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.

Elasticity

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Greetings, yet again, from seven miles in the sky. This morning I’ve been up since the equivalent of 1 a.m. my time, and I managed to sleep a couple of hours on the plane before waking up in anticipation of the opening bell. Considering what happened Friday, we all have even more reason than normal to pay attention what transpires on this first day of a 5-day (thank you, holiday gods!) trading week.

The /ES, as of this writing (moments before the open) is up about half a percent, but it doesn’t look ready to undo all the damage from Friday. I’m actually pleased to see all this green on the screen, because a hard wipeout this morning would almost guarantee a big rally for the rest of the day. Hopefully the bulls can get the “stocks are on sale!” out of their system swiftly this time.

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Seven Deadly Sins of Options Traders

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(And How to Avoid Them)

The financial markets have a way of exposing human frailties faster than any other endeavor. In options trading, the line between success and disaster is often drawn by behaviors, not just strategies.

Like a poorly constructed iron condor, traders set themselves up to collapse under the weight of their own bad habits. They chase gains, ignore probabilities, and fall prey to the same errors their predecessors made.

Below are seven behavioral pitfalls that separate those who survive from those who don’t. Ignore them at your own peril.

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Dancing Beneath the Ceiling

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I will be spending the first portion of the morning yet again heading to the airport, so I’m going to leave you a few charts to chew on. The theme here is that the market has stalled out underneath important resistance. Hopefully by the time you read this, a surging market won’t render my charts moot. In any case, I’ll be settled in at the airport a few hours into the trading day and can pick up my regimen then.

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