Well, my fellow Slope-a-Dopes, your selfless Idiotic Savant servant, whom is securely chained to his desk, has spent a significant part of the long weekend, perusing nearly every finance blog on the world wide web for you. Therefore, I can reliably report to the SOH, that the overwhelming consensus out there in the financial blogosphere, which has now reached a nearly universal feverish pitch, is boldly & proudly heralding that a most encouraging new economic dawn is finally upon us. It seems, a pristine permanent plateau of prosperity has been patently perfected.
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.
Adjusted Monetary Base Updated
You know, around here we beat the Fed up pretty good; and rightly
so. But the FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) website is top notch
and I just love going there and rummaging around.
Not only do they have nominal data graphs but you can ratio disparate
data to come up with your own analysis, as I did recently with the
London Gold Fix divided by the Monetary Base. More people should get
used to doing their own work instead of listening to the talking heads
all over the internet, and know-it-all bloggers too for that matter.
Work will set you free.
The links to FRED are over on the right side bar of the main page,
including a handy graphic that updates CPI, Unemployment, 10 Year
Yields, GDP, Industrial Production and Payrolls. It’s really cool,
although the Fed does not (yet) allow for creating your own widget with
your own desired data. If it did, I’d be all about the money supply and
other things that tattle on the Fed and its operations. But it’s all
there on the site anyway, so do consider becoming acquainted with it if
you have not done so yet.
So here’s the latest BASE update:
It is still in consolidation but I have highlighted the little tick
higher after QE3, which was still encumbered with Op/Twist. The latest
data show a tick higher still.
A new inflationary phase would have to start somewhere and breaking this consolidation would be a good start.
Biiwii.com, Twitter, Free eLetter, Notes From the Rabbit Hole
Risk vs. Reward Post Turns Into a Ramble on Bernanke
The general operating plan has been toward a market that can drag on
into spring with a bullish bias. But in the short-term, over bought
markets can continue to correct. I have taken profits on some
overbought global positions and would like to watch for re-entry.
Interestingly though, the various ‘Gold Bugs’ data compiled by Sentimentrader.com
show an embattled sector that has scrunched even further to the left on
the graph above and is the lone item sitting in a good risk vs. reward
stance.
Bullish Setup and FOMC Day (by Springheel Jack)
In my last post of November, as NDX last approached 2700, I posted a chart talking about short term negative divergence on the NDX 60min chart and the possibility that a high quality IHS could form with 2700 resistance as the neckline and a target at 2900, over the current 2012 highs. There was obviously a not entirely dissimilar setup on the SPX chart but I dismissed that as the neckline started too early in the preceding decline to make it a reliable pattern in my view. Here is that NDX chart that I posted on 30th November:
Benpecked
henpecked Benpecked (‘ben·pekd)
Definition
adjective
- (of a man stock trader) continually harassed or tormented by the persistent nagging of a woman central bank chairman (esp. his wife Ben Bernanke)
As I’ve discussed quite a bit lately, what makes the recent Sept
14-Nov 17th correction different from all other similar sell-offs in
recent years is the lack of fear this time around. There are generally
two types of traders who short the market, other than commercial
hedgers: The “permabears”, who always think the market is going to drop
and those more adept, flexible traders who are just as comfortable
trading the short side as the long side, depending on the charts,
valuation, and other market metrics. I like to believe that I fall into
the latter categorization but I digress.
