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.
Preface to all parts: 2018 was an extraordinary year for the Slope of Hope, now entering its 14th year in business. There were over 2,000 posts in 2018 alone, and I have extracted for you those I consider the best 1% which were not already included in my compendium Silicon Valley Babble On. For those who want to support the site, I encourage you to open up a brokerage account at tastyworks or subscribe to a Slope membership.
Here are the posts for this portion, in chronological order:
(more…)I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.
Mark Twain
I worry way too much.
There have been times when this has been beneficial. When I first became a parent, it occurred to me I could walk into any room and instantly do a threat assessment. Any sharp edges, corners, or other physical hazards became instantly clear to my eyes. My caution and awareness has surely saved our children plenty of injury.
(more…)This is pretty basic but maybe useful to some small portion of the Slope community.
I’ve been trading options with money in a smallish account for about 11 years. It isn’t small because I have never made money, but because I routinely transfer profits over a certain dollar amount into another “leg” of our investments. I have a larger, conservatively invested account with my husband and I make decisions on it much less often. It is designed to grow slowly. My options trading account is for making money in a higher risk trade, generating income and hedging during downturns in the overall market, downturns large enough to be considered a bear market, or during a recession. It is a way to capitalize on movement up or down in a stock, even to enhance profit one makes on a long-term stock owned.
(more…)Years ago, people assumed I was really good in math, because I got mixed up in microcomputers starting in 1979. For some reason, people thought computer geeks were math wizards. I wasn’t. I was a writer, as I am to this day. So metaphors, not math, are more my thing.
A few days ago, one came to mind which struck me as particularly good, so I thought I would share it. So join me on a mental model which I think will help explain the past nine years.
(more…)
In last year’s market outlook for 2018, I anticipated a rise of around 10% for the SPX. At its all-time high set on September 21, the SPX had risen by 9.62%, before it began to lose its gains for the year, and more.
At the time of today’s analysis and post (December 17), you will see from the first percentages gained/lost graph that 7 of the 9 Major U.S. Indices are in negative territory year-to-date.
(more…)
