It's easy to be pessimistic these days. Libya's civil war, surging oil prices and the disaster in Japan have combined forces to send financial markets tumbling. But the cold, hard facts about the economy paint a more optimistic picture.
Amid panic about the possibility of a radioactive fallout from Japan, Geiger counters and radiation pills have been flying off the shelves, sometimes at unscrupulous prices.
As Japan's nuclear crisis deepens, Wall Street may begin to focus on a small group of almost-ignored young biotechs. Known as the bio-defense group, these firms develop products that help protect the population from radiation leaks resulting from nuclear accidents or attacks.
Japanese shares are enduring a tsunami of their own as investors pull money out of a market that is becoming more and more unstable by the day. The Nikkei 225 Index plunged 10.6%. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index slid 2.9% and in China the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.4%.