ZT:
Its "Volatility decay" is a mathematical concept that basically says that increasing drawdowns require exponentially increasing returns to break even.
For example.
Lets say for the sake of this example both QQQ and TQQQ have a stock price of 100.
Lets say QQQ goes down 25%, TQQQ will go down 75%. QQQ is now 75 and TQQQ is now 25
A 25% drawdown requires 32% return to break even and a 75% drawdown requires a 300% return to break even.
Lets say QQQ has a 32% return. TQQQ will have a 96% return.
QQQ is now at 100, but TQQQ is at about 48
So even tho QQQ recovered, TQQQ is still at a loss, it "decayed" roughly 50%
Extrapolate this example to daily rebalancing over a long period of time.
Bascically the difference between the recover of QQQ after a drawdown and the "missing" recovery of TQQQ is the "decay" amount.
