Term sheet
To prospectus dated November 21, 2008,
prospectus supplement dated November 21, 2008 and
product supplement no. 172-A-I dated July 31, 2009

Term Sheet to
Product Supplement No. 172-A-I
Registration Statement No. 333-155535
Dated September 18, 2009; Rule 433


     

Structured 
Investments 

      $
Return Notes Linked to the JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index due September 26, 2011

General

Key Terms

Underlying:

JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index (the “Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short” or the “Underlying”).

Payment at Maturity:

Payment at maturity will reflect the performance of the Underlying. Any payment on the notes is subject to the credit risk of JPMorgan Chase & Co. The principal amount of your notes will be fully exposed to any decline in the Ending Underlying Value, as compared to the Strike Value, provided that your payment at maturity will not be less than zero. Accordingly, at maturity, you will receive an amount per $1,000 principal amount note calculated as follows:

 

$1,000 x (1 + Underlying Return)

provided that your payment at maturity will not be less than zero.

 

You may lose some or all of your investment at maturity if the Ending Underlying Value declines from the Strike Value.

Underlying Return:

Ending Underlying Value – Strike Value
                   Strike Value

Strike Value:

An Underlying value to be determined on the pricing date in the sole discretion of the calculation agent. The Strike Value may or may not be the regular official Underlying closing value on the pricing date. Although the calculation agent will make all determinations and will take all actions in relation to the establishment of the Strike Value in good faith, it should be noted that such discretion could have an impact (positive or negative), on the value of your notes. The calculation agent is under no obligation to consider your interests as a holder of the notes in taking any actions, including the determination of the Strike Value, that might affect the value of your notes.

Ending Underlying Value:

The Underlying closing value on the Observation Date.

Observation Date:

September 21, 2011

Maturity Date:

September 26, 2011

CUSIP:

48123L7C2

  

Subject to postponement in the event of a market disruption event and as described under “Description of Notes — Payment at Maturity” and “Description of Notes — Postponement of a Determination Date” in the accompanying product supplement no. 172-A-I or early acceleration in the event of a hedging disruption event as described under “General Terms of Notes — Consequences of a Commodity Hedging Disruption Event” in the accompanying product supplement no. 172-A-I and in “Selected Risk Considerations — Commodity Futures Contracts Are Subject to Uncertain Legal and Regulatory Regimes” in this term sheet.

Investing in the Return Notes involves a number of risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page PS-5 of the accompanying product supplement no. 172-A-I and “Selected Risk Considerations” beginning on page TS-2 of this term sheet.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, for the offering to which this term sheet relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and the other documents relating to this offering that JPMorgan Chase & Co. has filed with the SEC for more complete information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. and this offering. You may get these documents without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, JPMorgan Chase & Co., any agent or any dealer participating in this offering will arrange to send you the prospectus, the prospectus supplement, product supplement no. 172-A-I and this term sheet if you so request by calling toll-free 866-535-9248.

You may revoke your offer to purchase the notes at any time prior to the time at which we accept such offer by notifying the applicable agent. We reserve the right to change the terms of, or reject any offer to purchase the notes prior to their issuance. In the event of any changes to the terms of the notes, we will notify you and you will be asked to accept such changes in connection with your purchase. You may also choose to reject such changes in which case we may reject your offer to purchase.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of the notes or passed upon the accuracy or the adequacy of this term sheet or the accompanying prospectus supplement and prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.


 

Price to Public (1)

Fees and Commissions (2)

Proceeds to Us


Per note

$

$

$


Total

$

$

$


(1)

The price to the public includes the estimated cost of hedging our obligations under the notes through one or more of our affiliates.

  

 

(2)

If the notes priced today, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., which we refer to as JPMSI, acting as agent for JPMorgan Chase & Co., would receive a commission of approximately $18.00 per $1,000 principal amount note and would use a portion of that commission to allow selling concessions to other dealers of approximately $1.00 per $1,000 principal amount note. This commission includes the projected profits that our affiliates expect to realize in consideration for assuming risks inherent in hedging our obligations under the notes. The actual commission received by JPMSI may be more or less than $18.00 and will depend on market conditions on the pricing date. In no event will the commission received by JPMSI, which includes concessions to be allowed to other dealers, exceed $22.50 per $1,000 principal amount note. See “Plan of Distribution” beginning on page PS-42 of the accompanying product supplement no. 172-A-I.

The agent for this offering, JPMSI, is an affiliate of ours. See “Supplemental Plan of Distribution (Conflicts of Interest)” in this term sheet.

