Bottom Fishing Meaning

(idiomatic, business, finance) Buying, or seeking opportunities to buy, investment securities or other valuable properties at a time when markets are depressed and prices are low.

Example: Fishing with bait, lines, and other gear used to catch aquatic creatures which inhabit the lowest regions of a body of water, including a seabed or riverbed.
1998 June 7, Amy Dunkin, "Commodities Are Cheap. Time To Leap?," Businessweek (retrieved 26 May 2014):
  So should you put a few bucks into commodities while they're dirt cheap? . . . Because of their low correlations with stocks and bonds, you may want to consider bottom-fishing in futures now, either to speculate on an upswing or insulate the rest of your portfolio against any downturns.
2003 July 6, Sharon Epperson, "Beware the Bargains," Time (retrieved 26 May 2014):
  Bottom fishing for bargains in the stocks of distressed companies is a surprisingly popular sport.
2011 Sept. 15, Roben Farzad, "Angola and Brazil Are Buying Portuguese Companies," Businessweek (retrieved 26 May 2014):
  â€œBottom fishing during and after financial crises is nothing new,” says Jerry Haar, a professor at the business school of Florida International University.
2013 Dec. 3, Samantha Sharf, "JC Penney Sales Swell In November, But Holiday Profits Will Be Stiffer Test," Forbes (retrieved 26 May 2014):
  But the activity was concentrated to a few days with active traders swooping in when the stock hit its 52-week low, leading to speculation the investors were largely bottom fishing.