Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Financial ETFs vs. Major Indices in U.S., Europe & China (by SB)

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Depicted on the three Daily charts below are a ratio
comparison
of the Financials ETF to a Major Index in the U.S.,
European, and Chinese equity markets. They show how the ETF has advanced
compared to the Index. In all three cases, the Financials have outperformed the
Index.

The U.S. XLF:$SPX ratio chart shows that the
Financials ETF is up against formidable resistance and the RSI is nearing
overbought territory. The rising 50 sma is still holding just above the rising
200 sma. Any breakout above the last swing high would likely be met with more
resistance until the RSI reverts back to, at least, the 50 level. We may,
however, see another attempt to make a higher swing high first. Under such a
scenario, I'd look for a negative RSI divergence to signal that a pullback may
be around the corner, which could then send the RSI back to 50, or
lower.

(more…)

5 Reasons to Buy Apple Right Now (by Ryan Mallory)

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How do you like them applesFirst position I've taken so far this morning and I couldn't help myself. Apple (AAPL) has been getting hammered lately, but I'm finding good reason to get long on it this morning at $637.69. 

1. You have a huge sell-off that seems to happen once a quarter. Each time this has resulted in an excellent buying opportunity. 

2. You have a piercing of the lower Bollinger-Band. Nine times out of 10, this leads to a near-immediate bounce in the stock's price. 

3. Not shown below, but easy to do on your own (would make the chart too messy) is the perfect 50% retracement on the Fibonacci. 

4. Perfect test of the trend-line off of the May lows. We touched it this morning and have since bounced. 

5. Massive support at $620 that should stop any additional bleeding going forward. I've placed my stop-loss at $613.46.

Here's the AAPL chart.

Swing Trading Apple Long at 637

Be sure to check out Ryan's Blog at SharePlanner.com

Ragged Rally

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The bloom is definitely off the rose of last week's rally above the descending trendline. Of course, this is a pretty short-term line, but all the same, Friday's surrender of the 7.8% (snicker/guffaw) unemployment rate and today's continued weakness is definitely challenging the integrity of that trendline as support.

1008-es

It should also be noted that the weakness of tech leaders like AAPL and GOOG have caused a marked divergence in the NQ performance (in black, below) are compared to the ES.

1008-divergence