QLD max drawdown: 98.5%
ProShares Ultra QQQ (2x). From its 2000-03-31 peak, QLD fell 98.5% to the 2009-02-28 trough and needed 8.9 years to make a new high (2020-08-31). Computed from 678 months of history starting 1970-01-31, including extended pre-ETF data where available.
2x daily Nasdaq 100.
QLD drawdown statistics
2000-03-31 peak to 2009-02-28 trough.
New high reached 2020-08-31.
Share of all months spent below a prior high.
Rolling year ending 2001-09-30.
For context, SPY (the S&P 500 baseline) had a maximum drawdown of 50.8% over the same kind of monthly-close analysis.
The biggest QLD drawdowns on record
| Depth | Peak | Trough | Recovered | Peak to trough | Total underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -98.5% | 2000-03-31 | 2009-02-28 | 2020-08-31 | 107 mo | 20.4 years |
| -88.8% | 1972-05-31 | 1974-09-30 | 1987-08-31 | 28 mo | 15.3 years |
| -61.8% | 1987-08-31 | 1987-11-30 | 1991-05-31 | 3 mo | 3.8 years |
| -60.9% | 1970-04-30 | 1970-06-30 | 1972-04-30 | 2 mo | 2.0 years |
| -60.5% | 2021-12-31 | 2022-12-31 | 2024-05-31 | 12 mo | 2.4 years |
Methodology: monthly closing prices, peak-to-trough on total return where available. History extends before the ETF's launch via documented proxy chains (index funds, indices, and academic series), the same data that powers BestFolio's strategy backtests. Educational information, not investment advice.
Drawdowns are the reason tactical strategies exist
Buy-and-hold QLD means living through every number on this page. BestFolio tracks 46+ published TAA strategies whose whole job is cutting these drawdowns, with out-of-sample track records.