It's getting awfully close to "gut-check time," as they say in sports circles.

Teck closed at $4.77 today. It's creeping near that 2009 low in the $3.80 range. Back then the company was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Diving in meant you could have lost every dollar invested. Yet those who were brave enough to take a position were rewarded with stock prices exceeding $40 by January of the next year.

The turnaround might take longer this time. It might not be as lofty an ascent either. But there's likely a good return to be had for those with the spare cash, the time to wait and, most importantly, the fortitude to make such a bet.