Sometimes referred to as a bottom trawler or a bargain hunter, the bottom fisher is an investor who is on the lookout for the best bargains in available stocks and bonds. Bottom fishers tend to have an affinity for companies that have been profitable in the past, but more recently have experienced problems that have driven the company close to bankruptcy.
Investors who are on the lookout for a bargain will often exercise a great deal of patience, even while being willing to take some risks. The bottom fisher may monitor the activity of a company or the performance of an investment for an extended period of time, waiting for the ideal time to secure the stock or bond. Often, this will be when the bottom fisher is convinced that the investment has gone as low per share as it will sink, and that the only place for the stock or bond to go is up.
Generally, the bottom fisher is willing to invest in ventures that may take some time to begin to generate a profit. Often, this means that the fisher has enough reserves to wait out the amount of time necessary for the company to turn around and begin to be profitable once more. In some instances, this may be a matter of months or even take a year or more. Just as the bottom fisher exhibited a great deal of patience during the investigation into the option, that same patience is made evident in the waiting period between the acquisition and upswing in the performance.
Companies that have gone through a rough period but have a reasonable plan for recovery generally welcome the bottom fisher as a new investor. Because this type of investor is usually interested in sticking with the company during the recovery period, the bottom fisher often acts as an effective deterrent to corporate raiders who would prefer to acquire the company and systematically sell off the assets for a quick profit.
