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.

“Unbalanced” Trade Balance in France and Britain (by SB)

By -

Data released
today shows that Trade Balance in France and Britain is
rather "unbalanced," as France also grapples with an ever-increasing Budget
deficit, as shown on the graphs below. Trade Balance for both countries is well
below the levels of 2007-08-09.

At some point, European stock markets
will recognize and reflect these numbers, in spite of what the ECB's promise (to
provide financial aid through the ESM program) is attempting to accomplish. I
seriously doubt that such a plan, without an immediate enaction of supportive
fiscal, banking and economic reforms, will be sufficient to prop up sagging
European growth in the near-term. At some point, economic fundamentals will
matter to the markets, lest further layers become built on to an
already-shaky "house of cards" foundation.

 

 

SB's DISCLAIMER: The information contained within
my posts may not be construed as financial or trading advice. Please do your
own due diligence before engaging in any trading activity.

Lazy Trade Long & Short: AET & TMO (by Ryan Mallory)

By -

lazy eaterI have really been hesitant in adding any new positions today to the portfolio. Going short at this point seems like a chaser's mindset, and going long when the VIX is spiking and then consolidating at the highs, doesn't make much sense either. 

So outside of getting stopped out of WYNN earlier, I have been sitting on the sidelines for most of today. That doesn't mean I won't ultimately get in, but on a stock like Aetna (shown below), I'm not going to go be aggressive with my entry. Instead, I would like to wait for a pullback to the $42 level first. 

On another note, AAPL bouncing nicely off of the morning lows is a positive development for the market, but the market  really hasn't responded in terms of price action. 

Here's today's Lazy Trades Long & Short: 

LONG: Aenta (AET)

Aetna AET swing trade long

SHORT: Thermo Fisher (TMO)

Thermo Fisher TMO Short Setup

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

The End of the Road for Tech Sector Outperformance

By -

(Editor's Note: Many of you are familiar with Michael Panzner and his book, Financial Armageddon; I was delighted to receive an email from him last night asking if he could contribute to Slope from time to time; here is his first entry………Tim)

Instigated by the breakdown in heavily-weighted constituent Apple,
the Nasdaq-100's index-relative trend has broken below a key uptrend
stretching back to the early-2009 lows. This uptrend has been tested
five times before now, underscoring its significance.

Ndxrelspxbreakdown

With investors waking up to the reality that expectations surrounding
the industry are very high, especially amid a synchronized global
slowdown—not to mention the fact that technology has become a very
crowded trade—the recent breach lends further weight to my bearish views
on the sector (see here and here).

Needless to say, the risk is high that we will see a mad dash for the exits.

(Website: Panzner Insights)

What’s the Dumb Money Doing Now?

By -

Back in May, as the stock market was heading into its final decline
prior to this year’s seemingly improbable second half rally, I wrote an
article called Dumb Money Sold in May and Went Away. 
Later, this view was backed up with positions in global emerging bonds
and markets, global bonds, developed global markets, frontier markets,
technology, energy, rare earths, lithium, silver and gold.

(more…)