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.

Not Even Worth a Binder

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I am deep in the throes of yet another personal project whose outcome I hope to reveal in the near future. During the course of this work, I printed out a 150 page API (application programming interface) documentation, and I wanted to put it in a binder.

Behind my desk are a couple of shelves filled with books and a few binders, each of which contains collected papers about different topics. I didn’t want to bother trying to find a new binder for my API documentation, and my eyes soon landed on something I had forgotten was even there: on the side of the binder was  written, in my own poor scrawl, the name MARTIN ARMSTRONG.

For those of you unacquainted with the man, here’s the Wikipedia article, In fact, it turns out a few years ago they made a documentary about him, whose trailer is here:

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Finger on the Trigger (by a Sloper)

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Note from Tim: Nearly seven years ago, Market Sniper (“Dutch”) wrote a piece called The Very Last Day in One Trader’s Life, a personal tale. In a similar vein, another Sloper, whom has requested anonymity, offers up this autobiographical tale (unlike Dutch’s, which was about a friend), and I am grateful for this thoughtful contribution. I usually embellish posts, including those from outside contributors, with graphics to make them more interesting and approachable, but I am leaving this as an unadorned essay, as originally submitted:

Let’s talk about something dark. Something really dark. This may not be appropriate for a trading blog. This is a story about suicide. A very personal story about failed life expectations, great loss, and how nice guys finish last.

Ever since age 16, I was driven. I had high life goals, school was easy, grades were high, and life was high. Life came easy. I was born with a silver spoon. My parents were not super rich, but very conservative and had zero debt with enough savings to give their children every advantage they could. When I was old enough to drive, my dad gave me a 1979 Chevy. It was an old beater, it didn’t impress girls, but it was mine. I was proud of it. The Chevy taught me a lot about life. I always had a pair of jumper cables handy since that battery was always dead. A lesson, I had not yet realized the importance. There is always option B when things look dire. A backup plan.

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Stupidity Unwound

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Look, honestly, I know I am not the brightest bulb in the hardware store, but this is my perception of recent events:

  1. When Trump was elected, in spite of the initial “holy shit!” reaction of limit-down markets, people assumed his willingness to rape the environment and let corporations run amok would be really good for equities, so they bid them into the stratosphere.
  2. A key component – – indeed probably the most important component – – of his bluster was that he was going to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare. I frankly think there is NO solution to the health care mess in the U.S., but that’s not the point of this post.
  3. Even with BOTH houses of Congress in his party, he completely failed to pass his first major legislative initiative. Make no mistake, this should be perceived as a totally pathetic embarrassment which presages his utter failure as “President”
  4. This algo-driven market, since it’s completely retarded and devoid of thought, actually RALLIED on the news.
  5. Now that we’ve had the weekend to let reality sink in just a little bit, maybe the stupid algos are realizing what dumbfucks they were on Friday and are dumping the ES, as God intended.

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Trump PEAKED with his silly little speech to Congress in February when the mass media desperately tried to pretend that, gee whiz, maybe he’s not psychotic. It’s all downhill from here folks.

Oh, and if you think I’m against the guy, I’m not. I support him fully. He’s just what I’ve been waiting for to push the globe into unchecked financial pandemonium. So I’m a fan! Go get ’em, ya orange freak.

Bearded Midget Reproduction

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After I got off the plane and was heading toward the airport exit, I saw something I don’t think I 0317-beardedhad ever seen before: a woman with a beard. Although I only took in this scene for a moment, three things were immediately clear to me: (1) she was, in fact, a woman with a full beard (2) even clean-shaved, she would have been quite unattractive (3) she was wearing Star Wars pajamas in the middle of the day at the Los Angeles airport. It was only this third quality that I found charming.

In spite of the pajamas, I did not want to have sex with this person. I did not want her to have children with me. I hope some of you reading this can find sympathy with my disposition.

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