While I had investor and blogger Paul Kedrosky’s attention today, I asked him for some practical advice for the tech investor amid all the madness. Among his pearls of wisdom:

• Stay out of it until the government is done doing whatever it’s going to do
• Avoid consumer-facing stocks, yes, that means Apple too.
• Consider bulking up on solar.

More advice and explanations in the clip. Enjoy, as much as you can enjoy anything stock related in this climate!

When the Value Investing Congress convenes next week in New York City, some of the world's top value investors will share their ideas for the best stocks to own -- and short.

Henry and I got a sneak preview this morning with the conference's co-founder, Whitney Tilson, managing partner of T2 Partners and Tilson Mutual Funds.

"In a cash-constrained world of chaos and panic, we are finding tremendous bargains," says Tilson, who co-edits Value Inevstor Insight, a newsletter focused on value investing.

Berkshire Hathaway is the "best way to play the credit crunch," says Tilson, whose fund owns Warren Buffett's holding company. Other long positions include beaten-down retailers like Target and Barnes & Noble, which Tilson says have the balance sheets to survive the downturn -- and buy back stock along the way.

To hedge against those positions, Tilson has been betting against financials and short companies exposed to the consumer with high P/E ratios, including Apple and Research In Motion, as discussed in the accompanying video.

Watching the Nasdaq drop the most points since May 2000, it's clear Silicon Valley isn't immune from the bank meltdown on Wall Street. Even the mighty Google and Apple weren't safe: Google fell more than 11% today to under 400 for the first time in two years and Apple fell nearly 18%.

There is plenty for tech investors to worry about:

-    The financial sector could slash IT budgets, impacting enterprise players like Oralce, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. At a minimum there are fewer banks to buy up software, hardware and services thanks to the forced consolidation.

-    A worsening economy will very likely hurt every consumer play from Research in Motion to Apple to gaming companies. Already, RBC Capital Markets says 40% of people plan on spending less money on electronics in the next 90 days, the weakest outlook the bank has ever seen. That doesn't bode well for a strong Christmas season.

-    Web companies grappling with a continued deterioration in advertising spending now that the Olympic boost is over and the presidential election has just a little over a month left.

-    The impact a shut down IPO and acquisition market has on an already abysmal year for venture capital returns. Sure, the public markets don't immediately affect startups; that's the advantage of being private. But investors need a return at some point. In sectors that have been overheated in recent years like the Web or clean tech, expect second and third rounds of funding to get tighter if companies aren't showing any progress on revenues. With ad markets shut off and the general economy in turmoil, that's a lot harder to do. Entrepreneur Jason Calcanis recently said the collapsing economy would kill some 50%-80% of startups. You can argue that's just the odds to the early stage startup game, but this economy and its lack of liquidity and confidence certainly doesn't help.

We'll keep an eye on all of these ripples, as shoes continue to drop in this crisis and the Valley picks its jaw up off the floor and actually starts to react. But it's important to realize so far it's a story of ripples in the Valley-a long list of potentially deadly ripples to be sure-but ripples nonetheless. For people who've been in the Valley more than ten years, there's none of the hand-wringing of the last bust when more than 450,000 Valley workers lost their jobs in a little more than a year and the Nasdaq lost three-quarters of its value in just a few years.

Updated from 5:13 p.m. EDT

The conventional wisdom on Wall Street is a rescue plan of some kind will be announced this weekend. "We will rise to the occasion," President Bush said Friday morning, promising "a substantial package."

Update: Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a key Democrat leader, is "convinced that by Sunday we will have an agreement," the AP reports.

Joshua Rosner, of Graham Fisher, says his Washington sources (he refused to name them) report key issues to be resolved include:

• Language on executive compensation.
• Language on government ownership warrants in companies eligible for bailout relief.
• Provisions on bankruptcy aid for homeowners facing foreclosure (Guardian U.K. says they've been removed.)
• Funding for ACORN, a community activist organization, which Dems want and Republicans are united against.

Again, time is running out but I encourage you - whether you hate the bailout or love it - speak now or forever hold your peace.

Deal or No Deal?

Earlier: Absent an agreement, financial markets will tumble Monday, even crash - or so the conventional thinking goes.

