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.

Trump and Tariffs

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In my post on Wednesday 19th Feb I was looking at the very nice looking topping setups on SPX, QQQ and DIA and somewhat less nice topping setup on IWM, and in my post yesterday I reviewed those, which have now all broken down with the exception of the big double top pattern on DIA.

I don’t discuss politics much generally but given the news bomb action we have seen in recent weeks and the rapid changes we are seeing in the economic and political structure of the world around us this year, I want to talk briefly about Trump and the tariffs that he is currently very keen on imposing on many or all of those who trade with the US.

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Turning of the Screw

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The VIX blasted from about 14 to 24 in recent days, which typically has meant the termination of fun for the bears, forcing them to wait, yet again, for weeks or even months for another chance to make money. I’m not so sure it’s going to roll that way this time, but let’s take a look at some action in a few major cash markets, accompanied by a trio of exponential moving averages (50/100/200).

The NASDAQ Composite tagged the 200-day EMA, which normally marks the end of a sell-off. It goes without saying that the resumption of the bull market following such a sell-off is not perpetual. All trends end. My spidey sense is that this one has, too.

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Cry Havoc …….

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In my post yesterday I was looking at the very nice rally setup that triggered with the rally on Friday and that looked very promising. It might have failed in any case but yesterday Trump delivered a major news bomb when he confirmed that the threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico would be implemented today, and that further tariffs would be implemented on China, and markets have been dropping hard since then. There is currently every reason to expect that these will be followed by further tariffs on the EU next month, so we may well be looking here at the start of a global trade war. Canada had already announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, in the event of the US imposing 25% tariffs, that will now also be implemented and there is good reason to expect that the EU will react the same way. China is already retaliating of course.

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A String Of Hourly Buy Signals

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In my post on Monday 10th Feb I was looking at the bull flag setups on SPX and QQQ and the historically bullish lean through Tuesday 18th Feb and was projecting that we might well see retests of the all time highs on SPX and QQQ in that bullish window. We saw those all time high retests on QQQ on Friday 14th Feb and on SPX on Tuesday 18th Feb.

In my post on Wednesday 19th Feb I was looking at the very nice looking topping setups on SPX, QQQ and DIA and the historically bearish lean through Friday 28th Feb and suggesting that, if these patterns were going to deliver, then this bearish window would be a good time to get started on that. We saw very sharp declines in that bearish window.

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Crypto – Crisis? What Crisis?

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In my post on 20th February I was looking at the big support levels on Bitcoin (BTCUSD), Solana (SOLUSD) and Ethereum (ETHUSD). I was leaning towards seeing a retracement / consolidation on Crypto in the first half of this year and then strong new highs towards the end of the year with possible bull market highs pencilled in for Nov/Dec 2025.

On Solana I gave three big support ranges and we were testing the second 180-216 range on a weekly close basis at the time. The third level is the 120-150 support/resistance range and by the time of my last post on Tuesday Solana was testing that and, with the low so far today at 125.43, is still holding the lower end of that range. I added that on a break below there is a last level at the Aug 2024 low at 110.02 that, if broken, would then raise a very real question as to whether the bull market is over.

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