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.

Power Bounce

By -

Well, all the jokes about my absence from the United States causing the market to fall, and how my return would cause it to rise, seemed to be eerily prescient. The market bottomed literally the moment I left Berlin, and by the time I touched down in San Francisco, the ES was over 30 points higher. Incredible.

I’m the impatient sort who would prefer to see the market fall every day that ends with the letter “Y”, but these BTFD rallies are just part of the game. The important thing, in my opinion, is that so many crucial trendlines have been broken, we are truly in a different market now. These rip-roaring rallies are simply blowing off some excess fear, but the general direction really is “down.” (more…)

The Society of the Spectacle

By -

spectacleI write all the time about bullshit detectors, cartoons and caricatures. I can be cranky, surly and intolerant of stupidity. I hate dumb commercialism and uncritical thinking. I want us all to be awake and dealing in reality, not giving up our critical power and dimly following someone else’s orthodoxies, especially those of so-called experts.

Of the negative feedback I get from public writing (outside of a couple whack jobs who periodically cannot keep themselves from sending along totally insane and hateful emails) by far the most frequent are along the lines of ‘I don’t know what you are talking about’ or ‘you fail to make a point’ or ‘this article is devoid of value and offers no actionable conclusion’ (hello SeekingAlpha, home of the linear, academic and/or auto-piloted paint-by-numbers thinker).

(more…)

Roads to Riches

By -

The journey from trading novice to trading pro requires picking up a number of skills. How you get there is an important decision. There are three main ways that I am aware of and the main difference between them is how long it will take to reach your goal, assuming that trading is right for you at all. The main differences between them are the difficulty and the time to learn. They are: (more…)

The Iggy Dynasty – 7/29/14 – 8/8/14 AD

By -

In mid-July when TK announced his upcoming vacation plans, I emailed him offering to help keep things flowing on Slope while he was hitting the highways and byways of Europe so that he could focus on VACATIONING.   I expected, as he’s done in the past, to graciously thank me, yet, decline and continue to take care of his baby himself even while traveling around the world with his family.  However, this time, a couple of days prior to his departure date he surprised me by taking me up on the offer and I was happy to assist.

I knew that with all of the top notch contributors, my job was easy… put up a new post every couple of hours, let Slope be Slope, and that’s exactly how smooth things have gone.  I can’t thank the guest writers enough for stepping up, taking the time to put together their content but also their willingness to share it for us all to see, it isn’t easy to put yourself out there with your prognostications.

(more…)