Quote from scot.mcpherson:
Because of the pecular effect of chop on FAZ, it scares me to hold it very long. If FAS goes up again, FAZ will drop further and gain less. It has continued thise way even dispite the fact I thought we reached a baseline on it, so obviously we haven't.
We entered May above 8.50, and lost all that value leading up to may 8th, when it went below 4.50. It came back to over 6, and then fell again...And through May (as well as since the beginning of time for these ETFs, each top is lower than the last top except on extraordinary bear days. When the bull comes back the FAZ loses more value than it gained.
Therefore the longer you hold the ETF and fail to reposition yourself occasionally, the higher the risk and guarantee that the next top you are hoping for won't exceed your entry position. Your profit potential goes down the longer you hold.