The takeaway
ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil shows a pronounced seasonal pattern over 10 years of data — strongest in November (+4.3%) and softest in June (−8.2%).
Right now
In July, the fund has fallen 50% of years, averaging −0.3%, roughly 2.5 pts behind the S&P 500.
The full picture
ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil's most dependable month has been November, higher in 7 of 10 years; June has been its least reliable, up just 30% of the time.
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Month by month
The fund's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in March (+8.3 pts); it has trailed the market most in June (−8.5 pts).
“vs S&P” is ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, November has closed higher 100% of the time versus 70% across the last 10 years — the pattern is strengthening.
Figures are the typical (median) November return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 10(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 10-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
Strip the year back and a single month does the heavy lifting: November, up in 7 of 10 Novembers while the other eleven tend to blur together.
The headline flatters a touch — its +4.3% average sits well above the +1.0% a typical year delivers, the work of a few big Novembers. That reliability comes with real swings, mind — even November ranges by 20.5% from year to year, so any single year can land far from the average. Crucially, the gain is the fund's own rather than a rising tide's: November has cleared the S&P 500 by +2.0 points above the index. Some of that is a strong month market-wide, mind — November rises for about 62% of stocks — so the tendency is real if not unique.
No other month comes close to matching it — the rest of the calendar is unremarkable by comparison. At the other end of the calendar, June has been the soft spot — the weakest of 8 months that average a loss (−8.2%), and the edge isn't year-round — the fund has trailed the S&P 500 in June, December, and May. Its roughest month on record was a −52.2% May in 2020 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
November has now closed higher 5 years running. If anything it has sharpened recently — the last five Novembers run ahead of the earlier years.
The takeaway is less about when to buy than what to expect: November aside, the fund's months offer little reliable tilt. With returns that swing hard year to year, the signal is best held loosely.
Short answers on the fund's best month (November), its worst (June), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a pronounced degree. Since 2016 its best month (November, +4.3%) has run well ahead of its worst (June, −8.2%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
November has been the strongest, averaging +4.3% and closing higher in 7 of 10 years since 2016.
It's the weakest, averaging −8.2% — historically a soft spot, though it still varies from year to year.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade