Last year, you could have picked up shares of Bear Stearns (BSC) for about $150. Only a week ago, you could have grabbed them for about $70. Now, JP Morgan (JPM) has announced that it's buying out Bear Stearns for just $2 a share. That's less than a gallon of gas!

I hope you've taken the opportunity to use my PortfolioGrader Pro stock-rating website. You would have seen that I spotted trouble at Bear Stearns long before the crowd did. We had Bear rated as "F - Strong Sell." I strongly encourage you to visit PortfolioGrader and see how your stocks stack up. Any stock that rates a D or F should be sold without delay. As we've seen from Bear Stearns, this market moves very fast.

Of the other major investment houses, I have Merrill Lynch (MER) rated "F - Strong Sell." Lehman Brothers (LEH) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are both rated "D- Sell." Goldman Sachs (GS) is rated as "C - Hold."