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.

How to Take Advantage of a Volatility Spike

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Markets lull you to sleep. And then they wake you up with a punch to the face.

For weeks, everything feels calm. The VIX—Wall Street’s so-called “fear gauge”—drifts lower, traders take on more risk, and complacency seeps in. Then, like an uninvited guest, volatility arrives. The S&P 500 plunges. Option premiums explode. Suddenly, traders who were riding high are now scrambling for the exits.

But here’s the thing: volatility spikes aren’t something to fear. They’re something to exploit—if you know how.

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Housing Starts Stalled -Cold Snap & Hot Rates

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Unusually cold weather and frigid temperatures from snowstorms slowed the construction of single-family housing units in January. Would-be homebuyers and households holding out to upgrade in the coming months could face even higher costs as tariffs for material imports and hostile mortgage rates put a housing rebound further on ice. 

January Freeze Brings Halt to New Housing Starts

Adjusted data show that new housing starts were 8.4% lower in January 2025 compared to December’s revised 2024 figures and approximately 13% down from January 2024. New housing starts for the first month of the year dropped to 993,000 versus 1.08 million the month before. January rates for buildings of five or more units were 355,000. 

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