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.

Rise in Europe’s Instability and Decline in Volatility

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The following post was kindly provided by IG

Those paying attention to world news in recent weeks could be forgiven for thinking that we were almost returning to a cold war period, as tensions between Russia and the west escalate amongst increasing human tragedy.

Geopolitical risk has been dominating the headlines in a way not seen since the beginnings of the Arab Spring as conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Gaza and Syria show little sign of abating. Gaza and Ukraine in particular have distilled into global politics, as interested parties increase their involvement. (more…)

The Weeklies (by Faces In Cabs)

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Bears ended up owning this week.  After Thursday’s sell off and the continued price destabilization on Friday, the weekly candles on many index charts now show bearish engulfing candles for the last week (e.g., not just on the daily charts).  So technically, let’s move up a trading time frame and look at a few weekly index charts.

Dow Weekly (10 weeks of gains erased this past week)

NASDAQ 100 Weekly (showing the mildest pull back, 3 weeks of gains erased)

Russell 2000 Weekly (shows strongest pull back with a pending double top range test at 1082)

(more…)

Bad Czech

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Well, Friday could have been a really terrific day, but it was fairly well trashed.

No, the market didn’t do the damage. The market was just fine (indeed, as usual, the only complaint I’ve got about my trading is taking profits far too early, particularly with my options positions – – – – my options ideas have been doing great). It was a bad experience here in Prague.

The plan for the day was simple: have a really nice breakfast, go up to the Prague castle (a short ride from here), and then have me get back into my pseudo home office in our suite by 3:30 p.m. to tackle an exciting trading day.

The breakfast went according to plan, but then it was time to head to the castle. I suggested we take the city tram, which is an electric street car that goes all around the major parts of the city. My wife has never been so keen on public transportation (sometimes sketchy riders; plenty of b.o.) but I prevailed upon everyone to really participate in city life, be a sport, and just hop on the tram.

Big mistake. (more…)