Match + Dry Grass = ?

Well maybe this is a little too much but you get the idea and it is a great photo...

But the credit crisis is just beginning. As it spreads from subprime loans to prime loans, home equity loans, credit cards, auto loans, loans you make to your friends (j/k you get the idea) its just going to be harder to get credit. No credit. No home equity. No savings. High food prices. High gas prices. How are consumers going to spend?
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080403/consumers_debt_study.html

This was the point exactly made by the Pete Peterson of the Blackstone group on Charlie Rose:
http://www.charlierose.com/home

Trades I understand and have done. Tight stops. Good companies. Undervalued. But until this mess clears...
How can anyone be bullish long-term save a handful of cheap, non-economy driven stocks? Some stocks will do fine long. But I think more than ever it will be important to pick the very best and keep cash at hand...