Well, Elon’s long-term desire to have his car models spell out a saucy acronym has at last been realized.
Tesla Doldrums
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.
Prepubescent
Thanks to:
- The seminal trade deal between China and the U.S. that was signed before the March 1 deadline;
- And the subsequent elimination of the trade deficit (indeed, now a massive trade surplus, quite positive for the U.S.);
- As well as the completion of the Mexican-funded border wall, which has sealed off the country……..
The VIX has been almost destroyed, having dropped from the upper 30s down to the sub-teens. The market literally has not been this give-me-another-bong-hit calm since last October 2nd.
Parental Perspective
You’ve almost certainly been reading about the college cheating scandal, which broke yesterday. This is an intensely personal story for me for a variety of reasons:
- My eldest child completed the college application process this year;
- I live in the Silicon Valley, where get-ahead-at-any-cost is the mantra of so many parents;
- There are local parents who were arrested in the scandal;
- My values are absolutely anchored in meritocracy
Let me say at the outset how thrilled and delighted I am to see a government agency actually accomplish something. The fact that these rich, out-of-touch, self-entitleddimwits have had their lives instantly ruined thrills my soul. What I would have given to have seen the look on Felicity Huffman’s withered face when they slapped the cuffs on her. Boy, oh boy. To say nothing of her husband, William H. Macy, an actor I used to respect.
(more…)Mario’s Impotence
I couldn’t be happier. Mario Draghi, that disgusting pig who, God willing, will ultimately face public execution alongside Jerome Powell, once again sold out to his banker bosses and did his EASING thing. Because, ya know, the crisis ended ten years ago, but God knows central banks still need to keep accommodating. The billionaires need more billions.
In any case, Mario’s ugly face has become even uglier as the entire world is laughing at his feckless attempts to keep propping things up. Yes, stocks had their knee-jerk reaction pre-market to his whoring, but apparently the old man just can’t keep it up anymore. Regardez vous si vous plait:
(more…)Tweet of the Year
I send out tweets all the time (if you don’t follow me, please do so). I dashed off one last night, but for whatever reason, the number of Likes and Retweets it’s getting is dwarfing anything else I’ve ever sent. For some reason, it has struck a chord. So, for what it’s worth:
Curb-Stamped
One company whose success – – and amazing stock performance – – has always baffled me has been Stamps.com. I mean………stamps? But you can’t argue with success. This company did little but ascend in price, year after year.
That ended quickly this morning, when the company (perhaps unwisely) decided to ditch a little thing known as the United States Postal Service and stake its fortune on Jeff Bezos’ prospects as a shipping magnate. The effects on the stock this morning were swift.
Hello, Larry
The champion of stock market bulls these days is thrice-married buffoon Larry Kudlow, who – – whenever the market is falling – – is rolled out to utter some kind of banal bromide to calm everyone down and convince them to keeping buying equities, irrespective of valuation metrics. And, frankly, it keeps working. Last week during a big morning selloff, Kudlow saved with one word: “glitch.” He completely dispatched a raft of valid economic data by shrugging it off as a glitch, and markets went soaring.
Personally, I think Larry Kudlow is an amoral, feckless nimrod. But allow me to use history, and not just my own debased opinion, as evidence. I present to you some gems of Larry’s past, just so we can see how prescient this chap really is.