I’d like to introduce you to someone who is going to self-destruct. No, I’m not talking about myself. I’m doing all right, all things considered. I’m referring to someone who just put up a post on /WSB:
Beyond the Shoeshine Boy
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.
Pre-CPI Musings
The market is a cruel, cruel mistress, but surely the cruelest in years (for me, at least) was the plunge the market took on October 13th on the heels of the hot CPI report.
Rats!
In the past, I’ve written that a person’s immediate reaction to a sudden situation is highly indicative of their internal character. This, to me, seems obvious and self-evident. The example I usually give is if a person is confronted with a situation (such as a building bursting into flames) in which they are immediately forced to choose between doing something heroic (some may say foolish) or elect instead to be passive (and thus safe). Heroes, I believe, are largely born, not made.
Perhaps you saw a video that just came out of a couple visiting Mexico who were terrified that they had been hunted down by a murderous cartel. I feel bad that these two men went through this ordeal, although I confess to smirking a bit at their pearl-clutching reactions (just watch the video). All the same, I’m glad they’re all right. I share this video simply because it’s one of those instances in which raw feelings are exposed because one doesn’t have the opportunity to think of a reaction and then act it out.
(more…)Hemming the White Flag
This is a new low. And not the kind of low I enjoy.
I can’t remember a time I’ve felt more despairing about the state of the market than right now. From June 16 to August 16 of last year, we had a two month ascent that I thought was the worst period of my trading life.
That was a walk in the park – – a party – – a festivus – – compared to what’s been going on for the past eight months. I say again, EIGHT MONTHS. I could actually argue twelve months, but October 13th was nominally a lower price point in the market, so I’ll just say eight, even though the easy part of the market stopped cold on June 16th, almost an entire year ago. It’s been pretty much a slog ever since.
(more…)Crude, Coin, and Co-Opting
Let’s cover three topics on this sun-isn’t-even-up morning.
Crude Scheming Fails
As I hope you know, last weekend the lovely people constituting OPEC – – which are basically a conglomeration of nations that would have NOTHING to offer the world were it not for the fact that, by sheer accident, a bunch of dinosaurs died beneath their ground hundreds of millions of years ago – – got together in their market-manipulating cartel and declared that, once again, they would SUPPRESS the natural energy supply in a shameless attempt to maximize their profits. As the arrow indicates, it worked great.
