(Street Life is a regular feature that profiles what's playing in the stock market.)

* ACT I: The Etch A Sketch Jewett-Cameron Trading Co. Ltd. (TSX:JCT) Recent Price: $16 Action: Up 42 per cent or $4.70 in less than a month (from $11.30 Nov. 9, 2006) 52-week high: $20.88 (April 4, 2006) 52-week low: $9.20 (Dec. 9, 2005) For a good chunk of 2006, Jewett-Cameron's stock chart looks remarkably like an Etch A Sketch drawing - one done before the artist learned the trick of making diagonals. However, light-volume trading will do that.

Recently, interest in this stock seems to be picking up. And why wouldn't it? The company - which is involved in selling building materials, industrial tools and processed agricultural seeds and grains in the U.S. - announced record sales and record earnings for 2006. (Reported revenue of US$76 million for the 12 months ending August 2006 was up roughly two per cent over the previous year. Net income for the same period was $610,000 compared to $315,532 in 2005.)

So what's the holdup? Why aren't more people jostling for the stock? Perhaps it's the utterly forgettable company name. But Donald Boone, the company's president and CEO, says the company will "step up its focus in 2007 to increase awareness in Jewett-Cameron."

And once it does that, which way will the stock go? That all depends on which Etch A Sketch knob twitches first.

* ACT II: If the Cup Fits La Senza Corp. (TSX:LSZ) Recent Price: $47.75 Action: Up 46 per cent or $14.91 on takeover news (from $32.70 on Nov. 14 to $47.61 on Nov. 15) 52-week high: $47.90 (Nov. 27, 2006) 52-week low: $18.40 (Jan. 13, 2006) People have been investing in lingerie for years, and it may not always bring them the return they were hoping. But this is one conquest they can brag about to their friends.

La Senza, the Canadian intimate apparel retailer with 318 stores in Canada and 327 international stores operated by licensees, has received a takeover bid from Limited Brands Inc., which owns and operates 3,534 stores, including Victoria's Secret. The offer of $48.25 per share is expected to close mid-January 2007.

And for you reality-show-a-holics, don't worry. Laurence Lewin, the stylish president of La Senza, one of the five dragons on CBC's Dragon's Den, isn't going anywhere - managing staff and management style are expected to remain the same.

* ACT III: Anybody want a nickel?

Skye Resources Inc. (TSX:SKR) Recent Price: $11.15 Action: Down 28 per cent or $4.80 in one day on news (from $17.10 Nov. 13, 2006 to $12.30 Nov. 14) 52-week high: $18.20 (Oct. 31, 2006) 52-week low: $2.60 (Dec. 2005) The picture didn't look too bad for a while. From mid-June of this year when the stock hit $6.29, it has been on a pseudo-steady climb up to the $17.50 range. But then the company had to go and release third-quarter results.

In August, the company announced it would investigate "strategic alternatives," including merging or selling the company in order to finance Fenix, a Guatemalan nickel project.

There were no takers.

"The Fenix project represents a world-class asset and one of the most attractive undeveloped nickel projects in the world," says Gordon Bacon, Skye's chairman of the board, in a statement.

It's hard to tell which it was - either the 'Fine, if no one wants it, then we'll do it ourselves' US$1 billion financing announcement, or the $24-million, nine-month loss report, both released on Nov. 14 - that sent the stock tumbling.

Either way, shareholders learned a hard lesson that anyone who enters a candy store these days already knows: A nickel doesn't get you much anymore.

* ACT IV: Kickin' it up a notch BAM Investments Corp. (TSX:BNB) Recent Price: $280 Action: Up $95 or 51 per cent in less than a month (from $185 on Nov. 1, 2006) 52-week high: $296 (Nov. 27, 2006) 52-week low: $102 (Nov. 30, 2005) This stock has had a great month, and has nearly tripled from $102 merely a year ago. The investment company with a principal holding in Brookfield Asset Management released third-quarter results on Nov. 10, which included net income of $2.3 million compared to a loss of $200,000 for the same period in 2005.

Brookfield, the former Brascan, has more than US$50 billion under management, including property, power and infrastructure assets. And if you've been holding this stock in your portfolio since a year ago, you'll be able to buy some sizable assets too.

There's only one word to describe this kind of performance (besides a four-letter one if you've missed out) - and that is the trademark catchphrase of the chef Emeril Lagasse: "BAM!"

* NOTE: The above is not intended as investment advice to buy or sell any mentioned securities. Investors should do due diligence before investing. Quotes are based on results through Nov. 27, 2006.

(Nicole Strandlund can be reached at nicole@businessedge.ca)