Posted by On May 3rd I bought 100 shares of SQQQ (ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ). SQQQ is an ETF which holds 100 of the largest non-financial companies in the Nasdaq. My goal is to hedge the long positions in my brokerage account. Of course, as of today I’m down 16.50% on SQQQ. But that also means that several of my other holdings went up in value. Forget about Trump’s tariff pauses, if you want to make money in the stock market, just let me short something and your stocks will go up. Right now, retail investors are looking for any good news they can find. I guess I decided to become a slightly more aggressive investor for a change.
Several things could help the stock market climb higher. More tariff deals could make it easier for companies to forecast earnings. The Federal Reserve might get tired of Trump calling for them to lower rates and surprise everyone by lowering rates more than expected. More foreign companies might announce investments in the United States. On the negative side, the lowest tariffs Trump will agree to is 10%, which is higher than the 2.5% average tariff before he started his second term. It may take longer than expected to get all of the trade deals completed before the tariff pause periods end. Consumers have not yet seen the effect of increased tariffs. Inflation is expected to rise in the next few months, we just don’t know by how much.
All of the negatives have me thinking that my SQQQ ETF shares will eventually turn into a profit. There is also the bonus of a 9.20% quarterly dividend. I don’t expect to hold SQQQ very long. All it will take is for Trump to say or do something that turns more of his supporters against him. Some Democratic lawmakers have introduced articles of impeachment against him, citing various constitutional violations. However, the Republican-controlled House makes it unlikely that these efforts will succeed. It won’t happen unless the Republicans lose control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections. Trump was impeached twice during his first term as President of the United States. You would think that we would have learned our lesson by now.