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.

Clarifying Why With: What If?

By -

Often times we get caught up in the asking of why rather than asking what if. It sounds like such a subtle distinction and for some it’s an exercise not worth pursuing. However, it is sometimes this very innocuous line of questioning that is the only thing that gets at the root of many issues facing not only business in general, but sometimes rooting out the answers one doesn’t want to actually face – never mind deal with.

Personally I made many of my marks in business by being the person who more often than not had to pick up the pieces or control their trajectory as to where they may land ahead of time during my tenure in the business world. Today the professional moniker is “an expert in Crisis Management.”

Expert is not for vanity’s sake. If I had done it once that could be racked up to chance, twice could be coincidence, but three times and more and you’ve distinguished yourself with a track record.

(more…)

Forget What They Say And Watch What They Do

By -

Once again we are breaking records on a near weekly basis. Week after week and sometimes daily new never before seen in the history of financial markets record prints. Yet, business people across the spectrum don’t feel it, nor are they buying it.

Should one be worried about this conundrum? Financial mavens say no. In earnest, most seem to insinuate one should “Just buy the all time highs and sleep like a baby.” Then again, that’s what they say all the time do they not?

So what is someone to do that doesn’t believe the hype or the meme “it’s different this time” and can’t get that feeling out of their gut for they know – it truly never is? (more…)

Apple: Now They’re Cook’n With Gas

By -

The latest revelation to hit the business world that I feel will be both under reported as well as under estimated is the legitimate sea change that may be taking place with the announcement that Apple® and IBM® will work together to both create and sell products.  Personally I don’t know of any other such collaboration in recent memory that has the possibility of having a truly transformative effect.

As always I’ll state right up front: I am an Apple fanboy and have been for many years. That said I have also been very critical and not shy as to express my consternation when they have made moves that either impacted my user experience (e.g., deleting key features or a “dumbing” down of some products) as well as mergers or purchases that just don’t seem to make sense. e.g., The Beats™ acquisition. (more…)

It’s Always Been About Getting Out – Not In

By -

An issue that has been debated more times across the financial media than the main stream media’s fixation on some celebrities bottom has been about “missing out” or “getting in” since the so-called “generational bottom” of 2008.

What has been lost on so many of the nascent “just buy the dips” crowd is they have been systematically rewarded as to forgo any objective analysis on why this market keeps rising; and like Pavlov’s dogs they’ve been rewarded every-time they’ve answered the opening bell.

Getting in to buy every dip fueled with free and easy money to spend via the Federal Reserve has taken little skill or expertise. However, who is going to be there to buy what you’re holding; when you want out? Especially in any unexpected downdraft. (more…)

Receiving A Valid Ticket From The Punctuation Police: And Pleading A Case

By -

Readers who’ve been with me for a while know all too well my struggles via the printed word. I have been very candid in print as well as speaking: I can barely spell cat without running it through a spellchecker.

Punctuation? Please, I have an even harder time knowing what goes where, when to use commas, colons, and all the rest. Grammar? I hit that about 50/50. My only clue to this ratio is in direct proportion of violation alerts I receive via what I deem a more over-arching authority: The Grammar Gestapo. (more…)