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.

ZIRP Up Next?

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Everyone expects Janet Yellen to be a rolling over, inflationist stooge just like they did Ben Bernanke. Bernanke came on board after Alan Greenspan had taken the Fed Funds rate up to around 5% if I remember correctly. Inflationists and gold bugs thought they had it in the bag when ‘Helicopter Ben’ assumed control.

Indeed, Bernanke did what he was supposed to do (per the ‘Helicopter ‘Ben’ script) as systemic stresses began to gather in 2007, addressing that pesky Funds rate, culminating in December, 2008’s official ZIRP (zero interest rate policy). Here again is the chart showing the S&P 500’s ‘Hump #3’ attended by this most beneficial monetary policy. (more…)

SHTR

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I remain quite fond of Twitter as a short position. This is partly based on the chart which, if it breaks beneath 49.99, it’s bombs-away; it is partly based on the fact that in the face of a rip-roaring bull market in social media stocks (Exhibit A: Facebook), Twitter has been completely lame; and, finally, it is partly blamed on the fact that I tried Twitter as a customer (e.g. I bought ads to drive traffic to Slope) and it was a complete, utter, and irrefutable dud. I’ll never go back.

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