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.
I Am Pollyanna
When I did this post yesterday about Zuck donating virtually his entire fortune to charity, I thought it would be a refreshing “feel good” post on what is normally kind of a grumpy, everything-is-awful kind of blog. I figured people would applaud Zuck’s generosity.
Boy, was I wrong! Almost everyone started playing Doubting Thomas and talking about how it was probably a tax dodge or something. Slopers tend to be a gentle bunch, so it didn’t get too nasty………..nothing like the comments from a similar post over on ZeroHedge; just look at these! (And take note of the upvotes):
Ignore-ance is Bliss
Well, I think it’s time for me to say something.
Some of you know that I’ve been online longer than some of my readers have been alive. I first went online in 1982, and I’ve been on ever since. I have what I think is a strong understanding of the nature of online communities, and I’m proud of the one we have created here (particularly thanks to the comments system, which was developed by me and totally unique to the Slope of Hope).
For those of you who would like to know some important facts about the comments system, please click this link. I especially encourage lurkers (that is, non-participants) to do so.
Through the ten+ years that Slope has been around, the community has, on the whole, proved itself to be remarkably cordial, helpful, and resilient. I confess there are a few folks that hang out in comments that I’d be nervous meeting in a public place, but overall they’re a likeable bunch. (If you’d like to get a taste of the kind of hostile, packed-with-nutjobs place a financial blog comments section can be like, just read the first couple dozen of these comments on a recent ZeroHedge post).
Toshi Returns
Old-time Slopers will recognize this gem from the blog’s past. Newcomers will wonder what on earth is going on. Please note this video is very much NSFW, particularly as it progresses. And, yes, this seriously was a legitimate English instruction video.
The Method to my Madness
I received an email today that I found somewhat troubling, and it compelled me to write this post. In the email, the reader was concerned that, in spite of my bravado declared in this weekend’s Sell and Hold post, I had (on Friday and today, that is, Monday) covered a meaningful number of my shorts and had partially retreated. She felt it wasn’t very “transparent” to state, on the one hand, that I hoped to hold onto positions for months, and yet on the other, beat a quick path to the Exit door the moment trouble arrived.
I think it would be beneficial for me to explain my style and method to help reconcile those two realities cited above, because I’m comfortable living with the paradox, and I want readers to know that I’m being forthright with them.
