Leveraged ETF TQQQ falls 18.92% as chip stocks sell off
The gist
TQQQ, a 3x-leveraged Nasdaq 100 fund, closed at $50.47, down 18.92% on Nov. 5.
Its daily reset means choppy markets can erode returns beyond the index's own moves.
How it unfolded
- Nov 4, 2026TQQQ was the only ETF buying, deploying $351.5 million in gross purchases against $0 in sales into its $27.13 billion portfolio, raising 97 positions and cutting none.
- Nov 5, 2026TQQQ closed at $50.47, down 18.92%, on volume of 230.69 million shares, up 104.2% from the prior day. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12.2% to 9,011.14, its largest one-day decline since March 16, 2020.
- Nov 5, 2026TQQQ added $948.8 million of stock across all 100 positions with no sales; largest buys were Apple ($83.0 million), Nvidia ($72.3 million) and Microsoft ($65.7 million).
Key terms
- Leveraged ETF
- An investment fund that is bought and sold on stock exchanges and holds assets such as stocks, bonds or commodities.
- volatility decay
- The erosion of compound returns caused by volatility, making geometric average returns lower than arithmetic averages.
- VIX
- A volatility index based on S&P 500 options, often called the fear gauge.
Source: Wikipedia