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.

Reversal Setups and Yen (by Springheel Jack)

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I've mentioned often before that short term reversal setups often get steamrollered in a strong trend on a larger timeframe, and I'm mentioning that first before I outline the promising looking short term reversal setups on equities this morning. The action yesterday before the close and so far since yesterday's close is also not hugely encouraging. Nonetheless here it is ……

SPX has obviously been riding the lower bollinger band downwards on the daily SPX chart. Yesterday there was an attempt to break up from the lower BB which failed, but in the event that we see a rally here the obvious target would be the daily middle bollinger band, with a likely hit somewhere in the 1405 to 1415 area, depending on the time taken to reach it. Here's how that looks on the daily SPX chart:

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China’s Shanghai Index at Variance with CB Leading Index

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Data released Monday night shows that China's CB
Leading Index
spiked up to its highest reading in two years, as shown
on the graph below. "This index is designed to predict the direction of the
economy." It's a "combined reading of six economic indicators related to total
loans issued, raw material supplies index, new orders, consumer expectations,
export orders, and housing."

As I outlined in my post of September 20th, the Shanghai Index
tells a different story as it trades at three-year lows and threatens to fall
off a cliff, but China's Financials Sector has been trading in
an opposite direction.

The question is, "Do we believe that the data is
actually reflective of China's economy, or is its Index?"

The
Shanghai Index has trended in diametric opposition to the
S&P 500 Index over the past three years. Which one
accurately reflects its country's economy, if either?

No wonder people
are confused and are in the dark as to the real fundamentals of both the economy
and the companies listed in the stock exchanges (and their actual values)!
Hence, they are reluctant to commit any excess cash to the markets, particularly, it
would seem, in China.

Now What?…………………Evil Plan 73.0 (by BDI)

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Now-What-500x337

Well, my fellow Slope-a-Dopes, where to from here? The blizzard rages on, that much is clear/blurry. The whiteout will arrive as the storm's violent fury reaches peak strength. The only question that remains is will it bury us alive, or will we escape certain death by borrowing Ben's 300hp QE fuel injected turbocharged snow blower to dig our way out.  Will the global economy rapidly descend into a deep freeze sending all financial thermometers to sub zero Centigrade, or will the coming coordinated round of massive global Central Bank snow blowing thaw all risk assets back up to Fahrenheit 451?  

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