ProShares Ultra Technology enters the second week of June nursing a sharp 17.7% weekly loss, even as the leveraged ETF holds a modest 4.1% gain on the month — a split signal that captures the violent two-way moves typical of 2x tech products.
Options positioning has turned its most defensive in months. The put/call ratio jumped to 0.56 on Tuesday, more than two standard deviations above its 20-day average of 0.37 — a z-score of 2.17 that ranks among the more elevated defensive readings of the past year. That's a sharp break from the sub-0.30 readings that dominated the previous three weeks, when call demand was dominant. The shift began abruptly on June 8, with the PCR climbing from 0.31 to 0.54 in a single session. It now approaches the 52-week high of 0.75 from the lower end, suggesting protective demand is building but has not yet reached extreme territory.
The borrow market tells a calmer story — and for a leveraged ETF, that matters. Availability is running at roughly 399%, meaning there are nearly four shares available to borrow for every one currently lent out. That's a loosening from the tighter 131–149% range seen early in the week of June 2-4, when short creation was at its most elevated. Cost to borrow is negligible at 0.76% — well below the 4.8% peak seen in late April — reinforcing that shorts face no meaningful friction here. Short interest itself, at 0.45% of float, is too small to matter directionally; the notable detail is the month-long spike-and-unwind cycle, with shares short ballooning roughly 13x from early May levels before collapsing 74% over the past five days as the position was unwound.
The ORTEX short score has been quietly drifting higher all week. It moved from 33.2 on June 8 to 42.0 by June 9, reversing a brief dip that followed the peak near 48 earlier in the month. The combined score sits at 42.0, a mid-range reading that reflects the tug between loose availability and the options-driven caution now showing up in the data. For a product this liquid, the score movement is worth tracking — it tends to lead rather than lag positioning shifts.
As a 2x daily-reset tech ETF, ROM carries no analyst coverage, no earnings catalyst, and no valuation multiples to anchor price. The instrument lives and dies with Nasdaq-level momentum. This week's close at $140.64 — down 3.8% on the day — leaves the fund roughly $30 above its one-month low implied by the drawdown math, but the intraday leverage resets mean daily volatility compounds quickly in both directions.
The key dynamic to watch next is whether the PCR continues rising toward its 52-week high of 0.75, and whether the borrow market tightens again as it did in early June — the last time availability compressed below 150%, short interest briefly spiked fourfold.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open ROM on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