The notes are not bank deposits and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, nor are they obligations of, or guaranteed by, a bank. The notes are not guaranteed under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.

September 18, 2009

Additional Terms Specific to the Notes

You should read this term sheet together with the prospectus dated November 21, 2008, as supplemented by the prospectus supplement dated November 21, 2008 relating to our Series E medium-term notes of which these notes are a part, and the more detailed information contained in product supplement no. 172-A-I dated July 31, 2009. This term sheet, together with the documents listed below, contains the terms of the notes and supersedes all other prior or contemporaneous oral statements as well as any other written materials including preliminary or indicative pricing terms, correspondence, trade ideas, structures for implementation, sample structures, fact sheets, brochures or other educational materials of ours. You should carefully consider, among other things, the matters set forth in “Risk Factors” in the accompanying product supplement no. 172-A-I, as the notes involve risks not associated with conventional debt securities. We urge you to consult your investment, legal, tax, accounting and other advisers before you invest in the notes.

You may access these documents on the SEC website at www.sec.gov as follows (or if such address has changed, by reviewing our filings for the relevant date on the SEC website):

Our Central Index Key, or CIK, on the SEC website is 19617. As used in this term sheet, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refers to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index

The Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index (the “Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short” or the “Underlying”).

The Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short was developed and is maintained by J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd. to implement a momentum-based algorithmic strategy for commodity allocations. The Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short references the value of a synthetic portfolio selected from a limited universe of commodity sub-indices, each of which is a component of the S&P GSCITM Index (“S&P GSCITM”) and is intended to serve as a benchmark value for a particular commodity. The Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short is an excess return index intended to track the performance of a synthetic portfolio of commodity excess return sub-indices. An excess return index reflects the returns that are potentially available through an uncollateralized investment in the contracts underlying such index, including any profit or loss realized when rolling such contracts.

Historical performance data for each sub-index is run through the Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short algorithms on a monthly basis. The algorithms test each sub-index’s performance and consistency. The performance algorithm tests the year-over-year performance for each sub-index, and the consistency tests filter out sub-indices that have not demonstrated consistent positive monthly performance over a one-year period, attributing greater weight to more recent monthly periods.

If on any monthly rebalancing date, the year-over-year performance of an equally weighted basket of the referenced universe of GSCI sub-indices is (a) positive and (b) consistently positive, the short leg of the Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short will be de-activated.

Up to twelve sub-indices that are ranked with the strongest positive performance and successfully pass the consistency test are assigned a conditional long-short target weight of one-twelfth (1/12) in the synthetic portfolio until the next monthly rebalancing. The weighting of one-twelfth will apply to each of the strongest sub-indices even if their number is less than twelve. If the short leg of the Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short is not de-activated, up to twelve sub-indices that are ranked with the weakest negative performance and successfully pass the conditional short consistency test are assigned a conditional long-short target weight of minus one-twelfth (-1/12) in the synthetic portfolio until the next monthly rebalancing. The remaining constituents are assigned a weight of zero percent (0%).

The value of the Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short is the value of the synthetic portfolio, minus an adjustment factor deducted daily at an annual rate of 0.96%.

Prior to August 24, 2009, Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short was calculated based on the rules dated February 13, 2009 (the “Original Rules”). On and after August 24, 2009, the Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short was calculated (and is currently being calculated) using the rules dated July 31, 2009, which became effective on August 24, 2009 (the “Current Rules”). For more information on the Current Rules, see Annex B to the accompanying product supplement no. 172-A-I.

The value of the Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short is published each trading day under the Bloomberg ticker symbol “CMDT9CER”.

Selected Purchase Considerations


JPMorgan Structured Investments —
Return Notes Linked to the JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index

 TS-1

Selected Risk Considerations

An investment in the notes involves significant risks. Investing in the notes is not equivalent to investing directly in the S&P GSCITM constituent sub-indices, in any of the commodities whose futures contracts determine the levels of the S&P GSCITM constituent sub-indices or the constituent sub-indices of the Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short, or in any contracts relating to such commodities for which there is an active secondary market. These risks are explained in more detail in the “Risk Factors” section of the accompanying product supplement no. 172-A-I dated July 31, 2009.


JPMorgan Structured Investments —
Return Notes Linked to the JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index

 TS-2

JPMorgan Structured Investments —
Return Notes Linked to the JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index

 TS-3

JPMorgan Structured Investments —
Return Notes Linked to the JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index

 TS-4

What Is the Payment at Maturity on the Notes Assuming a Range of Performance for the Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short?

