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.

Moving Averages of the Major Indices

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The 10-Year Daily chartgrid below shows only the 50, 100, and 200 smas of the
Dow 30, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 Indices, without the candles.

All three moving averages are still in an uptrend on the daily
timeframe; however, the 100 and 200 smas are beginning to flatten, the 50 sma
has hooked down, and they are merging…a possible sign of a
reversal-in-the-making. In fact, the 50 sma has crossed below the 100 sma on the
Nasdaq 100 Index, and is getting close on the other three Indices…reflective
of recent weakness and profit-taking, particularly in the Technology
index.

(more…)

Mark Carney Leaving for England’s BOE (by SB)

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It was announced yesterday (Monday) that the Governor of the Bank of Canada (and
former Goldman Sachs' executive), Mark Carney, will be leaving his position on
June 1, 2013 to fill the role of Governor of the Bank of England on July 1, 2013
for a fixed five-year term.

This Wikipedia link provides background
information on Mr. Carney:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Carney

At the time of my
writing this post during market hours, the USD/CAD forex pair is currently
trading just below parity at 0.9945, while the GBP/USD is trading at 1.6015, and
the EUR/USD is 1.2968, as shown on the Daily charts below.
Whether Mr. Carney's departure next year will negatively impact the Canadian
Dollar and positively impact the British Pound (and, possibly, the Euro) in the
near-term and long-term remains to be seen.

Canada's TSX Index is
down slightly from Friday's close at 12,172.50. London's FTSE 100 Index closed
down today by -32.42 at 5786.72. Other major European indices closed down
slightly today, as well.
After-Hours
Market UPDATE: Here's a 1-year Daily shot of the TSX,
FTSE 100, and EUR 100 Indices which shows today's close. As you can see, they
are all approaching major resistance levels that were established earlier this
year…whether they can reach and break above those levels remains to be
seen.
The
year-to-date graph below shows that Canada's TSX Index lags in
terms of net percentage gained compared with the other two indices…a sign of
commodity weakness from September.
The 2-year
Daily chart below of the Commodities ETF (DBC) is reflective of the
TSX's weakness. It is also approaching a major resistance level at around 28.22.
A break and hold above that price is possible, as I don't see any negative
divergences on the MACD, Stochastics, and RSI indicators…one to watch, along
with the TSX, as such a break above could fuel a further rally in the TSX, and,
potentially, positively influence other equity markets in the U.S., U.K., and
even Europe.