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.

Slopefest IV Is ALMOST Here! (Market Sniper and Vittorio)

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That time is almost upon us!

Slopefest IV in Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday, May 19th and 20th! Time to come and party. Meet some old friends and make new ones. Put a face to the handles on The Slope and meet our gracious host, Mr. Tim Knight! Both Vittorio and I will be there starting on May 13. We will be staying at Treasure Island for those very early early birds. Drop us a message and we will get in contact prior to the festivities. Ask for Holland or Abenne's room.

For early birds who arrive on Friday, May 18th. A meet and greet at The Deuces Lounge at the Aria at City Center starting at 5:30 pm. (See map for further information)

Saturday, May 19th between 6 and 9 pm at a private club at the top of The Mandalay Bay in the Foundation Room is THE main event!

Go to the main elevator bank at the Mandalay Bay. You will see a desk at one of the elevators. You will need to tell the person there that you are with the Slope Of Hope. As this is a private club, there is a minor dress code. No open toed shoes/sandals for men. No sneakers, no shorts (no gang apparel either for you wannabees). No tank tops either I think. Just use common sense.

There is a minimum cover of $50 per person. Use your credit/debit card. Your drinks and eats will be charged against your minimum. IF you cannot afford $50 for the evening, you should not be in Vegas! This way, you are in control of what you spend. Based on last year, there should be no problem with this even if your funds are limited. The cover is based on the total and we have some party animals in the crowd! We most likely will be in the Media Room which is the best one according to Mr. K and I can verify that as that is where we held Slopefest III. We will have an absolutely spectacular view of Las Vegas while we get to know each other. Here is a link to the site. There are some pictures if you scroll down to the  links.  http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/lasvegas/foundationroom.php

There can be other meetings and get togethers as well and that is open. For those who can, I will be going to the Sterling Brunch at Bally's on Sunday. Never miss the chance as it is one of the best if not the best brunch in the State of Nevada. Both Vittorio and I look forward, as does our host, Mr. Tim Knight, to meeting you all at Slopefest IV!

Time to take a time out and have some fun, good people. We have MORE than earned it! I will also be giving mini-seminars on how to get an edge on the casinos at blackjack and craps!

Below is a map to guide and help you out in the navigation of Slopefest IV! 

Yours in the ever elusive search for edges in and away from markets, the Market Sniper and Vittorio.

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SPY Guessing Contest-A Reminder! (by Market Sniper)

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Just a quick reminder of the SPY Guessing Contest! Closing soon! Here is the recap of contest and prizes!

SPY Guessing Contest!

As has become the tradition there is another SPY Guessing Contest with even better prizes!

Rules: Open to all regardless if you are a lurker, a regular/irregular poster, plan to attend slopefest/do not plan to attend slopefest. The closest to the SPY ETF closing price on Friday, May 11, 2012 shall be the winner. You can be right on the final price, under it or over it. Closest wins! In the unlikely event of a tie, the person who has submitted their “guesstimate” the earliest will be declared the winner. So, get your “guesstimate” in early! Contest cut-off for submission of entries shall be midnight EST, January 16, 2012. 

Prizes: 1st Place: 1/10th ounce Krugerrand gold coin (yes, they do mint those!). 2nd Place: two (2) 1 ounce Silver Eagles minted by the United States. 3rd Place: a nice, crisp, selection of Wiemar German Notgeld Notes. For those of you unfamiliar with just what those are:  http://www.notgeld.com/ So, send in your SPY “guesstimates” to: slopefest4@gmail.com !! If for some reason, the link does not work, just copy and paste. We had a problem with that on the last post!

PS..For those few who do not know it, my new site, devoted to the swing trader, is up and ready for your consideration. Meant to be a resource for visitors as well as subscribers. Take a look! http://www.masterswingtraders.com/

Market Lessons (Re)Learned in 2011 (by Market Sniper)

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In this last day of reflection prior to the resumption of trading tomorrow, I thought I would share this with you. Here are the top lessons the market handed out to us in the year just passed. Most are old lessons that just need to be reinforced. In the heat of the "battle" some are difficult to keep foremost in our thinking.

Lesson #1: Price patterns work.

I, personally, have difficulty trading classical chart patterns as I note they tend to fail to deliver the next technical expectation as often as they deliver. That being said, there is no denying that, for the broad markets in 2011, they did deliver on two notable occasions. 1) The summer of 2011 with the head and shoulders off the May high and 2) The double bottom off the August and October lows. One of my personal goals this year is to attempt to do better in this area. To that end, I will be using Tim Knight's and Tom Bulkowski's works predominately. 

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Slopefest IV & SPY Guessing Contest (by Market Sniper)

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Happy Holidays to my fellow Slopers! May the New Year bring you more trading success! Time to start planning the upcoming annual Slopefest! Meet old friends and make new ones. Put a face and name to that avatar. As our gracious host, Mr. Tim knight, appears to be travelling to the Big Apple shortly and festivities surrounding that event could include an official Slopefest, the one planned for 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada may either be IV or V.

Slopefest date: May 19 and 20 in the year 2012 Anno Domani

Slopefest location: Las Vegas, Nevada, US of A

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Which Type Trader Are You? (by Market Sniper)

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This post may offend many and that is not its intention. This is a think piece I have been formulating in my mind for quite some time now.  Its purpose is to get you to think about your trading methodology(s) and setups in a critical light.

To my way of thinking, traders who utilize technical analysis all fall into three broad groups (traders who use purely fundamental analysis are excluded from this type of grouping).

The Prognosticator

In this group I include Elliot Wave traders, Gann traders and astrological traders. These traders trade in the future. Based on what they say may happen and some go as far as to say what WILL happen. When a trade is a failure, they use misinterpretation of past price action as the excuse for the failed trade. It seems that Elliot wave traders (mostly sellers of the system) are in a constant civil war as to "correct" interpretation. Gann followers can spend their entire trading life searching for his "missing" piece. A lot of legend has been created around WD Gann, promulgated by promoters of his methodology. WD Gann was prolific in his writings and covered a multitude of areas. Regardless of what happens next, some part of his work can be given credit for "calling" the "move." Too bad we lack foresight to know which one! He is also been credited to have died with a tidy fortune due to his trading. Interviews with his son (who happened to have been in the banking business) revealed that he died in modest means and made the bulk of his money promoting his ideas over his life time. The foremost (and longest being tracked) in the astrological trading group is Arch Crawford. In over 25 years of his trading service, he has had flashes of brilliance. However, according to Hulbert, his record, overall, has well under performed the market during the long period tracked. Prognosticators rely on interpretation of price. So much for the prognosticators.

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