Get Protection and Profits in 2016 with This Easy ETF Strategy

Shah Gilani

There's no doubt 2015 was one of the most volatile years in recent history.

But here's the thing… I believe 2016 could be even rougher.

We haven't even seen the sell-off I'm predicting yet; it's likely to make the plunge we saw on Aug. 24, 2015, look like a kiddie ride.

Just as there's nothing solid or healthy underpinning the stock market gains we're seeing now, there will be nothing to catch investors who aren't prepared to trade this volatility – just a long, deep drop.

There's no bottom in sight, but the good news is there's one easy way to trade just about everything the market is likely to throw at you this year.

Here's what we should do…

Make Serious Money When Stocks Go Down

When I'm bearish and want to bet stocks are headed lower, I generally like buying inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on the major market indexes.

ProShares Short Dow 30 (NYSE Arca: DOG) for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, ProShares Short S&P 500 (NYSE Arca: SH) to short the S&P 500, and ProShares Short QQQ (NYSE Arca: PSQ) to bet the Nasdaq is headed lower.

If I'm extremely bearish, and I believe stocks are going to fall hard today or tomorrow, I'll sometimes buy a leveraged short inverse ETF like the ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 (NYSE Arca: SPXU). The UltraPro Short S&P fund is a "3x leveraged" inverse ETF. That means if the S&P 500 goes down 1% today, SPXU would go up 3% today.

But this is important: Leveraged ETFs are only meant as short-term trading vehicles. That's why I said "if I believe stocks are going to fall hard today or tomorrow." Because of the way leveraged ETFs are priced, they're "re-set" every day – they're not good long-term holds.

In a perfect world, if your conviction is right and you buy a leveraged inverse ETF and stocks go down right away, and they keep going down for multiple days in succession, you'll be a very happy camper.

I'm not greedy. If I have a straight run for a few days holding an inverse leveraged ETF, I'd take my profits as soon as I think the sell-off is over.

I wouldn't wait another day, I'd ring the register and be happy. If I own an unleveraged inverse ETF like DOG, SH, or PSQ, I'd probably use a 5% to 10% stop to get out if the markets rallied. If you take small losses, you can get out and figure out where stocks are going and get back in if your timing was off but you think they're going down again.

Now let's look at one of my favorite plays: money…

Here's the Trade for When Gold and Currencies Tank (or Skyrocket)

There are lots of leveraged gold ETFs. Here are some of my favorites. Just remember what I said about holding any leveraged ETF: they're very short-term trading vehicles.

Another way to "leverage" gold on the upside (betting bullion is going higher) is to buy miners. Mining stocks move up a lot faster than gold itself in an up-trending gold market.

Currencies are a little bit different, but it's not hard to trade their moves up or down. Don't forget, you can't just short one currency – all currencies are "priced" in terms of another currency, so they always trade as a "pair."

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Shah Gilani

About the Author

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Shah Gilani is the Event Trading Specialist for Money Map Press. In Zenith Trading Circle Shah reveals the worst companies in the markets - right from his coveted Bankruptcy Almanac - and how readers can trade them over and over again for huge gains.Shah is also the proud founding editor of The Money Zone, where after eight years of development and 11 years of backtesting he has found the edge over stocks, giving his members the opportunity to rake in potential double, triple, or even quadruple-digit profits weekly with just a few quick steps. He also writes our most talked-about publication, Wall Street Insights & Indictments, where he reveals how Wall Street's high-stakes game is really played.

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