9% | +60.7% | −99.1% | +99.1% | +41.2 pts | −38.3 pts |
| Since launch DUG Jan 2010 · ERX Jan 2010 | −99.6% | −71.0% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
DUG and ERX over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
DUG and ERX on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DUG in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: DUG returned −28.0% where its own daily promise gave −29.7%, 1.7 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times XLE's 17.2% implies −34.3%, which makes DUG look 6.3 points over. 4.6 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. DUG aims to return -2 times XLE'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. XLE moved at 21% 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.
ERX in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: ERX returned +33.9% where its own daily promise gave +35.7%, 1.8 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 2 times XLE's 17.2% implies +34.3%, which makes ERX look 0.4 points short. 1.4 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. ERX aims to return +2 times XLE'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, DUG or ERX?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, DUG finished 6.3 points from what its multiple implies and ERX finished 0.4 points from its own, so ERX came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are DUG and ERX levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on energy, DUG at -2 times and ERX at +2 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, DUG or ERX?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window DUG’s moved at 21% annualized and ERX’s at 21%, so DUG has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold DUG or ERX 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.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
ETFIQ, DUG against ERX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-erx
Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, DUG against ERX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-erx Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, DUG against ERX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-erx
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). DUG against ERX. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-erx
- Markdown
- [DUG against ERX (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-erx)