Short ETFs Got Soaked in April

If there was one thing better than being short the stock market early this year, it was being short and leveraged. But then the market's spirited rebound in April again proved that leverage -- especially on the short side of the market -- could be a deadly two-way street.

As can be seen in the lower portion of the accompanying table of the biggest exchange-traded fund ratings grade upgrades and downgrades, short and leveraged has not been recommended territory of late.

Four of the five biggest ETF downgrades happened to ProShares "Ultra Short" inverse-leveraged funds. In fact, 13 of the 15 biggest recent downgrades in ETFs by TheStreet.com Ratings were for ProShares "Short" or "Ultra Short" funds. ...