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.

Not Guilty

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This morning’s paper re-ignited my interest in the only family here in town caught up in the nationwide college admissions scandal. As many of you know, those nabbed in the scandal now fall into two camps: one of which is those, such as Felicity Huffman, who pled guilty, expressed contrition, and are awaiting their (reduced) punishment, and two, those like Lori Loughlin who have dug their 4″ heels in and are refusing to admit that half-million dollar bribes are perhaps not totally legit.

The folks here in Palo Alto are fairly small potatoes: the man is an oncologist (who faces the loss of his livelihood due to this mess) who allegedly paid $25,000 to have his apparently retarded son get an 1190 on the SAT by way of fraud. Here’s how the article begins:

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Financial Hazard

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I’d say the biggest risk for the two or three bears left on Earth right now is the financials, shown below in the form of XLF. Notice that horizontal I’ve emphasized at the 27.33 price level. We’ve got a clean IHS below it, and should we cross 27.33 to the upside, that sets up the pattern to pierce the descending trendline (yellow tint), at which point it would be like a 42-gallon drum of gasoline on the bullish fire.

xlf