SSO max drawdown: 85.9%
ProShares Ultra S&P 500 (2x). From its 2000-03-31 peak, SSO fell 85.9% to the 2009-02-28 trough and needed 14.4 years to make a new high (2014-08-31). Computed from 679 months of history starting 1970-01-31, including extended pre-ETF data where available.
2x daily S&P 500, the moderate leverage path.
SSO drawdown statistics
2000-03-31 peak to 2009-02-28 trough.
New high reached 2014-08-31.
Share of all months spent below a prior high.
Rolling year ending 2009-02-28.
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 SSO drawdowns on record
| Depth | Peak | Trough | Recovered | Peak to trough | Total underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -85.9% | 2000-03-31 | 2009-02-28 | 2014-08-31 | 107 mo | 14.4 years |
| -72.9% | 1972-12-31 | 1974-09-30 | 1985-11-30 | 21 mo | 12.9 years |
| -56.7% | 1987-08-31 | 1987-11-30 | 1991-05-31 | 3 mo | 3.8 years |
| -45.7% | 2021-12-31 | 2022-09-30 | 2024-02-29 | 9 mo | 2.2 years |
| -40.9% | 2019-12-31 | 2020-03-31 | 2020-08-31 | 3 mo | 8 months |
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 SSO means living through every number on this page. BestFolio tracks published TAA strategies whose whole job is cutting these drawdowns, with out-of-sample track records.