Stocks jumped so why are you still worried..

Stocks Jump ... So Why Are You Still So Worried?
Posted May 27, 2010 11:45am EDT by Aaron Task in Investing
Related: ^DJI, ^GSPC, EEM, FXI, CLF, XLF, AGO
Stocks surged around the world Thursday, with the Dow up about 200 points in recent trading. Big gains beat the alternative, but are providing cold comfort to investors whipsawed by the recent volatility.
"It's scary because there's no liquidity in the market. There's no volume," says James Altucher, managing director of Formula Capital. "Program trading is still manipulating the markets at the open and the close. It's a scary environment to be a short-term trader."

Um...James, if the traders are scared, how do you think the rest of us feel?

Clearly there is plenty to be frightened about these days, including (but not limited to), the following:

A potential collapse of the Euro zone, which would crush European banks and trigger another global "contagion", ala 2008. (For more on why the euro matters, see: No Escape From Europe's Rubble)
Fear of a global slowdown as China tries to cool off its red-hot economy.
Fear the U.S. economy is built on a house of cards, and that the problems in the banking system were merely transferred to the public's (i.e. taxpayers') balance sheet from the banks, which are (still) being manipulated.
Rising geopolitical tension on the Korean Peninsula, as well as civil unrest in Thailand, Greece and Jamaica, among others.
An environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico; even if BP's "Top Kill" effort proves 100% successful, the Deepwater Horizon disaster will impact the region -- the source of roughly one-third of U.S. seafood -- for decades.
As you'll see in the accompanying video and subsequent segments, Altucher's answer to the above is fairly simple: Yes it's scary, but we've been through worse and there are opportunities for investors who are able to conquer their fears.