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.

The Missals of October

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I recognize all too well how the country has been completely obsessed with the (surprising) results of the presidential election. I frankly find the government – in all its flavors (federal, state, city) to be a nuisance with which I’d like as little to do with as possible, so I don’t get real worked up about who the temporary occupant of the White House is. As for the recent election, I wanted both of them to lose, so I got half my wish.

All the same, I do think the POTUS has two important roles in our country: (a) moral leadership (b) security through temperament.

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MSM’s Druck’in Suck-In Continues

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Disclosure (which I feel, given the post’s content, should be reiterated):  I am not short even a single equity of any kind.  I am only long selected stocks and cash at this time, but surely subject to a change of status in the future.

Why, did you know that in a note to clients Tom Lee wrote that Donald Trump’s term could usher in major bull market akin to those preceded by Ike and Reagan?  He did, in a note to clients and the MSM really wants you to know about it!  Now, there is a case that eventually his favored areas of Energy, Mining, Basic Materials, etc. will out perform.  But that word “eventually” is an important one, unless you are a died in the wool trickle downer willing to ride the big correction or bear market that is likely first.

Trump win could produce major bull market – here’s what I’m buying

“Notably, the two longest bull markets in history 1953-1974 and 1982-1999 were preceded by a Republican ‘revolution,’” he wrote.

Lee likened Trump to the Republican presidents in this way; Eisenhower in the early 1950s invested in infrastructure, and Reagan pursued tax cuts and deregulation, Lee wrote, much like what Trump has promised to carry out in his presidency.

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Hope for Energy Bears

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The big OPEC meeting is next Wednesday in Vienna, and from what I’ve read, crude is going to move massively either up or down, depending on the outcome. That sounds like a ridiculous thing to write, I realize, but the point is that this is a BIG “binary event” in the world of energy.

Last year, exactly at this time, the world of crude oil started falling to pieces, and it fell steadily for ten weeks. None of us can know what next week holds, of course, but at the moment, faith in a deal by which the cartel abides doesn’t exactly seem strong. I’m sticking with my many energy shorts.

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