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.

Declining Industrial Production in Europe (by SB)

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Data released today (Wednesday) shows that Industrial
Production in Europe continues to decline, with this latest month's data sharply
below that presented in July of 2008, as shown on the graph below.

As you can see, after
a minor rebound from the lows in 2009, production has been in decline from March
of 2010…mirroring the pattern leading up to the deeply depressed lows
throughout much of 2009. This is reflective of the unemployment and recessionary conditions currently prevalent
in Europe. The LTRO 1 & 2 cash injections by the ECB have not had a
(lasting) positive impact in this particular segment of Europe's economy.
European markets are currently down at the time of my writing this post.

One Chart Says It All

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Index after index is showing the same thing – – – the long-term supporting trendline, anchored to the bottom of March 2009, shows that the completely fake "bull" market of the past four years is being shattered like a pane of untempered glass slammed against the faces of long-only investors the world over.

1114-comp

I am paying a fairly substantial "fear tax" by not being – – as Ms. Broadwell might say – – ALL IN. God knows I'm not in any long positions, but I have kept a meaningful portion in cash based on the overhanging fear that Surprise Number Ninety Seven is going to pop up on our screens at any moment, day or night.

In any event, it certainly seems the market have transformed itself from one that urges us to BTFD to instead STFR. The suspense is terrible. I hope it lasts.

Reversal Setups and Yen (by Springheel Jack)

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I've mentioned often before that short term reversal setups often get steamrollered in a strong trend on a larger timeframe, and I'm mentioning that first before I outline the promising looking short term reversal setups on equities this morning. The action yesterday before the close and so far since yesterday's close is also not hugely encouraging. Nonetheless here it is ……

SPX has obviously been riding the lower bollinger band downwards on the daily SPX chart. Yesterday there was an attempt to break up from the lower BB which failed, but in the event that we see a rally here the obvious target would be the daily middle bollinger band, with a likely hit somewhere in the 1405 to 1415 area, depending on the time taken to reach it. Here's how that looks on the daily SPX chart:

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