This looks like it wants to rally so badly………..
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.
Are They KIDDING?
Fear? What fear? All I see is lifetime highs every day! I honestly think this thing must be stuck on April 4 of this year.
The Real TACO
OK, I’m going to throw some shade directly at myself. Tim Always Chickens Out. There’s your TACO right there. Because early today, I took four-figure profits on PALL and am done with it for now. Why? What about the amazing long-term pattern?
As always, I’ll level with you. I look at this chart of gold, and nothing about it says oversold, beaten to smithereens, or any other expression which indicates it is at a safe price.
Throwing the Car in Reverse
That sure didn’t last, did it? After weeks of languishing, the volatility index finally blasted higher on October 10th, moving from a 16-handle to a 22-handle. A few days later, it was almost up to 30, which is a near doubling of the VIX in a matter of just days. Between Friday and Monday, however, just about all the air left the balloon, and we’re back into the teens again, just like before. I wonder to myself if we will ever see a market again in which volatility lasts longer than a day or two.
Trading Through the Volatility Drought
(and Why It May Finally Be Ending)
For what feels like an eternity, options traders have been staring at one of the tightest volatility clusters we’ve seen in years. Premiums have been lean. The usual fat opportunities to sell risk have been slim. It’s been like sitting in the calm before a storm, waiting for movement that just won’t come.
But here’s the interesting part: that cluster is starting to spread out. If you pull up a volatility chart, you’ll notice the compression loosening. The market may not have broken out yet, but the early signs are there, and those signals matter for traders who’ve felt handcuffed by months of low implied volatility.
