GARMIN $55.80 (Nasdaq symbol GRMN; SI Rating: Speculative) (913-397-8200; www.garmin.com; Shares outstanding: 216.2 million; Market cap: $12.1 billion) reported much better results in the three months ended December 30, 2006. Sales rose 91.4%, to $611.2 million from $319.3 million. Earnings per share rose 110%, to $0.84 from $0.40. In 2006, Garmin introduced over 70 new products that added to its position as a leading maker of GPS enabled handheld devices for autos, boats, small aircraft and other uses. In the future it may profit from the worldwide effort to expand airport safety and capacity by supplementing existing radar with more accurate GPS-based aircraft tracking systems. Garmin is still a buy for aggressive investors....

METRO INC. $37.17 (Toronto symbol MRU.A; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (514-643-1055; www.metro.ca; Shares outstanding: 114.5 million; Market cap: $4.3 billion) is a leader in the food distribution business in Quebec, operating Metro supermarkets, Super C discount supermarkets and Marche Richelieu neighbourhood stores. It also operates Loeb stores in northeastern Ontario. Metro expanded further into Ontario in 2005 with the acquisition of A&P Canada for $1.7 billion. A&P Canada operates 251 food stores throughout Ontario under the A&P, Dominion, Food Basics, The Barn and Ultra Food & Drug banners. Metro’s ongoing earnings in the three months ended December 23, 2006 rose 44.4%, to $71.6 million or $0.62 a share, from $49.6 million or $0.43 a share. This excludes one-time charges from acquisitions and other sources. Sales fell slightly, to $2.515 billion from $2.522 billion, but rose 2.8% (excluding wholesale interests divested one year earlier). Metro’s shares yield 1.2%....

RDM CORPORATION $4.00 (Toronto symbol RC; SI Rating: Speculative) (519-746- 8483; www.rdmcorp.com; Shares outstanding: 21.1 million; Market cap: $84.4 million) has suffered from fears about sub prime mortgages, even though it doesn’t have a direct connection to the problem. RDM provides imaging hardware and software for scanning checks and other documents. Some investors fear that growing mortgage writedowns will force banks to spend less on new technology. But RDM has a broad range of customers in over 35 countries, and helps cut processing costs. We recommended RDM as a buy in December 2006 at $1.86, and it more than tripled to $6 in January. The stock will remain volatile. We still like RDM’s long-term outlook, as the U.S. market for electronic check processing is growing rapidly. RDM is a buy for long-term gains.

AUR RESOURCES $21.60 (Toronto symbol AUR; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-362-2614; www.aurresources.com; Shares outstanding: 98.4 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion) mines mainly copper. It operates the open-pit Quebrada Blanca and Andacollo copper mines in northern Chile. Aur’s cash flow rose 48.5% in the three months ended December 31, 2006, to $107.4 million or $1.10 a share, from $72.3 million or $0.76 a share. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Aur now trades at 4.2 times its annual cash flow per share. Total debt stood at $93.8 million, or 14% of shareholders’ equity, at the end of December, 2006. The company also holds $630.3 million or $6.42 a share in cash ($7.58 Cdn.). Aur’s shares have a dividend yield of 0.5%. The company also paid a special dividend of $1 Cdn. a share in January, 2007. Aur is working to double its copper production over the next three years. It recently started production at its Duck Pond copper-zinc deposit in Newfoundland. The company also recently bought a further 27% interest in the Andacollo mine for $103 million U.S. This transaction increased Aur’s interest in the mine to 90% from 63%. The company is also developing a new deposit at the Andacollo mine. It expects that $336 million U.S. project to start up in 2009. The company could further add to output through acquisitions....

BREAKWATER RESOURCES $1.82 (Toronto symbol BWR; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-363-4798; www.breakwater.ca; Shares outstanding: 385.8 million; Market cap: $702.2 million) reports 175.8% higher revenues in the three months ended December 31, 2006, to $158.3 million from $57.4 million a year earlier. The increase came from higher prices for zinc, plus a 21% increase in production. Cash flow jumped to $0.12 a share from $0.004 a share. The stock now trades at around 3.8 times cash flow per share. Breakwater operates three producing base-metal mines: the Myra Falls mine in B.C., El Mochito mine in Honduras, and El Toqui in Chile. It’s also developing the Langlois mine in Canada....