The following table illustrates the hypothetical payments at maturity for each $1,000 principal amount note. The hypothetical payments at maturity set forth below assume a Strike Value of 125. The hypothetical payments at maturity set forth below are for illustrative purposes only and may not be the actual payment at maturity applicable to a purchaser of the notes. The numbers appearing in the following table and examples have been rounded for ease of analysis.


Ending Underlying
Value

Underlying
Return

Payout at Maturity


225.00

80.00%

$1,800

212.50

70.00%

$1,700

200.00

60.00%

$1,600

187.50

50.00%

$1,500

175.00

40.00%

$1,400

162.50

30.00%

$1,300

150.00

20.00%

$1,200

137.50

10.00%

$1,100

131.25

5.00%

$1,050

125.00

0.00%

$1,000

112.50

-10.00%

$900

100.00

-20.00%

$800

87.50

-30.00%

$700

75.00

-40.00%

$600

62.50

-50.00%

$500

50.00

-60.00%

$400

37.50

-70.00%

$300

25.00

-80.00%

$200

12.50

-90.00%

$100

0.00

-100.00%

$0



Hypothetical Examples of Amounts Payable at Maturity

The following examples illustrate how the total returns set forth in the table above are calculated.

Example 1: The Ending Underlying Value increases from the Strike Value of 125 to an Ending Underlying Value of 131.25. Because the Ending Underlying Value of 131.25 is greater than the Strike Value of 125, the investor receives a payment at maturity of $1,050 per $1,000 principal amount note, calculated as follows:

$1,000 x (1 + 5%) = $1,050

Example 2: The Ending Underlying Value decreases from the Strike Value of 125 to an Ending Underlying Value of 100. Because the Ending Underlying Value of 100 is less than the Strike Value of 125, the investor receives a payment at maturity of $800 per $1,000 principal amount note, calculated as follows:

$1,000 x (1 + -20%) = $800


JPMorgan Structured Investments —
Return Notes Linked to the JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index

 TS-5
 

Hypothetical Back-tested Data and Historical Information

The following graph sets forth the hypothetical back-tested performance of the Underlying based on the hypothetical back-tested weekly Underlying closing values from January 2, 2004 through February 12, 2009, and the historical performance of the Underlying based on the weekly Underlying closing values from February 13, 2009 through September 11, 2009. The Underlying was established on February 13, 2009. The Underlying closing value on September 17, 2009 was 126.3892. We obtained the Underlying closing values below from Bloomberg Financial Markets. We make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information obtained from Bloomberg Financial Markets.

The hypothetical back-tested and historical values of the Underlying should not be taken as an indication of future performance, and no assurance can be given as to the Underlying closing value on the Observation Date. We cannot give you assurance that the performance of the Underlying will result in the return of any of your initial investment at maturity. The data for the hypothetical back-tested performance of Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short set forth in the following graph was calculated on materially the same basis on which the performance of Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short is now calculated, but the number of S&P GSCITM sub-indices, and thus the universe of potential constituent sub-indices, has changed over time. For example, in January 1991, there were only 17 S&P GSCITM sub-indices. There are currently 24 sub-indices. Hypothetical daily performance data for Commodity-IGAR 9 Conditional Long-Short is net of an adjustment factor of 0.96% per annum.

The hypothetical historical values above have not been verified by an independent third party. The back-tested, hypothetical historical results above have inherent limitations. These back-tested results are achieved by means of a retroactive application of a back-tested model designed with the benefit of hindsight.

Alternative modeling techniques or assumptions would produce different hypothetical historical information that might prove to be more appropriate and that might differ significantly from the hypothetical historical information set forth above. Hypothetical back-tested results are neither an indicator nor guarantee of future returns. Actual results will vary, perhaps materially, from the analysis implied in the hypothetical historical information that forms part of the information contained in the chart above.

Supplemental Plan of Distribution (Conflicts of Interest)

We own, directly or indirectly, all of the outstanding equity securities of JPMSI, the agent for this offering. The net proceeds received from the sale of the notes will be used, in part, by JPMSI or one of its affiliates in connection with hedging our obligation under the notes. In accordance with NASD Rule 2720, JPMSI may not make sales in this offering to any of its discretionary accounts without the prior written approval of the customer.


JPMorgan Structured Investments —
Return Notes Linked to the JPMorgan Commodity Investable Global Asset Rotator 9 Conditional Long-Short Index

 TS-6