A short while ago, I was having a lengthy conversation about the market and asked my colleague “what the hell is redeeming about the market right now?”

He could not utter a sound.

The Dow is north of 12,500, not even a blip lower on a 2 year basis from recent highs. The VIX is sub $20 and the summer doldrums are in full force. Pray tell me, aside from extracting gross dollars out of the overalls of unsuspecting farmers, why should I go long here? Am I to incessantly believe the “magic hand” will support the market at all times, without rest?

If so, why hasn’t he helped succor the torturous rout in Spanish and Italian debt?

I must say, rather emphatically, now is not the time to buy. As Supreme Leader of all of the Financial Internets, I hereby order you to put those buy tickets down.

I am twisting in the wind, lamenting over the specter of buying into VXX or HDGE, to hedge my 60% long positions. However, I’ve had murderous experiences with VXX and find it to be an ungentlemanly trading instrument. Nevertheless, there are times when vagrants do the best, such as alley fights and towing cars, things of that nature. As I sit here in the dark, looking into the abyss below, I ponder about a future without order, financial collapse causing riots and armed revolt, globally. There are many more of you than me– and I’ll be damned if I allow my position to deteriorate without trying to do something about it.

Developing…