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.

Whirling Worrywart

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Yesterday was perhaps the best trading day of my life, particularly with respect to timing and psychological management. For that reason, I hardly slept at all. I went to bed worried. I woke up every hour worried. And I got up worried. I was practically shaking when I fired up my iPad and was relieved to see the equity futures all still red (although not as much as they had been). What’s on my mind is straight from my trading rules:

VIII. EMOTIONAL AWARENESS IS YOUR GREATEST ASSET – Feeling super-confident and giddy? You should probably be in all cash. Feeling demoralized, frustrated, and out of synch? You’re probably close to a great entry point.
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Psych Out

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Every single position I have is a bearish one. Everything I’ve been talking and writing about is coming true. The market is in a free-fall, and the moment it opens, my portfolio will be worth a lot more.

Having said that, let’s explore what an inveterate screw-up I am, and we’ll begin with Rule 8 from my Trading Rules:

VIII. EMOTIONAL AWARENESS IS YOUR GREATEST ASSET – Feeling super-confident and giddy? You should probably be in all cash. Feeling demoralized, frustrated, and out of synch? You’re probably close to a great entry point.

Let us also examine a comment I made yesterday, which is definitely out of character of what I’ve been saying for a long time:

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