Many investors are motivated by market panics over pandemics, hurricanes, or terrorist attacks, and hedge fund manager and author James Altucher offers several savvy stock picks to make money when everyone else reckons the end of the world is near.

The answer, he says, is not short selling.

“I’m scared all the time. Every other day, the media has another headline, another headline. A pandemic,” Altucher says.

“Short selling? You only make money if the world actually ends. Once people realize the world is not ending, the market goes higher.”

Afraid of terrorism or germ warfare? “Analogic is a great company doing explosion detection,” Altucher told Dow Jones Newswires. “I’d buy that.”

Also consider Alpha Pro Technologies. "They make masks that keep the germs out.”

Worried about hurricanes? “What stock goes up after every hurricane? Campbell’s Soup,” says Altucher. “Everyone restocks.”

Frightened of global warming? “This was a cold winter. Don’t know where the threat is,” says Altucher. “But I’m interested in uranium refiners, as Obama has started coming around the nuclear power. No carbon emissions. Go with Comeco.”

Anxious over dirty water? “Fifty percent of hospital beds worldwide are filled by people suffering from illnesses related to dirty water,” says Altucher. “Let’s clean up the dirty water – Tetra Tech and Flowserve. They’re cleaning up the dirty water in third world countries.”

Altucher says he is tired of news reports predicting that the world is ending soon. “The world does not end. The best happens,” says Altucher.

The Wall Street Journal disagrees, saying that markets are most often driven by fear, and fear “creates opportunities.”