If you had purchased $1,000 of AIG stock one year ago, you would have about $40.00 left. With Lehman, you have about $6.00 left. With Fannie or Freddie, you would have less than $5.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, and had drunk all of the beer, then turned in the cans for a recycling refund, you would have had $214.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.
It's call the 401-Keg plan