bin Laden is dead, but I don't feel happy. Or safer

Matt Nesto

"My first reaction to the news of bin Laden's death was a sense of being glad about it ... followed shortly thereafter by questions about what kind of person would get out of bed to go cheer and congregate some place as a result of this development.

By this morning, my reaction was more calculated and market-oriented as I went through the headlines. My first Tweets are below:

- "Take the weak $ trade over dead bin laden trade all day, all week"

- "10 yrs to find a big spending hi-profile outspoken terrorist with an entourage and dialysis machine is cause for calibration not celebration"

By the time I arrived in bustling Grand Central, I am loath to admit, my own personal "threat con" level was already elevated. So much for feeling safer. If anything, I feel the opposite.

Passing a TV, I heard a commentator say "it's the kind of development that will boost confidence and make banks want to lend." Really? No it won't. It changes nothing. Troops aren't coming home. Homeland Security watch levels will remain elevated, and millions of unemployed people will still be in need of a job.

To sum it up -- bin Laden is dead, but I don't feel happy. Or safer."