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.
Morning Read
In an effort to keep the comment count reasonable, here's a good article to read. An excerpt:
The U.S. National Debt was $930 billion in 1980, or 33 percent of GDP.
Today it is $10.7 trillion, or 76 percent of GDP. The National Debt has
grown by 1,150 percent in 28 years. With the planned fiscal stimulus
(taxing future generations), the National Debt will reach 100 percent
of GDP during the Obama administration. When Argentina's economy
collapsed in 1998, their National Debt as a percentage of GDP was 65
percent. The Great Deniers say we are not Argentina. They say we are
safe because the U.S. dollar is the reserve currency of the world. This
is like jumping off a 20 story building and as you pass the 10th floor
someone yells out the window asking how you are doing. You answer,
"Good, so far".
Short TBT?
The interest-sensitive futures have tumbled quite a bit from their prior lofty levels.
I wonder if it makes sense to be shorting the TBT soon? Here's a graph of the ten-year futures (in blue) contrasted with TBT (in black).
Lottery Prospects
I have a watchlist named Wreck where I keep all the really, really trashed issues. Strangely, this is also the wishing well from which I draw all of my IRA purchases. It's a weird strategy that has worked pretty well.
Going through the list of 200+ stocks this morning, a lot of them have soared recently, only strengthening my resolve that we're in for a tumble next week. These are really crummy stocks that have been propelled upwards by little more than vapors.
If I'm wrong, though, and the market's strength continues, I've selected the most interesting of these "wrecks" that haven't been thrown so high as to be pricey, nor is their stop so far away that it is unnecessarily dangerous. Keep in mind, though, that these are really battered stocks, and the fact that a number of my "wrecks" apparently went to Ticker Heaven (delisted, bankrupt, etc.) in just the past couple of weeks should tell you something.
| CMZ | CROX | CVGI | CYNO | ENTG |
| ETFC | FMCN | GLG | GU | HLX |
| HZO | IBNK | LINTA | LVS | PIR |
| PL | RAME | RJI | SFI | SIRF |
| STP | WMFI | WFR | XIDE |
Candle Scans
Good news for Prophet.net users – Candlestick Scans are now live!
Using it is simple; just choose Find Candle Patterns from the Patterns menu:
Choose how many symbols you want to view, as well as the time range you want and whether or not you want the patterns to show up on the chart itself (which I would assume you do!):
Choose the patterns to seek:
Click on OK, and check 'em out in the Candle Patterns module. Simple! Here, for instance, you can see AKAM with its pattern identified (which happens when you mouse over any of the tinted areas where patterns have been found).
Like I said, this is only on Prophet.net now, but next week it's slated to roll out to Investor Toolbox, and I think before the month is over it'll be in a TOS release.
As for the markets – – – I've got 4 portfolios. Two were bullishly tilted, and they did well, and two were bearishly tilted, and they suffered. What might you expect on a +216 day? The stimulus plan gets announced Monday. It should make for some good drama in the markets! Have a good weekend, everyone.
