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.

Is This Mic On?

By -

I deeply apologize for the tidal wave of technical issues we’ve been having. If I may point my finger squarely at our host provider, LiquidWeb.com, because they have been nothing but frustrating for the past 30 hours. I wish I was here with great news, but things are so bad I’m actually contemplating changing host providers, which could mean Slope won’t exist in earnest for several more days. That’s not what I want, obviously, but I cannot have a site that is anything but rock solid. Please keep the faith, and if nothing else, perhaps it’ll convince you how big a part Slope is in your life! Your data is safe, and if we make the move, all of the data will come along for the ride. I’m not just Slope’s owner. I’m its most dedicated customer.

The Path to Total Surrender

By - 

PLEASE NOTE that, quite obviously, we've had some rough technical issues the past 12 hours, but it's only because we're doing a major upgrade. I've mentioned four times in a row (but somehow people keep missing it) that comments are OFFLINE for the foreseeable future (and it's tempting, frankly, to LEAVE it that way until December 1st, considering what's about to happen). Anyway, the site is 98% functional. and we're working on this sacred Day of Rest to even get comments restored.

Everything that “should” have happened………hasn’t. The seasonal weakness in September was a joke. The historic over-valuations that I’ve written about extensively have simply became more over-valued. And, from a charting perspective, as impossible as it seems to believe, the major indexes seem poised to just blast off to yet more lifetime highs.

(more…)

China Goes Ape

By -

Want to read a word salad? This is from the Communist dictatorship of China regarding their “economy“. You might want to have an air sickness bag nearby. Here we go:

“It is necessary to help enterprises tide over difficulties. It is necessary to look at the current economic situation comprehensively, objectively and calmly. Face up to difficulties, strengthen confidence, and effectively enhance the sense of responsibility and urgency to do a good job in economic work.”

You get all that? Feeling OK? I’ll understand if you need to lie down for a while. Anyway, the preceding nonsense was their sweaty-handed explanation about why they’re firehosing TRILLIONS of Yuan into their so-called economy, since their real estate market is collapsing, their equity market peaked years ago, and the only thing they care about besides money – – brutal power over the masses – – is being threatened. Thus, they got out the thesaurus, found all the words they could related to confidence, and let fly with their verbal money shot.

(more…)

Mega-Rally

By -

I’ve spent a lifetime working with words, and the two that leap to mind right now would be “surprising” and, without a doubt, “discouraging.”

Yesterday evening, I had breathed a sigh of relief that not alone was the FOMC behind us, but that the rally that ensued had totally sputtered out. The rally got its second breath, however – – and a third, fourth, and fifth breath – – and blasted markets, thanks to the follow-through from overseas markets.

(more…)