"I think that's wrong because it's the consensus," says Jeff Matthews, founder of hedge fund Ram Partners and noted blogger. "[But] I think the government has done themselves a real disservice by giving themselves that deadline. Let's do it right, not just spend $700 billion because somebody said it's a good idea."

Getting it right? What a concept!

From Silicon Alley Insider, Sept. 26, 2008:

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM) shocked the market yesterday, sending shares down 20% after hours -- now down 25% this morning in high-volume trading -- when it said gross margins would decline next quarter and next year as the company invests to steal share in the rapidly growing smartphone market.

Not a stupid decision, but a risky one. Deutsche Bank downgraded RIM to "sell" and RBC to "sector perform" this morning, while Credit Suisse upgraded RIM to "neutral."

The one note of the three we've seen today: RBC's downgrade, in which analyst Mike Abramsky cuts RIM's price target to $90 from $165. Why?

• Less visibility to recovering margins -- RIM guided margins in the mid-40% range, while analysts were looking for something around 50%. Who knows when they're going to go up again -- if ever?
• Increased risks to RIM's growth from the crappy economy.

The bottom line: It's probably not a bad move for RIM as a company to invest in the "land grab" and grow its huge market share in the booming smartphone market. But as a stock, RIM is now riskier -- especially if RIM has to fend off similar 'land grabs' from competitors like Apple, Google, Microsoft, or whomever.

Remember what happened to Motorola when it went after market share -- instead of profit -- by helping carriers cut the RAZR's price tag to zero? Not good.

The big differences here: RIM's model is part subscription-based; handset sales aren't their only source or revenue, so subsidizing phones to get more email subscribers isn't a total loss. And this is a platform play, not just a gadget play -- so if RIM can take an early lead and hook people on the BlackBerry platform, it's likely people will keep buying BlackBerries. Whereas previous RAZR owners really have no reason to buy another RAZR, unless they just want another cheap phone.

Earlier: RIM Blows Q2; Subscriber, EPS Guidance Weak; Shares Topple

From Silicon Alley Insider, Sept. 25, 2008:

Update: For LIVE coverage of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion's Q2 earnings release and analysis, click here.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion posts Q2 earnings this afternoon. Join us for LIVE coverage and analysis, beginning at 4 p.m. ET, including a live blog of their conference call, beginning at 5 p.m. RIM's look ahead will be the most important: With several new models launching this quarter, investors will be paying more attention to Q3 guidance than Q2 results.

RIM has forces working for it and against it: On one hand, it's selling its gadgets into a rapidly expanding smartphone market, where it's the top U.S. player. On the other hand, the economy is wobbly, Wall Street is dissolving, rival Apple (AAPL) has stolen a lot of recent attention with its new iPhone 3G, and the U.S. launch of RIM's latest, the 3G BlackBerry Bold, has been delayed until next month.

A marketing push behind the Bold at AT&T, the forthcoming Pearl Flip at T-Mobile, and the touchscreen Storm at Verizon Wireless should help RIM out in the November quarter. The company needs to guide around 3 million net subscriber additions and 7 million device shipments for Q3 or its stock will get clobbered. Anything above 3.5 million net sub adds and 8 million shipments would be upside.

Key Metrics:

Q2 Revenue: $2.60 billion consensus
Q2 EPS: $0.87 consensus
Q2 Net Sub. Adds: 2.6 million (RBC, AmTech), 2.7 million (Citi)
Q2 Device Shipments: 6.1 million (AmTech, Citi), 6.3 million (RBC)
Q3 Revenue: $2.95 billion consensus
Q3 EPS: $0.98 consensus
Q3 Net Sub. Adds: 2.9 million (Citi), 3+ million (RBC), 3.3 million (AmTech)
Q3 Device Shipments: 6.9 million (Citi), 7.4 million-7.5 million (RBC), 7.8 million (AmTech)

See Also:
Survey Says: BlackBerry To Keep Dominating Microsoft, Apple For Corporate Mobile Email
Say Hello To The $520 BlackBerry And The $600 iPhone

From Silicon Alley Insider, Sept. 24, 2008:

It's happened again: The stock of the most beloved company in the world, Apple (AAPL), has dropped more than a third off its highs. Of course this means that no one likes it anymore.

