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.

Good Thoughts

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Over the nearly eleven years that I’ve been running Slope, I have received thousands of emails from people around the world. These emails have, on the whole, only deepened my belief that people are fundamentally good, and they have exhibited the kinds of traits – – – honesty, generosity of spirit, and camaraderie – – that make it a pleasure to be a part of this community.

Occasionally I get an email which is so special that I want to share it with other Slopers, and of course I always ask permission of the sender if I may do so. They always say yes, and this is no exception. Here, then, is an email I received this morning. He said it would be all right to mention his screen name, but out of an abundance of respect for privacy, I’ll refrain from doing so: (more…)

The Kindness of Strangers

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Many years ago, when I rented a condo with a couple of other roommates who had just graduated college with me, I had a friend named Timo who lived with me. (Yes, Timo. Like my name with an “o” at the end). We would greet each other enthusiastically – “Timo!!!” “Timmy!” and shared a mutual fondness for Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Good times. Good times.

One day, Timo saw his cubicle-mate working on some code that didn’t look familiar. “What cha workin’ on, Pierre?”, he asked. Turns out this fellow Pierre was putting together code for a web site (and at the time the commercial web was brand spanking new) called Auction Web to match buyers and sellers. That Pierre was, of course, Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay.

One of Pierre’s core beliefs was that people, on the whole, were honest and respectable, and that creating a community of totally anonymous buyers and sellers could succeed based on the general premise that the community would be relatively moral and self-policing. His thesis was correct, and eBay’s tremendous success has made Pierre a billionaire many times over.

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A Plus Member Speaks Out

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For those of you who aren’t quite sure whether Slope Plus provides value or not, I wanted to offer this unsolicited email (whose author kindly gave me permission to reprint) to help you in your decision. I’ve made minor edits only to protect the author’s identity and have boldfaced a few items of note.

Tim,

Just wanted to stop by and say thanks. I just joined Plus this December. I am the one who had the credit card issues. I have been a Slope on and off stalker for a few years. I have a bear market personality so I am not sure if it is wise to hang with bears but the wide knowledge base is amazing. I am not near as witty as the folks there and my knowledge is small so I listen and learn and ignore the snarky stuff.

Background: I am a stay at home mom of 4 boys. I am a science teacher by trade. My boys are now grown (24,23,20,19) and I have been working part-time at an inner city school in Green Bay. The grant is geared to get students that are struggling back on track and graduated. The 4 year grant ended this spring. I am now searching for my next thing to do to make a difference.
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However, my family comes first and with two of the boys in the Navy (one in Guam) and one in school in CO I want the flexibility to travel at will. While I was working, I was trading on my days off. I now trade daily if the set up is correct. I day trade with my favorite trade done in minutes. Right now I only trade 1 stock.

2016: This year I would like to become more of a swing trader. Now when I am out of the office I am in cash. I have no desire to hunt through 100s of stocks a day to find the perfect stock and you give us a variety to pick from. I am starting to go through your videos. Anyway, (sorry to be longwinded) the reason for this shout-out is to let you know I jumped in on two of your Dec. picks. SPY and SCTY. I have a small account so went small with OTM options. Between the two trades, I made +3,000. The reason I tell you this is so when people ask is Slope+ worth the money the answer is yes. Listen and learn and smart trades will come.

Thanks again.