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.

Crappy New Year!

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While I suspect the thoughts of many New Year’s Eve revelers are along the lines of “I want to lose weight” or “I’m going to quit smoking” or “Maybe I’ll get lucky tonight”, I have had, for years now, a very different thought: “This was the worst year of my life.” And I’m having it again this year. The thought is crystal clear, and to my troubled head, completely true.

But why, Tim? Why the worst year of your life? Did your family break apart? No. Are you broke? No, I’ve never had more money than now. Is Slope shriveling away, since this “bear blog” has been in a bullish market for going on nine years? No, it’s not that either. Slope is actually doing great. It has a very bright future. (more…)

2017 For the Bears

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As some of you may recall, when our man Gartman was asked this question, he had this response:

surprising

I would offer up a different answer myself – – maybe “blows” or “sucks out loud”. Something along those lines. Because, as you’ve seen, this hasn’t been just a bullish year; it’s been a never-before-seen, unprecedented, all-records-broken kind of year,with things like 12 up months in a row (never happened before).

I won’t bother digging up all the other ‘never happened before’ items, but they’re there. This is nicely illustrated with the bearish fund symbol HDGE: (more…)

Unchained Melody

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Having gone through the index charts this morning, I can only say one thing: there isn’t a single bearish thing I can say about any one of them. They just………..keep going………..up. There aren’t any topping patterns. There aren’t any particular demarcations to indicate a reversal. They simply keep ascending, irrespective of anything.

dowindu

Is this my “capitulation”? Yeah, I guess so. And I’m going to take it a step further with my avatar. The pirate flag is being lowered. I’m going to return to a mentally-challenged kid in a wheelchair. It seems far more fitting. TIMMAY!

The Coleman Francis of Markets

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I’m a big fan of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, and from that series I learned of a famously-bad movie director named Coleman Francis whose movies were “often criticized for their abysmal production values, repetitive plot devices, murky picture quality, and stilted acting.”

I must say that I’m reminded of the late Coleman Francis when I look at the equity market, because it’s become as boring as one of his movies. But what can one say about a market that looks like this, except that it sure has gone up a lot:

compq

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