Beta (with QQQ = 1.0 as the Benchmark)

In 30 seconds: Beta measures how much an asset (or a whole portfolio) moves relative to a benchmark. CLEC’s twist: it uses QQQ as the Beta 1.0 benchmark, not the conventional SPY. Multiply each asset’s beta by its weight, sum them, and you get your portfolio’s beta. “A vague correct beats a precise wrong.”¹

CLEC’s beta table

Asset	Beta
QQQ (00662)	1.0 (benchmark)
QLD (00670L, 2× leverage)	2.0
TQQQ (3× leverage)	3.0
Cash / money market / BOXX / 00864B	0.0

James is blunt: those who insist SPY should be Beta 1.0 are “pedants stuck in the past” — for someone investing long-term in the Nasdaq, QQQ is the benchmark that matches their portfolio.¹

Computing portfolio beta

Portfolio beta = Σ (asset beta × asset weight)

Example: QQQ 60%, QLD 10%, TQQQ 10%, cash 20%

beta = 60%×1.0 + 10%×2.0 + 10%×3.0 + 20%×0.0 = 1.1

Two common allocations:¹

• 70% QQQ + 20% QLD + 10% cash → 0.7 + 0.4 + 0 = 1.1
• 80% QQQ + 10% QLD + 10% cash → 0.8 + 0.2 + 0 = 1.0

Why it’s useful

Beta shows at a glance how much volatility you carry relative to QQQ. Beta = 1.0 means roughly the volatility of pure QQQ; > 1.0 means you’ve amplified volatility and drawdown (usually via leveraged funds); < 1.0 means you’ve dampened it (usually via a cash position). It’s a ruler for adjusting your “chili.”

⚠️ This is CLEC’s simplified beta (treating the leverage multiple directly as beta), different from the academic beta computed via historical regression. For education and allocation intuition only — not investment advice.

Footnotes

1. CLEC James, “Calculating Beta.” Converted source: raw/docs/教學資料/【Beta 的計算】 .pdf. ↩ ↩² ↩³