ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL) Covered Calls

The ProShares UltraShort Silver ETF is a leveraged inverse exchange-traded fund designed to provide twice the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance of silver bullion. It utilizes derivative instruments, such as swap agreements and futures contracts, to achieve its daily investment objective. The fund is intended as a tactical, short-term trading tool for sophisticated investors seeking to profit from or hedge against declines in silver prices.

You can sell covered calls on ProShares UltraShort Silver to lower risk and earn monthly income. Born To Sell's covered call screener gives you customized search capabilities across all possible covered calls but here are a couple of examples for ZSL (prices last updated Thu 4:16 PM ET):

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The ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL) is a geared exchange-traded fund that seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to two times the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance of the Bloomberg Silver Subindex. This index is intended to reflect the performance of silver as measured by the price of futures contracts. As a leveraged inverse product, ZSL is specifically designed for sophisticated investors who monitor their holdings daily and understand the risks of compounding and volatility decay.

Core Business and Products

ZSL does not invest directly in physical silver bullion. Instead, it achieves its -2x target through a variety of financial derivatives, primarily including swap agreements with major global financial institutions and silver futures contracts traded on commodity exchanges. The fund also maintains a significant portion of its assets in cash and money market instruments to serve as collateral for its derivative positions. Because the fund resets its exposure every day, it is a "tactical" instrument; its performance over periods longer than a single day can vary significantly from the -2x multiple of the cumulative index return.

Competitive Landscape

The market for silver-related investment products includes physical metal ETFs, leveraged bullish funds, and other bear-market instruments. ZSL is currently one of the primary tools for active traders to express a highly aggressive bearish view on silver. Notable competitors that trade on major exchanges and feature active options markets include:

1. iShares Silver Trust: The largest physically-backed silver ETF, providing traditional long exposure to the spot price of silver bullion.
2. ProShares Ultra Silver: The bullish counterpart to ZSL, providing 200% (+2x) of the daily performance of silver for traders with a positive outlook.
3. ProShares UltraShort Gold: A similar leveraged inverse product that targets gold bullion (-2x), often used by traders who view precious metals as a single correlated trade.
4. Global X Silver Miners ETF: Provides exposure to the equity of silver mining companies, which often acts as a natural levered play on silver prices but carries additional operational and corporate risk.
5. Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bear 2X Shares: Competes for the attention of bearish precious metal traders by providing inverse exposure to mining stocks rather than the underlying metal itself.

While ZSL is a niche product, it remains the standard for traders seeking magnified returns during silver market corrections.

Strategic Outlook and Innovation

The strategic utility of ZSL is highly dependent on the volatility of the silver market. In early 2026, the fund executed a 1-for-10 reverse stock split to maintain an optimal trading price per share following significant rallies in the underlying silver market. ProShares continues to innovate by optimizing its swap counterparty network to ensure efficient tracking of the benchmark index while minimizing the costs associated with the daily rebalancing process.

The fund's future relevance is tied to silver's dual role as both an investment asset and an industrial commodity. As demand for silver in solar panels and electric vehicle electronics fluctuates alongside global monetary policy, ZSL provides a vital "insurance" or speculative mechanism for those expecting a pullback. Due to the inherent tracking error and "decay" associated with leveraged products in sideways markets, the fund's management emphasizes education and transparency regarding the daily reset mechanism. This ensures that the instrument is used appropriately as a short-term hedge rather than a long-term core holding.

Want more examples? ZS Covered Calls | ZTO Covered Calls