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.

Marvelously Dreadful

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Having finished my first screenplay (and actively seeking backing for it – – if you’re in the business, write me!), I have a interest in the movie industry stronger than ever. I had never heard of The Room before, but apparently it was written, directed, and starred in by a first-timer with a budget of six million dollars. Its take at the box office was $1800, and from all accounts it is one of the worst movies ever made. I humble offer to you some sample scenes for your enjoyment. Shield your eyes, Frank.

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Third Down…One To Go: 2017 Q4 Looms for U.S. Equities

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The following charts and graphs present a simplified birds-eye view of how the S&P 500 Index, and its volatility, performed in Q3 of 2017, as well as year-to-date.

But, first, a look at the Major Indices and 9 Major Sectors and how they have fared year-to-date and during Q3

MAJOR INDICES

Eight of the nine Major Indices, namely, the Dow 30, Dow Transports, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Nasdaq Composite, Russell 2000, S&P 100, and Nasdaq Transportation Indices closed out Q3 at or near all-time highs, as shown on the following 1-Year Daily charts. (more…)

Testing The Hedged Portfolio Method In Real Time

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Fellow Slopers may recall I wrote about the hedged portfolio method a few years back. The basic idea was to find securities that had high expected returns over the next six months and were also relatively cheap to hedge, and then to buy and hedge a handful of those names every six months.

I backtested the approach a couple of years ago, and wrote it about here at the time (Does Hedged Investing Work?). You can also find interactive versions of those backtests on the Portfolio Armor website. Since April though, I’ve been tracking the performance of portfolios posted in real time. Out of the 6 portfolios created in late April / early May, 5 were beating the market as of Friday’s close. Here’s a look at the first one. (more…)