How You Can Double Your Exposure To Metals With ETFs

ProShares has launched more exchange traded funds (ETFs) today that allow investors to go ultra long or ultra short on gold and silver.

The four new funds are in addition to the rollout of ultra long and ultra short euro, commodity and oil funds the provider issued last week.

They’re also historic as the first ETFs that give investors the opportunity to go long or short on gold and silver. There are other long/short funds for commodities, but they take the form of exchange traded notes (ETNs), rather than ETFs. The new ProShare funds have an expense ratio of 0.95%.

Gold has been especially attractive for investors this year, and market volatility has sent them looking for safe havens. It had a rocky month in October, and experienced the worst performance since 1983 as the U.S. dollar gained strength.

Silver, meanwhile, has seen its status as a precious metal diluted somewhat by its increasing use in industrial applications, reports Devangi Joshi for the Economic Times. Prices have lost nearly 50% from the high. The advent of digital photography has dampened demand for silver (it’s a component in the developing process), but industrial demand has remained strong and seems to have made up for it.

The new funds, listed on the NYSE Arca, are:

• ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL)
• ProShares UltraShort Gold (GLL)
• ProShares Ultra Silver (AGQ)
• ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL)

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