VERIGY LTD. $24.63 (Nasdaq symbol VRGY; SI Rating: Speculative) (1-800-447- 8378; www.verigy.com; Shares outstanding: 59 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion) designs and makes test systems used in computer-chip production. Verigy shares jumped in late February after it reported earnings of $0.28 a share in the three months ended January 31, 2007, up 12% from $0.25 a year earlier. Revenues fell 2.9%, to $165 million from $170 million. The stock has risen 43% since we first recommended it at $17.17 in the November, 2006 issue of Stock Pickers Digest. Thanks to its balanced product portfolio, Verigy posted stronger results, despite overall weakness in the semiconductor (computer chip) test industry. The company holds cash of $300 million, or $5.10 a share, and has no debt. Verigy spends around 14% of revenues on research and development....

SYMANTEC CORP. $17.07 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; SI Rating: Average) (1-408-517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 924.6 million; Market cap: $15.8 billion) is a leading maker of antivirus and Internet security software. Symantec’s best known product is Norton AntiVirus, comprising 30% of revenues. Norton continues to benefit from the growth of the Internet. Increased use of e-mail, the web and mobile devices guarantees continued threats from viruses. In 2005, Symantec expanded its product range when it purchased Veritas Software for $13.5 billion in stock. Veritas is a market leader in data storage, backup and archiving software. In the three months ended December 31, 2006, Symantec’s sales rose 14.3%, to $1.31 billion from $1.15 billion a year earlier (all amounts in U.S. dollars). Ongoing earnings (excluding one-time costs mostly related to the integration of Veritas) fell 12.1%, to $248 million from $282 million, due to weakness in its data center business and higher costs. Ongoing per share earnings were unchanged at $0.26 on fewer shares outstanding....

Aggressive investments should make up no more than, say, 30% of your portfolio. You can cut your risk all the more by taking a conservative approach to your aggressive holdings. For instance, you should hold your aggressive investments within a portfolio that reflects our three-pronged Successful Investor wealth-building philosophy. That is, invest mainly in well established companies; spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing, Resources, Consumer, Finance, Utilities); downplay stocks that are in the broker/media limelight....

INTERNATIONAL ROAD DYNAMICS $1.55 (Toronto symbol IRD; SI Rating: Speculative) (306-653-6600; www.ird.ca; Shares outstanding: 13.9 million; Market cap: $21.5 million) is a highway traffic management technology company specializing in supplying products and systems to the global intelligent transportation systems industry. This includes automated toll road systems, automated truck weigh station systems, WIM (Weigh-in-Motion) systems, advanced traffic control, driver management systems and data collection systems. In addition to products and systems, International Road also provides long-term service and maintenance. International Road is based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan but has sales and service offices throughout the United States and overseas. Private corporations, transportation agencies and highway authorities around the world use International Road’s products and systems to manage and protect their highway infrastructures. International Road’s share price moved up from $1.30 to as high as $1.76 at the start of February, 2007 after it released its financial results for the three months ended November 30, 2006. Revenues rose 54.3%, to a record $11.8 million from $7.7 million. Earnings rose to $756,172 or $0.06 a share, from $26,514 or nil per share. The company’s total debt is high at $10 million or 65% of shareholders’ equity of $15.3 million....

GAMESTOP CORP. $32.57, New York symbol GME, earned $0.81 a share in its fourth fiscal quarter ended February 3, 2007, up 47.3% from $0.55 a year earlier. (All per share amounts reflect the recent conversion of the class A and B shares into a single class of common, and a 2-for-1 split.) Sales grew 35.3%, to $2.3 billion from $1.7 billion. Same-store sales soared 26.5%, as new video game systems from Sony and Nintendo attracted shoppers during the busy Christmas shopping season. The latest earnings exceeded earlier forecasts of $0.80 a share on sales of $2.1 billion, and the stock jumped 11%. In addition, GameStop now predicts same-store sales in the next quarter will rise 12% to 14%, as Sony starts selling its PlayStation 3 machine in Europe. Demand for new game machines and software should continue to spur GameStop’s sales. But the company is vulnerable to growing competition from discount retail chains, particularly with its stock at 25 times earnings....