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.

Money Flow for December Week 4 (by SB)

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Further to my last weekly market update, this week's update will look
at:

  • 6 Major Indices
  • 9 Major Sectors
  • Index/Volatility Ratio Charts
  • 30-Year Bonds
  • U.S. $
  • EUR/USD
  • Fed Monetary Stimulus Program "Canaries"

Last week I
said:

"In summary, we may continue to see volatile
intraday/overnight swings with little follow-through on lower volumes, until the
"Fiscal Cliff" issue is settled and until the end of the year, as fund managers
re-organize their portfolios for the 2012 year-end and Q4. At the moment, equity
markets still appear to be hedged in Bonds and the U.S. $ as they trade near
major resistance levels…this will likely continue until a convincing and
sustained breakout occurs in equities. As well, I continue to watch the Fed monetary stimulus program
"canaries" and the 1.3250ish resistance level on the
EUR/USD forex pair as possible indicators of equity weakness
that may become a cause for concern by bulls…at the moment, they are
signalling caution, as I discussed in those two articles this
week."

(more…)

Starting A To-Do List? Don’t (by Mark St.Cyr)

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Many of us are going to wake this week and once again try to make or
adhere to some form of “to do” list. My advise is to save yourself the
time – and don’t.

This is heresy for the “getting it done” crowd and I can fully
appreciate that. However, there is a far greater number of people who’ll
sit down with good intentions – start making a list – only to have
feelings of overwhelm as this list morphs in length with something
rivaling Rte. 66.

You start out thinking “OK, just five or so.” Then as you start
writing your mind begins rambling and prompting you as in: “How about
this one? Oh, and what about that one? And – oh crap I really need to
get that one done.” Followed with so many more you begin having anxiety
flashes caused by what now seems like an endless list you’ll never get
done.

So the greatest of all reasoning to cure this dilemma comes forward:
“This is useless. I’ll never get these done. I’m just kidding myself.”
And you put down the pen, the phone, the pad, or close the program which
believe it or not gives you an immediate “Whew! That was a waste a
time. At least I can cross that off the list.”

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