THE date September 14, 2012 is etched deeply in the memory of Charlie Aitken. For weeks leading up to that day, the wholesale managing director of Bell Potter -- considered one of the country's best stock pickers -- had been advising his tight group of clients to back Fortescue Metals.
It was a risky call given the company was sitting on a debt pile of $9 billion, heavily exposed to the spot iron ore price which was in freefall and was being circled by short sellers.
But a meeting with Fortescue chief executive Nev Power just two weeks previously left Aitken convinced the company's moment of pain had passed and he penned a note to his clients reiterating his high-conviction "buy" recommendation.
On the afternoon of September 13, it all all fell apart for him. Shares in Fortescue plunged 14 per cent to $2.99. The next morning, Australia's third largest iron ore miner entered a trading halt.
"When the stock went into a trading halt I thought, I'm not very religious, but please God, don't let this be the end," he told The Australian.
