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.
I've made more than my fair share of bad calls over the years, so forgive me if I toot my tuba a moment. A mere seven trading days ago, I made this assertion:
Here's what happened:
Ta-freakin'-da.
Now that it's dipped beneath my target, one wonders how far this thing is going to slump!
I've been touting for-profit education stocks as good short opportunities for quite some time. I laid out my argument in this post from January, in which I reported shorting DV when it was in the 40s. Please re-read the post to see the fundamental arguments I made against for-profit education companies.
Well, fundamentals are definitely catching up with reality. The stock was trading in the teens earlier today, having lost about a quarter of its value right at the opening bell. Ultimately, I think some of these education companies will be as bankrupt as the students that graduate from these pathetic institutions.
Long-time Slopers know what a crucial element the comments system is to the zeitgeist of this blog. Comments represent the lifeblood of Slope of Hope. It is where people share, learn, get to know one another, and help build a community.
I made the investment (of both time and money) creating my very own comments system a couple of years ago. I did so because I wasn't satisfied with the existing offerings and felt I could do a better job with my own vision of what a system would be like. At the time, I thought I could make a business out of it, but the world seems content with the likes of Disqus, so I cheerfully have kept my creation as the exclusive purvue of The Slope of Hope. And, hey, we've even got badges!
Some weeks ago, Iggy pointed out to me that it wouldn't be long before we had our one-millionth comment (hats off to Iggy for even paying attention to such things; I was clueless). So, week by week, we've been keeping an eye on when the blessed event would occur. So – – here we are today – – one MILLION comments have been posted into Slope's own system!
The lucky Sloper who made the comment was Clint AKA Fabio, and here it is, in all its glory:
Most financial blogs garner maybe a couple dozen comments a day. Here at Slope, the metric is consistently in the four-figures. I want to thank all Slopers – – especially the lunatics below who constitute the most active commenters on the site.
+ MarketSniper
+ BDI
+ Iguanadon
+ Clint
+ Your beloved host (me)
+ Buddhaboy
+ Cool_Beans
+ mmTesla
+ zStock
+ Dollar
Thank you, everyone! Now let's get cracking on the next million comments! (Oh, and sign up for SocialTrade!)
Binary options are fairly new to the speculation/trading landscape. They are called binary options as there can only be two possible outcomes. There are two types. Either cash-or-nothing binary options or asset-or-nothing binary options. They are binary in that you get all or nothing. They are also called all-or-nothing options, digital options (more common in forex/interest rate markets), and Fixed Return Options (FROs) (on the AMEX). Binary options are usually European-style options.
There are two ways of going with this as well. There is exchange traded binary options such as offered on the NADEX and there is non-exchange traded options. Each are structured differently. With exchange traded binaries, there is a set strike price. With most non-exchange traded binary options, you set the strike price upon entry. Your strike is your entry in the trade. It then expires in or out of the money. Structure of payouts are also different. Both Amex and CBOE listed options have values between $0 and $1, with a multiplier of 100, and tick size of $0.01, and are cash settled. In 2009 Nadex, the North American Derivatives Exchange, launched and now offers a suite of binary options vehicles. Nadex binary options are available on a range Stock Index Futures, Spot Forex, Commodity Futures, and Economic Events.
