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.

Response to a Reader

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I recently received an email from a reader who has been on Slope for nearly a decade and very politely asked me to lighten up on Trump. His letter was well-crafted, well-reasoned, and courteous. I wrote him back, and after doing so, I thought I’d share my thoughts with you, since it doesn’t cross any privacy lines. I wouldn’t want to waste all that typing without making a post out of it. So here goes:

It’s good to hear from you, and I appreciate your readership all these years.

Slope isn’t a political blog, but there is some political talk from time to time, and I certainly use it to express my own point of view.

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Finger on the Trigger (by a Sloper)

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Note from Tim: Nearly seven years ago, Market Sniper (“Dutch”) wrote a piece called The Very Last Day in One Trader’s Life, a personal tale. In a similar vein, another Sloper, whom has requested anonymity, offers up this autobiographical tale (unlike Dutch’s, which was about a friend), and I am grateful for this thoughtful contribution. I usually embellish posts, including those from outside contributors, with graphics to make them more interesting and approachable, but I am leaving this as an unadorned essay, as originally submitted:

Let’s talk about something dark. Something really dark. This may not be appropriate for a trading blog. This is a story about suicide. A very personal story about failed life expectations, great loss, and how nice guys finish last.

Ever since age 16, I was driven. I had high life goals, school was easy, grades were high, and life was high. Life came easy. I was born with a silver spoon. My parents were not super rich, but very conservative and had zero debt with enough savings to give their children every advantage they could. When I was old enough to drive, my dad gave me a 1979 Chevy. It was an old beater, it didn’t impress girls, but it was mine. I was proud of it. The Chevy taught me a lot about life. I always had a pair of jumper cables handy since that battery was always dead. A lesson, I had not yet realized the importance. There is always option B when things look dire. A backup plan.

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Ramsey’s Year-End Review

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Note from Tim: our own Davis Ramsey was kind enough to compose this breakdown of his trading performance. I’d say he’s got Gartman beat!

Conducting a thorough year end review of your trading results is of the utmost importance. While regular monthly reviews are good snapshots and can keep you on the right track, looking back over a full year can show you some important big picture mistakes or successes that you might otherwise overlook.

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The End of Invention

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I retired when I was thirty-eight years old.

Well, not really. To my mind, “retired” means I stopped working, and I certainly didn’t do that. My work means a tremendous amount to me. Being idle isn’t in my blood. I am reminded of a quote I cited from a blog post I did back in the days when I used to do really amazing posts…..

Finally and above all else, he was marvelously alive; and mankind, dreading boredom even more than anxieties, is grateful to those who make life throb with a swifter, stronger beat

What I mean by my “retirement” was that I was financially independent. I had, single-handedly, Carl Clowngone from being pushed out into the world at the age of 17 without any financial support to having the choice to never need to work work again.

As I say, though, not working isn’t really my thing. On the contrary, I think my desire to work and create exists in such abundance as to make me miserable, because if I’m not actively creating, I am very unhappy. I find myself in that state quite a bit.

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