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.

Learning to Learn

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Like most non-insane people, there are some things I like about myself and some things I don’t. Over the nearly ten years I’ve been writing this blog, I have tried to be candid (within reason) about my shortcomings and personal frustrations, but there’s one thing in particular which I don’t like that has been very much on my mind: my aversion to learning new things.

A love of learning is a crucial part of growth. It’s not like I enjoy ignorance – far from it – I immerse myself in news and information 365 days a year, and I consider myself deep into the 99th percentile in terms of being informed. This is different from learning something new, however. By the latter I mean such an undertaking as learning a new language, acquiring a new skill or, most relevant here, learning a new approach to trading.

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Mega-Meh

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Thursday was, I confess, a disappointment. The reason is that the day started off so sensationally well: I was loaded to the teeth with energy-related stocks, including oil itself, and the overnight session had been brutal for oil, with the commodity being down about 5% at the opening bell. I’m cynical enough at this point that I went ahead and covered oil as well as a few of the stocks within minutes of the opening bell, but the recovery that took place in oil (which freakishly commenced when an oil inventory report came out showing just how bloated supplies were) completely took the wind out of my trading sails.

0219-xop

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Gold: Value, Re-Propositioned

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Last weekend, in a segment titled Gold Obsession & Ephemeral States of Mind NFTRH 330 talked about a growing presence that seems to follow Martin Armstrong’s anti ‘gold promoters’ theme. This theme seems to be – coming as it does in a gold bear market – something of a promotion itself; just as the over-the-top inflationist gold bug stuff was during the bull market.

Please understand, dear followers of Marty, I am not at all calling him a promoter. He is the originator of ideas, thoughts and analysis that while not all my cup of tea, is interesting enough that it is linked at NFTRH.com and Biiwii.com. But behind this mindset that is solidifying in the public consciousness, is a growing cadre of gold bugs – some of whom benefited from the notoriety lavished upon them by the likes of Mr. Gold, Jim Sinclair – that seems to be taking things over the top*, as always seems to happen with humans and in markets. Every mental elastic band seems to stretch too far.

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