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.

Reflecting on 2017: Part Three of Three

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Preface to all three parts: 2017 has been an exciting year for Slope, and I went looking among the literally thousands of posts this year to find what I considered the most intriguing. I earmarked twenty-one of them, and since that is too much for a single post, I’ve broken them into three equal parts. Here, then, are seven of my favorite posts from the year and a few words about each one. Thank you, Slopers, for making this place thrive for so many years.

  • The Virgin Suicides – Even while vacationing on a tropical paradise, I get contemplative and morose.
  • EZ Disaster Guide – How come the mayhem predicted on ZeroHedge never works out? Read this and find out why!
  • Is the Difference Permanent? – In which I consider whether the permanent “Central Banker Put” and the extinction of bear markets might be permanent or not.
  • God Is Dead – Why has hubris stopped being punished, as in the days of old?
  • Elliott Wave’s Last Stand – Here I give our friends in Gainesville one last chance to redeem themselves. I’ll mention, as an aside, that their “highest levels’ for the market have been exceeded. Again.
  • Special No More – Oh, my. Another one of these navel-gazing things. I guess 2017 was tough on Tim.
  • Quixey Makes Sense Now – Is a well-funded startup guaranteed to survive? Nope.

And, as a final bonus, I present to you this post – Bitcoin’s Bullish Base. It isn’t beautifully written like the other twenty-one posts I’ve mentioned in these retrospectives, but it’s definitely the best trading idea I’ve ever had in Slope’s history.

Here’s to a better 2018!

The Circle of Life

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One of my favorite coffee table books is an anniversary retrospective of Saturday Night Live over the decades. In the volume is a picture of all the big-shots around the writer’s table. During each week, they all gather for a table read – – Lorne Michaels, the week’s host, the head writers, and the regular cast members. This isn’t the picture shown in the book, but it shows a similar table read during a different week than the one portrayed:

lorne

The specific photo in the book was during the week in which Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were the co-hosts. It must have been around 1993 or so. (more…)

Who Feels the Sting

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Now that the massive new tax bill has passed, I thought I’d do a little experiment with a spreadsheet to see how a hypothetical Silicon Valley, California earner might be affected. I was sure his tax bill would be higher, but I am surprised at how much higher.I wouldn’t be surprised if some people decided not to stay in their homes since their tax bite is so substantial.

I will preface this by saying I’m not a tax expert, but I’ve got a pretty good understanding of taxes, and I put together a deliberately simplistic spreadsheet for this experiment. And while it may be simplistic, it still makes a powerful point, and the tiny amount of rounding error for an actual tax form won’t change the conclusion. (more…)

Reflecting on 2017: Part Two of Three

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Preface to all three parts: 2017 has been an exciting year for Slope, and I went looking among the literally thousands of posts this year to find what I considered the most intriguing. I earmarked twenty-one of them, and since that is too much for a single post, I’ve broken them into three equal parts. Here, then, are seven of my favorite posts from the year and a few words about each one. Thank you, Slopers, for making this place thrive for so many years.

  • Not Even Worth a Binder – In which I decide there’s absolutely nothing about Martin Armstrong worth considering.
  • Two Blondes, Two Fates – Marissa Mayer and Elizabeth Holmes. What are their similarities and differences, and why did one succeed while the other flopped?
  • SlopeCharts is Live! – I excitedly announce the launch of my latest creation, which has been gobbling up my time ever since.
  • Streetwise – this is probably my best-written post of the entire year. It’s about Zachary, who lives on the streets of Palo Alto. It also prompted a generous response from Slopers who sent him a surprising amount of cash to help.
  • What Rich Used To Be – the massive changes that have taken place over the past few decades that have altered the meaning of rich, poor, and middle class.
  • Blessings In Disguise – A look back at my life’s misfortunes and how they transformed themselves into positives, once some time had passed.
  • Ego Salieri – A long post about my career and some bitter disappointments along the way.

Reflecting on 2017: Part One of Three

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Preface to all three parts: 2017 has been an exciting year for Slope, and I went looking among the literally thousands of posts this year to find what I considered the most intriguing. I earmarked twenty-one of them, and since that is too much for a single post, I’ve broken them into three equal parts (I’ll publish the other two before the year is over). Here, then, are the first seven of my favorite posts from the year and a few words about each one. Thank you, Slopers, for making this place thrive for so many years.

  • The End of Invention – an angst-ridden post about my dread of boredom and desire to create something new (I didn’t realize it at the time, but SlopeCharts would cure this).
  • Ramsey’s Year-End Review – a very detailed roundup of Ramsey’s year of binary trading
  • Fear of Boredom – Clearly the angst from the earlier post was eating me alive at this point.
  • Keeping It Real – in which I go off on Dennis Gartman on his flip-flopping and, shall we say, revisionism.
  • They’re a Person Too – behaving decently toward your fellow human beings.
  • Stupidity Unwound – an analysis of the Trump effect.
  • Finger on the Trigger – a guest post about depression, suicide, and strength.