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.

Economist Lays Out the Next Step to Wonderland

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Mr. Steven Ricchiuto, he of a Masters in Economics from Columbia, has laid out the proper plan for the Federal Reserve in this oh so noisy environment in which an unassuming and fairly quiet man is trying to tune out a personal bully on Twitter, tune out the stock market’s daily whipsaw and do what he perceives to be the right thing.

Today, the academic named above throws in with Trump and politely harangues Chairman Powell thusly in an open letter. You can read it by hitting the graphic…

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Will The Fed Awaken The Bears Again?

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With the market at all-time highs, we are now approaching another Fed meeting. But, this one will likely provide us with a change in direction for rates, if you believe what most pundits are saying. In fact, there seems to be 100% certainty that the Fed will lower rates. Imagine that . . . the Fed is going to lower rates when the market is at its all-time highs. When was the last time this happened?

While many view a rate cut as being akin to the Fed “blessing” this market rally, history tells us a different story. What is most interesting is that the last time the Fed changed direction in rates near all-time highs was in 2007. And, when the Fed began to lower rates in 2007, it was just before the major stock market melt-down. 

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