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.

A Healthy Gold Stock Correction

By -

Gold stocks pulling back from the overbought risk area

Let’s take a look at a rarity for me; a public article discussing a nominal technical situation rather than bopping you over the head with macro fundamentals and macro indicators. We review technicals in gold stocks and other markets weekly in NFTRH, and not so much publicly because straight TA is the compass we use to navigate what the macro tells us. In other words, it is for subscribers to gain perspective and parameters ahead of time, not for me to regale the public with. But in this article I want to publicly go back to my first love, which is nominal TA (markets, stocks, etc.), which was how I started out longer ago than I care to believe.

(more…)

Tardy Fed and the New Macro

By -

As FOMC readies its .25% rate hike today…

In 2021 and 2022 we called the Federal Reserve “tardy” on several occasions as they doggedly held to their “transitory” inflation stance long after reasonable people (using the right indicators) would have given up on such a notion. In this May 2, 2022 article we noted that they had finally started to move… too late.

Eggheads tardy in doing the right thing

(more…)

Gold Stocks Not Unique…….Yet

By -

Gold stocks have been among the leaders of the Q1 rally, but are not yet unique

It seems that all too often lately the gold mining sector is in tow with commodities in general and broad global stocks in its ups and downs. As a leader, but not THE leader of the rally that is fine for now as long as we’re still on the back end of the originally projected Q4-Q1 rally in broad asset markets.

But if I am correct in the view of a real bull market in gold and especially the miners, at some point this will have to change. Gold miners are counter-cyclical businesses and the fact that their cost inputs like energy, materials and even human resources are rising in cost is not positive. While the fact that gold has been outperforming most of these for the last 3 to 6 months is positive, the real play will begin when investors look at their portfolios, beaten to a pulp, and see only one sector (or one of a very few sectors) rising while a bear market resumes in cyclical, risk ‘on’ assets.

(more…)

Q4-Q1 Rally Led by Miners

By -

Copper and Gold miners are leading the Q4-Q1 rally in broad asset markets

Back in October we began to plan the prospect of a relief rally that would be fueled by over-bearish sentiment (contrary bullish), ‘Fed hawk’ relief as we anticipated inflation signals to ease, and a post (mid-term) election seasonal pattern that is bullish for stocks. This public article had a lot to say about that on November 10th:

(more…)

“Gold Stock Charts – All Negative”

By -

Gold stock charts are all negative, says a writer at GoldSeek

I am not seeking to be critical of another analyst (who I actually know nothing about), but instead want to critique the article based on its stated views, using only charts.

I am a chart guy, after all, and so I take notice when analysts use nominal charts in a vacuum to form conclusions (especially alarming ones) rather than using an integrated technical and macro fundamental approach. That’s because I am a chart guy whose technical abilities (in a vacuum) are limited because TA itself is limited.

(more…)