“Have we capitulated yet?”
“Stocks are oversold. Surely it’s time to buy!”
“I’m seeing bargain-prices for high-quality stocks everywhere.”
Uh-huh. Just keep the chart below in mind, which was kindly sent to me by a fellow reader.

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.
“Have we capitulated yet?”
“Stocks are oversold. Surely it’s time to buy!”
“I’m seeing bargain-prices for high-quality stocks everywhere.”
Uh-huh. Just keep the chart below in mind, which was kindly sent to me by a fellow reader.
It’s been frequently said here on Slope that George Carlin is our patron saint. Most folks probably consider that a kind mark of respect for the man, but I honestly believe that George Carlin was one of the greatest Americans to even live.
I am sincere. When I say one of the greatest Americans, I put him up there with the likes of Benjamin Franklin (not quite Abraham Lincoln level, but still, way up there). And I use “American” very deliberately, because he embodies for me the properties that I believe made this country great – – – a strong will, fierce independence, the ability to think deeply, the propensity to articulate thoughts well, and the willingness to express himself.
(more…)The super-surge-rally that took place in the final ninety minutes (or thereabouts) on Friday was absolutely comic. It was driven, I suppose, by OpEX silliness. Indeed, I was so confident of the silliness that I acquired June QQQ puts (super aggressive for me) a few minutes before the closing bell.
Over the past week, there has been a sea-change in the psychology of bulls out there.
Although we’ve been in a bear market for a solid six months now, they have been quite, shall we say, understanding about the whole situation. They haven’t been upset. They haven’t been angry. They figure it’s just a “correction” and, as always, things will recovery. So bears like me are harmless nuisances, to be pitied more than feared.
But as someone with about 22,500 followers on Twitter, I’ve got a pretty good feel for the hive mind out there, and the entire tone has changed, and changed quite suddenly.
(more…)