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(more…)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.
Fishy Feelings
After Monday, which was a very big down day, I was feeling out of sorts. That seemed odd, considering what a good day I had. On Tuesday, I had a relatively bad day, but I felt a lot better. It made me realize something: I’m a salmon.

This We Can Handle
This weekend was peppered with the will-she/won’t she silliness of the tariff war. The entire landscape is murky (or some more generously describe the situation as “fluid”), but it’s quite evident that all the he-man, tough-guy, don’t-mess-with-me nonsense from this administration is nothing more than bluster, and the bluster is worth exactly what it costs.
As such, markets are celebrating since D.C. has done everything but surrender at this point. (If you want huge laffs, just watch the Liberation Day speech again, which was offered up with the same gravitas as Operation Overlord). Equities are up about 1.5% to 2%, more or less. On in particular, Apple, has shot up by double digits, since the notion of triple-digit tariffs has vanished with the weekend.

Eerily Quiet
First the data. Then, the feelings.
All the inflation data is out (CPI yesterday, PPI today), and it is ice cold. The actual data (left column) is way, way below the anticipated (right). In normal times – – and these are NOT – – the bulls would be celebrating this with +200 on the /ES. Instead, it’s slowly sinking in that deflation is creeping into our lives, and that’s not something to celebrate.

