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.

Understanding Delta

By -

The Foundation of Options Trading

First things first—don’t let the term “Greeks” intimidate you. They aren’t ancient riddles, nor do they require decoding with mystical insight. The Greeks are simply tools—powerful ones—that help you understand how options behave. For anyone serious about trading options, the Greeks are not barriers but bridges to better decision-making.

Today, we’ll focus on one of the most fundamental Greeks: Delta. This isn’t a comprehensive dive, just a starting point. Think of it as laying the first brick in a strong foundation. In the coming weeks, I’ll expand on each of the Greeks with detailed discussions.

(more…)

Tim’s Red Hat

By -

With all the snark I try to subtly slip in about the new administration, let me extend an olive branch and say some positive things about what I perceive happening.

  • Un-weird-ifying society: I’m all for it! I’m tired of celebrating the mentally ill and criminals. Sexually confused freaks like The Admiral and criminal drug addicts like George Floyd are not my heroes.
  • Blowing up and challenging government spending: Go get ’em, Elon! I’ve always felt that almost everything the government spends is a waste. Shut it all down!
  • Demanding respect from overseas: The U.S. has seemed to welcome getting pushed around.
  • The action in the article below: I think it’s brilliant! This is a form of expense arbitrage. Why pay through the nose to house and feed the most reprehensible members of our society? Ship ’em off and have them fend for themselves, while saving money for the government!
(more…)

Sovereign Poverty Fund

By -

The President is a man of action, that’s undeniable. One of his many announcements lately has been for his administration to explore the prospect of setting up a Sovereign Wealth Fund for the good ol’ U.S. of A.

Ummm…………..what? This would be EXACTLY like setting up a family office for some alcoholic bum you met on the street. The U.S. HAS no wealth to manage! We aren’t like Saudi Arabia, which is drowning in extra cash that needs a home. Seriously, this is one of the silliest ideas I’ve heard yet. Give me a break.

Watch Those Crumbles

By -

There sure does seem to be some magic about Monday sell-offs, huh? For the past two Mondays, there has been a big plunge only followed by perpetual healing. Whether or not Canada and Mexico are actually doing anything NEW is unclear to me, but it was still quite a piece of performance art.

What I’d suggest is to continue to respect the fact that the overall strength of the market (as expressed by the symbol $SPX200MA, which shows the percentage of stocks above their 200-day moving average) is behaving very technically itself, inasmuch as it was range-bound, broke down, retraced, and is now re-weakening. This isn’t August 1982, folks.