I imagine that, as the years grind forward, one of the growing worldwide issues is going to be to address the grotesque chasm between rich and poor (more specifically, the heavily skewed distribution of wealth). I flipped open the New York Times this morning and saw this, which sums up the problem nicely:

So on the left side we have a young leopard holding……….something. I guess it's an expensive box. On the right side is an article with photos about people in Zimbabwe starving to death. One photo shows how they will capture crickets, remove the shell, and cook them in a pan to eat (not because they are delicious, but because the people are desperate).

Every Cartier product ever made in history could suddenly vanish, and humanity wouldn't be any worse off. The contrast between these two pages struck me as poignant.

I was whining earlier about a lack of opportunities. Psh! It would help if I actually looked at some charts before I made such a declaration. There are plenty of opportunities still out there! And I'm only halfway through the alphabet.

It's interesting to note that, now that the VIX has lost over half its value since the peak this year, it has retraced to what – – for a stock – – would have been an excellent breakout point. Perhaps the new normal for the VIX is in the low 40s. It's at least conclusive that the froth is gone.

I've got to tell you, it's getting harder and harder to find good opportunities in either direction. On the long side, those issues that were completely battered in late November have popped up 50% to 100% and seem far too dangerous to buy. On the short side, the market has been ripped to pieces so badly that it's difficult to find much that has "escaped" the damage.

All the same, there are still opportunities, albeit less juicy ones. I just shorted EEM (with a stop at 26.47). I don't think there's a gargantuan amount of downside here, but the stop is pretty tight, the shares are extremely liquid, and it's a good way to play any weakness for the balance of the year.

A general question for the group – – if one were to posit that the $CRX (Morgan Stanley Commodity Index) was going to head lower, how would one take advantage of that?

There are options on the CRX, but the spread between the bid/ask is something like forty dollars. And, no, I'm not making that up. So, errr, how about something a skosh more efficient?