(Street Life is a new feature that looks inside the Canadian stock market.)

* ACT I: The Play of the Year.

Connacher Oil and Gas (TSX:CLL) $3.71. Up 574.5 per cent (biggest year-to-date return for TSX stocks over $1 through Dec. 9).

Connacher emerged from anonymity early in the year when its stock skyrocketed as investors poured their dollars into Alberta oilsands plays. But Connacher, owner of the Great Divide oilsands project, has proven to be much more than a one-trick pony. Once the frenzy over oilsands plays cooled late in the year, Connacher's shares caught fire again as a result of an oil discovery in Argentina by its 35-per-cent owned affiliate, Petrolifera Petroleum (TSX:PDP). Until Connacher's late-year charge, another oilsands play, UTS Energy (TSX:UTS), was getting all the attention as the thoroughbred of the TSX and looking like it might post a wire-to-wire victory. But UTS, which is partnered with PetroCanada in the Fort Hills oilsands project, faded in the stretch to finish sixth (based on stocks over $1), up 381 per cent.

* ACT II: The Bomb of the Year.

Grande Cache Coal (TSX:GCE) $2.29. Down 87.3 per cent (biggest year-to-date loss for TSX stocks over $1 through Dec. 9).

If Grande Cache shareholders didn't believe in the wisdom of placing stop-loss orders to guard against taking a financial bath, the lesson should have been driven home with a sledgehammer by now. Grande Cache shareholders spent the early part of the year riding a chart that resembled a harmless-looking bunny slope. But those gradual descents can turn into calamities in the market as Grande Cache's stockholders found out when the shares fell off a cliff in the second half. Grande Cache, a TSX Top 10 player in '04 when it resurrected a coal mine at Grande Cache, Alta., ran into shipping delays for its metallurgical coal bound for Asia and that resulted in blood-red financials. In the six months through Sept. 30, the company lost $22.6 million.

* ACT III: The Trust of the Year.

Cathedral Energy Services Income Trust (TSX: CET.UN) $10.85. Up 223.89 per cent (biggest year-to-date return for TSX income trusts over $1 through Dec. 9).

This was the year of the wakeup call for over-zealous trust pundits. Many of the fragile trusts finally hit the skids and the entire sector took a severe lashing late in the year when the federal government struck fear into the hearts of investors with a review of the sector that ended prematurely with Ottawa backing off its tough stance. Yet, in the end, those who did their homework and invested in trusts with rock-solid balance sheets were rewarded handsomely - none more than unitholders of Cathedral Energy. A booming oilpatch resulted in Cathedral nearly doubling its revenue in the quarter ending Sept. 30 (from the year-ago period) to $228 million and nearly tripling its earnings to $6.18 million. Awash in cash, the company tripled its monthly cash distribution to unitholders to five cents per share.

* ACT IV: The Takeover Double Play.

Deer Creek Energy (TSX: DCE) $31.20. Up 72.2 per cent (on the takeover bids).

There's nothing quite like sitting on a stock that gets taken over at a generous premium, but shareholders in oilsands play Deer Creek were treated to a rare double play in the takeover game. A friendly takeover bid by France's Total E&P, the world's fourth-largest oil company, for $25 a share or $1.35 billion in August initially boosted Deer Creek shares by 40 per cent. But then a month later, Total E&P had its hand forced by another unsolicited bid and consequently raised the stakes with a cash offer of $31 a share or $1.67 billion. That boosted the stock another 24 per cent. The Deer Creek acquisition may be the tip of the iceberg in the Alberta oilsands as foreign companies scramble for secure energy prospects.

* ACT V: The BlackBerry Jam.

Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) $73.97. Down 29.9 per cent (from June 1 through Dec. 9).

Never, never, underestimate the power of a lawsuit-mad American lawyer. That's what RIM shareholders have learned in a hard, hard lesson. A patent lawsuit by a U.S. company, NTP, has turned into an ugly legal war that has threatened the Canadian company's U.S. business for its popular BlackBerry wireless device, its marquee product. NTP rejected a settlement offer by RIM in early December and it appeared that the company would be forced into a massive payout that could put a major crimp in RIM's balance sheet. The worst-case scenario? A court injunction that would halt RIM's U.S. business for the BlackBerry that accounts for an estimated 75 per cent of its market.

* ACT VI: Joy In Mudville.

Aastra Technologies (TSX: AAH) $34.70. Up 65.2 per cent (year to date through Dec. 9).

Money-managing legend Peter Lynch was famous for urging investors to venture into sectors that are out of favour in the search for compelling growth stories. And Aastra is a classic example of a stock that has managed to flourish in a floundering sector, handsomely rewarding shareholders. During a year in which the S&P/TSX information technology sector was down about 16 per cent, Aastra, which develops products and systems for accessing communications networks, was a big winner as investors saluted the company's knack for growing its business through acquisitions. That strategy has allowed Aastra to ramp up earnings to $1.42 per share, but some experts are betting that the stock still has some room to move. Jean-Francois Tardif, fund manager at Sprott Investment Management, estimates earnings could double by 2007 to the $3 per share range.

* ACT VII: The Breakout.

Alamos Gold (TSX:AGI) $5.95. Up 21.4 per cent (for week ending Dec. 9).

Timing is everything in the market. Just ask Alamos shareholders. If Alamos had released its "bonanza grade" exploration results early this year when gold shares were in a slumber, it's likely that the stock would have barely moved on the news. But the company's timing in announcing high-grade results from its Escondida mine in Mexico was impeccable, coming during the first week in December in which the gold price had its best week since 2002. With gold soaring to $530 US per ounce, a 24-year high, the precious metal was beginning to steal some of the thunder from the oil sector. Alamos shares busted out to a new 52-week high and are up 70 per cent in the past year.

* ACT VIII: The Penny Jackpot.

Newmex Minerals (TSX Venture:NMM) $3.40. Up 4,757.1 per cent (biggest year-to-date return for TSX Venture stocks through Dec. 9).

Strange things happen with those penny plays on the TSX Venture. At the start of the year, Newmex was a fledgling mining company that you could have purchased for a measly seven cents a share. If you bet $1,000 on this flyer on the TSX Venture exchange at that time, it'd be worth $238,000 today. Of course, a speculation on Newmex a year ago was akin to rolling the dice on a craps table in Vegas.

But then the Calgary company switched its focus to the hot play of the year - oil and gas - and started churning press releases. The market finally started to pay attention and the stock stirred. Then, Newmex showed it really meant business by investing in a couple of interesting oil and gas projects in Texas - one natural gas and one heavy oil - and the shares caught fire. Newmex has been so busy that it's neglected one minor detail. It has forgotten to change its name.

(Gyle Konotopetz can be reached at gyle@businessedge.ca)