Well, wake up, people! If you really think that Apple's going to take over the world, this is the time to love the stock, not when it claws its way back toward $200 again.

Will Apple be affected by the global economic slowdown? Almost certainly. Are Apple's margin guidance (and current revenue estimates) for the coming year concerns? Absolutely. Could Apple's stock really fall out of bed if we go into another Great Depression -- dropping to, say, $50 a share? Of course. But so could any stock. (These are stocks, not Treasury bonds -- if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen).

But all that aside, Apple's stock just isn't that expensive anymore. At $127, the stock is trading at about 25X trailing earnings (that's trailing, not analysts' hallucinations about what is going to happen over the next few years).

Even better, thanks to the extraordinary cash-flow characteristics of the booming iPhone (get cash now, recognize revenue over 24 months), Apple's valuation on an enterprise value to free cash flow basis is even more attractive: 15X.

What the heck is "enterprise value to free cash flow"?

That's the value of Apple's actual business ($91 billion) relative to the free cash flow the company has generated over the past year ($6 billion). For a company with Apple's future promise, market position, and growth rate, 15X just isn't that expensive.

Does it mean there's no downside to Apple's stock? Again, of course not: Apple's cash flow could get smashed by a recession, a stock market crash could compress the multiple to 7-10 times, etc. There's always downside. But at 15X, there's a lot less downside than there was a few months ago, when Apple was trading at $190 a share and everyone loved it.

See Also:
Sorry, Bailout History Suggests Stock Market Will Keep Falling
Microsoft's Real Problem: The Second Coming of Apple

From Silicon Alley Insider, Sept. 23, 2008:

At long last, the GPhone is here. That's good news for Google bulls, who have been silently praying that one of three possible revenue streams -- mobile, video, and/or display -- will soon ignite and save the company's growth trajectory.

Will Android turn out to be a money factory? We're skeptical. Google is late to the smartphone game, and there's already some capable competition in the market. How Android mints cash has also yet to be satisfactorily explained. (It appears to be part of the $50+ billion mobile advertising market that Eric Schmidt and others keep talking about without providing any details. Some of that market will just replace PC-based searches, moreover, which won't provide any incremental revenue.)

In any event, one Android bull, Sandeep Aggarwal of Collins Stewart, celebrates the GPhone launch by laying out his case after the jump.

From All Things Digital, Sept. 23, 2008:

Google’s new G1 phone announced today is the first real competitor to the iPhone. Like Apple’s product, it’s a serious handheld computer with a powerful new operating system (called Android) and a clever touch-based user interface. Like the iPhone, it’s likely to be a major new platform for third-party software. But it’s also very different, and may appeal to different buyers.

The phone, expected to be the first of many to use the Android operating system, was largely designed by Google, and was built by HTC of Taiwan. It will be sold in the U.S. starting next month by T-Mobile, for $179 with a two-year contract.

After the jump, some first impressions of the G1, based on some experience with a prototype. This isn’t a full review; that will come later, when I’ve had a chance to use a more finished device.

See Also:
Google's Android Phone
Apple’s 10-Million-Mac Year Also Its 10-Million-iPhone Year?
First Test of Google’s New Browser
Why the iPhone Matters

Before heading to Korea, many people told me I'd be amazed by the quality and ubiquity of the technology I'd find. As you'll see in the accompanying video, Seoul more-than lived up to the hype.

From the biggest cities to the smallest hamlets, Korean society has been wired for the digital age. Koreans enjoy high-speed mobile data networking, and local giants Samsung and LG provide a gamut of devices designed to take advantage -- from cell phones with video conferencing to GPS that doubles as TV, and much much more.

The flip side of all this innovation is a high level of government involvement and support for the industry, issues President Lee addressed in our exclusive interview.

This protectionism helps explain why Nokia has a big production facility in Korea but doesn't sell many phones there. And why Apple is planning to bring the 3G iPhone to hundreds of smaller nations, but not tech-saturated Korea.

This is the second in a series of pieces on life in Korea. Click here for the first piece, on Korea's "cram school" culture, and stay tuned for upcoming pieces, including: 

• Korea's videogame-room craze: Why the trend is way beyond Xbox 
• An interview with citizen journalism trailblazer Oh Yeon-Ho, also the founder of OhmyNews.