If you had bought $1000.00 worth of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00. If you had bought $1000.00 worth of Budweiser (the beer, not the stock) one year ago, drank all the beer, then traded in the cans at a redemption center for the nickel deposit, you would have $107.00.
Given the current conditions of the economy, my advice is to drink heavily and recycle.