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.

Keynesian Shangri-La From Myth To Reality

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In less than the time it takes for a chrysalis to release one of life’s remarkable transformations, many once called “capitalists” woke to find the world they once knew changed into something only dreamed or told in folklore.

Where business models resembling unicorns abounded along with rainbows in their resembling equivalent of over-arching ETF’s. All available in a multitude of hues and proportions so plentiful: It was hard for one not to well up when contemplating. For in this new fairytale land there must certainly be a pot of gold at the end of every “rainbow.” However, one would be mistaken. For one must remember this is a “Keynesian Shangr-la” and gold here is useless. (insert choir music here) (more…)

In Perpetuity

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I am not a stranger to disappointment. There have been plenty of times in my life when reality did not meet expectations. This probably gives me plenty in common with other fellow humans. It’s certainly not like things always go my way. Far from it.

Being a trader, this is a phenomenon that is almost universal. People anticipate what they think is going to happen, they position themselves for it, and reality dictates whether or not they profit or not. It’s the nature of the beast.

October was an extraordinary month. It was tremendously exhilarating for the first half, and it was soul-crushingly difficult during the second (this is from a bear’s perspective; flip the descriptors for bulls). As deeply oversold as we were on October 15th (and with the VIX in excess of 30), I certainly expected some kind of bounce – and I made no secret of it – but I absolutely did not expect a bounce of this size and vigor. (more…)

Putting The Fallacy Of QE Into Perspective

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You can’t turn on a financial news program without being bombarded by panelists as well as the hosts ready-at-the-draw to pounce on anyone with an opposing view as to the “effectiveness” of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program (QE).

Once again this played out just the other day on CNBC™ where this time it was Peter Schiff who found himself in the cross hairs of today’s version of “ambush the guest.”

You can agree or disagree with anyone’s viewpoint and I even encourage people to question mine if they see fit. However, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to watch many of these anchors to witness for yourself what now has turned into all the appearances of – an ambush. (more…)

FOMC Cites Job Gains?

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Fed Announces End to Bond-Buying, Citing Job Gains –New York Times

Just a week or so ago one of the Fed’s three most celebrated hawks jumped the mic with a ‘shucks ya know, we could always delay the end of QE’ routine as the stock market plummeted. They don’t make hawks like they used to.

So what does the FOMC really mean, ‘job gains are good so we are ending QE’ or… ‘phew, that was a close one but the market took the Bullard bait and is back near the highs so we are ending QE… for now’. I’ll take ‘B’ Alex.

I seriously wonder how people other than promoters in the media and the financial services complex can continue to fall in line behind this transparent stuff. Maybe it is not really people after all but instead a bunch of connected black boxes, dark pools and other such robo systems simply programmed, without feeling, to follow the code. (more…)