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.
Utility ETFs: A Steady Source of Power and Return In 2025
To minimize the impact of a hard landing, central banks in major economies continued to deliver jumbo-sized interest rate cuts near the tail-end of the year. Following several months of stalling progress, with interest rates remaining historically high, policymakers managed to jump to action and begin shifting gears on their fiscal monetary decisions.
The slower-than-anticipated reaction had seen investors seeking shelter with defensive, more cyclical, and recession-proof options that would provide them with near-term security. Attempting to navigate conditions has proven harder than expected, and reliance on traditional instruments has delivered below-average returns.
(more…)One Candle. Two Ends.
Well, the bulls are off and running again. After enduring a tiny bear market from November 11 2021 until June 16 2022, they’ve been enjoying basically straight-up ever since. The start of 2025 is no exception, as the /NQ is up hundreds of points and the /ES executed a nearly 100 point blast-off from yesterday’s lows (and, by the way, these cleaved weeks are completely screwing with my head; I am fully convinced today is Monday).
Mealy-Mouthed Monthlies
Although the annual charts didn’t yield much insight (or encouragement!) I find the monthly charts do. Below are the 15 most intriguing ETF charts.
We begin with the Dow Industrials, in which December basically undid November. We have persistently been in the lower half of its very long-term ascending channel, and I expect a “tag” of the lower boundary of that channel in the first quarter of the year.
