Contrarian ETFs Grow

The ProShares family of inverse exchange-traded funds is benefiting as investors increase their bets on declines in the prices of stocks.

One way to profit when stocks fall is to establish a short position, which entails borrowing a security and then selling it in the hope of buying it back at a lower price. You then return the shares and keep the difference.

Another option is to buy a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that moves in the opposite direction of the market. When stocks plummeted two weeks ago, that is what a lot of investors opted to do. ...