12/21/08 Bottom Fishing Portfolio Update - Still Down Signficantly

On Friday, October 3, 2008, I couldn't resist the temptation of buying some stocks before the bailout vote. I bought shares of Bank of America (BAC), J.P. Morgan (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Monsanto (MON). I believed that these three banks will not only survive this financial crisis, but will be one the four major banking powers in the next year. Monsanto was down over 50% from its high and its seed and agricultural businesses are still very strong.

As part of this portfolio, I have also been selling put contracts to open on specific stocks. I have been selling put contracts at one to two months from expiration on Monsanto and Energy Conversion Devices (ENER).

Two weeks ago, I decided to buy some Ford (F) call options, to capitalize on a possibility of a rebound if Congress supports an auto industry bailout. On December 2, 2008, I bought the December 5 call and on December 3, 2008, I bought the January 7.5 call.

In hindsight, I bought the financial stocks way too early. I've learned my lesson. I will not purchase any more financial company stocks, until there is a more clear turnaround in the financial crisis of 2008. Of the three financial stocks, Bank of America has been the worst pick. It also appears that I had been overly optimistic about the market impact automaker bailout.

The portfolio was up 0.8% in the past week. The overall portfolio is down 29.68%, after reaching a low of -45.30% three weeks ago.

	Bottom Fishing Portfolio
Stock or Option [purchase date]	Shares	Purchase Price	Price on 12/19/08
Bank of America(BAC) [10/3/08]	100	$38.00	$13.80
J.P. Morgan (JPM) [10/3/08]	100	$49.74	$30.32
Wells Fargo (WFC) [10/3/08]	50	$37.07	$29.36
Monsanto (MON) [10/3/08]	50	$88.97	$71.63
Ford Dec 5 call (FLA) [12/2/08]	1000	$0.078	expired 12/20/08 at $0
Ford Jan 7.5 call (FAU) [12/3/08]	1000	$0.088	$0.02

Currently, I have profited from all four put contracts which have been closed or allowed to expired. Next week, I will consider selling some January put contracts short for both Monsanto and Energy Conversion Devices.

	Put Contracts Sold Short to Open
Option [short date]	Shares	Short Price	Price on 12/12/08
Monsanto Nov 60 put (MONWL) [10/3/08]	100	$2.39	closed on 10/29/08 for $0.91
Energy Conversion Nov 20 put (EQIWD) [11/12/08]	100	$0.69	expired 11/21/08 at $0
Monsanto Dec 40 put (MONXI) [11/20/08]	100	$1.19	expired 12/20/08 at $0
Energy Conversion Dec 17.5 put (EQIXW) [11/25/08]	100	$1.39	expired 12/20/08 at $0

Unfortunately, it appears the rally from the Obama economic announcements has ended. The late November rally was the first five day rally since July, 2007 and the largest five day percentage gain since March 16, 1933. At this point, I am not very optimistic about a Santa Claus rally occurring.

Disclosure: At time of publication, I own shares of Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo and Monsanto shares and call options for Ford.

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