Still the BHP play has five months to run, and will stay in the portfolio for the time being as insurance against things going pear-shaped in Europe, China or the US, or – perish the thought – all three.

There were some signs last week the general mood of doom and gloom has lifted slightly – even the Punter’s overall portfolio edged ahead slightly, despite heavy losses on his put options.

Encouraged by this, he decided to return to his old favourite, the Zicom diversified engineering group (ZGL).

Nominally an Australian company, Zicom is run from Singapore, with products ranging from cement trucks to electronic equipment and heavy machinery for the marine and offshore oil and gas industries.

The managing director Giok Lak Sim has continued to buy the shares on his own account and now owns – directly and indirectly – more than a third of the company.

Zicom is unique among the Punter’s investments in that it not only makes a profit but actually pays dividends, and in November increased its final dividend by 10 per cent to 0.55 cents, putting the shares at current prices on a yield of about four per cent.

The Punter sold the shares back in May at 53.5c. He bought 5000 this week at 28.5c.

He paid for the deal partly by dumping one of his disasters, Green Rock Energy (GRK).

Last year Green Rock despaired of making any money from geothermal in the foreseeable future and farmed into an oil and gas exploration permit in the Canning Basin in Western Australia.

Alas, the first well, Lawford 1, was a dud. The company did expand its geothermal interests by forming an alliance with Pacific Hydro, but progress on that front will depend on attracting a joint venture partner.

The final straw for the Punter was the news the managing director Richard Beresford and the technical director Adrian Larking have agreed to take “substantial” pay cuts to save cash. Time to get out.