His March put options (WBCTL7) giving him the right to sell the shares at $18 had switched almost overnight from profit to loss.

It underlines how volatile derivatives such as options can be, and how dangerous it can be to bet against an institution paying nearly eight per cent a year in dividends.

The Punter is pretty confident, however, that it will be merely a temporary setback.

Despite expecting the market to fall further, however, he is sinking $1520 into the purchase of 15,000 shares in a small drug developer, Biotron (BIT).

Investing in biotechs is always an extreme sport, with the potential for huge rewards, but the chances of success seemingly on a par with hitting the jackpot with a powerball ticket.

Biotron is pretty typical of the breed.

It has spent years and millions of dollars on anti-viral drug development and clinical trials, regularly tapping shareholders for yet more cash to keep going.

It burns about $2 to $3 million a year and hasn’t earned a cent, but it had just over $2m in the bank at the end of June, thanks to the latest share sale.

Early trials of its BIT225 hepatitis C drug have gone reasonably well.

The Punter decided to pick up a few BITs because preliminary results from the criticial Phase IIa trial of BIT225 in 24 patients was due around the end of September.

Earlier this year (when the market was stronger) analysis by Southern Cross Equities suggested a successful trial should see the shares re-priced to about 35c.

The Hep C global market has been estimated at about $US3billion.

Last week Biotron announced it had begun an initial proof-of-concept human trial of the same drug in HIV patients.

The aim is to see if it will reduce or eliminate HIV in cells that establish reservoirs of the virus.

It hopes to have the first results of that trial by the end of the year.

The Punter has no financial qualifications and no links to the financial services industry. He owns shares in a number of companies featured in this column.