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.

It Must be a Gold Bull Market, Because…

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Dear SoH, I know this is somewhat Gary-specific, or Gary-indulgent, but I like to hammer everybody over the head in none-too-subtle ways now and then…

It must be a gold bull market because…

  • Gold analysts (code for gold obsessives; analysts cover asset markets, including gold), who for years pumped people to be bullish despite an obvious bear market, are now taken seriously again as they issue the same dogma.
  • A Technical Analyst months ago advised “30,000 coffins” would be needed for gold bugs and has since gone quiet while another is bearish, no bullish, no bearish again, no bullish again. Charts are only one component of gold market management, but the TA’s are again enthralling the gold community with lines and squiggles.
  • Yet another gold bug TA somehow manages to tie in cycles and God for a bullish view of gold and silver and a 2016 crash for world markets. There’s a niche for everything, I guess.
  • The major media as well is in obsession mode, as we find out about bullish calls on gold by people smarter than we are, like Soros, Gundlach and Druckenmiller.
  • And to balance it all out, there is a man and his computer advising that gold has not yet seen its cycle lows.

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Mixed Signals or a Clear Path Forward?

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[edit] Please see a new post with more perspective on a would-be ‘inflation trade’ and its limitations.

The following excerpt is the opening segment from this week’s edition of Notes From the Rabbit Hole, NFTRH 398…

Last week’s opening paragraph: “If we are going to highlight improving fundamentals, which we did as gold out performed commodities and stock markets, then we also have to highlight and respect eroding fundamentals; no ifs, ands or buts.”

This week’s opening paragraph: If we are going to highlight eroding fundamentals, which we did as gold under performed commodities and stock markets and Semi Equipment made an early positive economic indication, then we also have to highlight and respect improving fundamentals; no ifs, ands or buts.

Gold is about the economy, the market risk profile, implied confidence in policy makers and above all, the state of money and the perceptions of billions of people who hold this ‘money’ issued by governments with “Legal Tender” or other wording to give the holder a feeling of confidence in its origin, its backing.

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‘Inflation Trade’ Alive and Well

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I don’t write the title because the precious metals took off Friday on the bad jobs report. Far from it. That is what gold is supposed to do under such circumstances as its fundamentals got a boost and the perceptions of a hawkish Fed got repelled.

I write the title despite the fact that the inflation barometer, TIP/TLT, tanked and commodities were moderate, post-jobs. Yesterday we noted: Inflation Expectations Sagging, including a declining TIP/TLT and a bullish looking TLT (each a form of non-inflationary signaling). Friday they got bearisher and bullisher, respectively.

tip.tlt (more…)

AMAT Chirps, b2b Ramps, Yellen Hawks and Gold’s Fundamentals Erode

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Following is the opening segment from the May 29 edition of Notes From the Rabbit Hole, NFTRH 397:

If we are going to highlight improving fundamentals, which we did as gold out performed commodities and stock markets, then we also have to highlight and respect eroding fundamentals; no ifs, ands or buts.

The plain and simple fact is that the Semiconductor Equipment sector is firming, with the April Book-to-Bill (b2b) joining Applied Materials’ quarterly report noted in NFTRH 396’s opening segment as another bullish [economic] indicator. Semi Equipment was a leader to the general Semi sector in early 2013, which in turn led the economy and job creation. Our fundamental gold view improved in January 2016 as gold launched upward vs. global stock markets, joining its positive status vs. commodities.

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Did AMAT Chirp? Implications for the Economy and Gold

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The following is the opening segment of this week’s Notes From the Rabbit Hole, NFTRH 396. The report also covers, in detail, the technical status of US/Global stock markets, precious metals, commodities, currencies and even a few individual gold miners and a couple of new (non-gold related) NFTRH+ trade ideas.

In January of 2013 we noted that the “Canary’s Canary” chirped and signaled an economic up phase (such as it was) on the horizon. The Canary was the Semiconductor sector, which is cyclical and economically sensitive. The Canary’s Canary is the Semi Equipment sector, manned by the likes of Applied Materials and Lam Research.

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