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.

NASDAQ versus Dow

By -

If you thought all the major indexes moved together, think again. Between June 8 and the close on Friday June 26, the Nasdaq beat the Dow in 11 of 14 trading days.  During 8 of those days the gap was half a percent point or more.  The end result was that by the close on Friday, June 26th the Nasdaq was down only 1.7% while the Dow fell 9.3%. Although not as pronounced as the recent behavior, the Dow has lagged the NASDAQ during most of the pandemic.

Whereas the Dow contains only 30 members, the NASDAQ is made up of over 2,700 companies. To be clear, the term “The Nasdaq” refers the Nasdaq Composite Index which contains roughly 90% of the companies that trade on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.  One common confusion is between the Nasdaq 100 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index.  The Nasdaq 100 and the highly traded fund that tracks it (QQQ) is made up of only the Nasdaq stock exchange’s top 100 companies by market cap.

(more…)

Blue Tower’s Andrew Oskoui

By -

An excerpt from the Hidden Value Stocks June 2020 Issue, featuring an interview with Andrew Oskoui, the portfolio manager and founder of Blue Tower Asset Management.

Interview One – Andrew Oskoui: Blue Tower Asset Management

Andrew Oskoui, CFA, is the portfolio manager and founder of Blue Tower Asset Management. Blue Tower combines quantitative and value philosophies by using algorithmic screens to find securities with strong fundamentals and cheap valuations.

These securities then undergo traditional due diligence on the management team and a line of business industry analysis. Andrew previously worked in investment research for YCG and managed an equity strategy for Allometric Research & Management.

(more…)

Ruined Rate Review

By -

It’s going to be a dead-quiet holiday weekend, so let’s just relax with the traditional Independence Day palette of interest rate charts. Suffice it to say, it’s a great time to be in debt. David Stockman has been doing a yeoman’s job of analyzing the repression of interest rates in his Contra Corner, which I read religiously each evening. Here is the zero-fi-cation of interest rates these days…….(click on any chart for a huge version):

slopechart FR MORTGAGE US
(more…)

Longest TSLA Bear Post Ever

By -

Stanphyl Capital letter to investors for the month ended June 30, 2020, discussing their short thesis for Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).

For June 2020 the fund was down 3.9% net of all fees and expenses. By way of comparison, the S&P 500 was up 2.0% while the Russell 2000 was up 3.5%. Year-to-date 2020 the fund is down 7.0% while the S&P 500 is down 3.1% and the Russell 2000 is down 13.0%. Since inception on June 1, 2011 the fund is up 43.0% net while the S&P 500 is up 178.6% and the Russell 2000 is up 93.0%. Since inception the fund has compounded at 4.0% net annually vs 11.9% for the S&P 500 and 7.5% for the Russell 2000.  (The S&P and Russell performances are based on their “Total Returns” indices which include reinvested dividends. The fund’s performance results are approximate; investors will receive exact figures from the outside administrator within a week or two. Please note that individual partners’ returns will vary in accordance with their high-water marks.)

(more…)