Common stockholders are lucky they're getting $2. Actually you can sell today for close to $6. The bond holders had Bear gone under might've recouped some but common stock is at the bottom of the ladder (behind preferred).On the Bear Sterns thing ... you think that deal is going to close? The shareholders are going to better off going into B/X than take $2/share from JP Morgan. Their building in Manhattan alone is supposedly worth more than $2/share. Got a feeling the Fed strong-arms the deal and then gets creamed in shareholder lawsuits. The bailout tab on that thing is going to be enormous.
The problem with Cramer is he recommends 15-20 stocks per show, five days a week. You just can't do your due dilligence on that many stocks. He even says so in his book. He says devote a minimum of one hour per week on every stock you own and to hold a basket of stock of not more than 10 or so. Yet he hits the "buy buy buy" about 10 times per show.
The second problem with Cramer is he has a huge following that will follow him blindly. So he recommends a stock, it shoots up 5-10% short term and then usually drops a few days/weeks later.
As for tips, it depends on how risk averse you are. High yield dividend stocks that have been oversold are probably a good area. You can find some solid companies yielding 5%+ right now. Just not in financials.
Commodities have been in a bull market for quite some time now. It will probably continue thanks to the Fed but you would be buying on the high end. Personally, I'm still largely sitting in cash and waiting for buying opportunities. I don't think we're at a bottom just yet, we may see one other major financial in need of a major bailout or flat out collapse. The leverage on some of these companies are so great that even a small percentage decline in their assets will completely wipe out their equity.