By Nicole Strandlund Business Edge

Act I: A good read

* The player: Indigo Books & Music (TSX:IDG)

* Action: Up nine per cent in a month (from $16 May 18)

* Recent Price: $17.39

* 52-week high/low: $17.88/13.89 Sometimes the most entertaining read is the stock quotes page - at least, if you're an Indigo Books & Music shareholder. Thanks to a positive earnings release on May 22, the stock finally jumped out of the $15-range rut it had been stuck in for six months.

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, Indigo, which operates Indigo Books Music & more, Chapters, The World's Biggest Bookstore, Coles and chapters.indigo.ca, reported net earnings up 18.4 per cent over the prior year (from $25.3 million to $30 million) and revenue up three per cent to $875 million from $851.8 the year before.

For the fourth quarter, revenue was $201.9 million, up 6.2 per cent from the prior year. The net loss was $4.2 million, less than the $7.4-million loss a year ago.

Partial credit for the revenue success goes to a decrease in publisher prices reflecting a stronger Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar.

But just wait, shareholders. That story may be good, but the sequel might be even better. Fiscal 2008 is a Harry Potter year.

Act II: 'Netting Arab Viewers

* The player: JumpTV Inc. (TSX:JTV)

* Action: Down 49 per cent or $4.84 in five months (from the $9.89 high Jan. 29)

* Recent Price: $5.05

* 52-week high/low: $9.89/5.01 JumpTV, the Toronto-based ethnic Internet TV provider, has just signed an agreement with Arab Telemedia Services of Jordan to offer 24-hour Arabic-language programming on a video-on-demand basis. (And you thought the day would never come.)

The deal adds television series such as Hajjaj and Scheherazade to Jump's content, which currently offers more than 290 channels from 75 countries to its global viewers.

Never heard of the popular Road to Kabul? You're not alone.

Maybe Farsi or Arabic speakers with computers, TV sets with Internet capability, IP set-top boxes and cellphones with browser access are excited, but the western market doesn't seem impressed. The stock has lost around half of the value it had in February and recently hit a new 52-week low.

Act III: All's well that ends well

* The player: Axcan Pharma Inc. (TSX:AXP)

* Action: Up 52 per cent in a year (from $13.01 June 26, 2006)

* Recent Price: $19.84

* 52-week high/low: $20.33/13.01 If you're male and older than 40, the sound of a snapping glove may induce cold sweats and a racing heartbeat. But if you're an Axcan Pharma shareholder, a proctologist may be your best friend.

The latest product for the Quebec-based pharmaceutical company, whose stock has been climbing for the last year, is a high-concentration suppository heading to Phase III clinical trials.

The bonus? It treats ulcerative proctitis - one of the most common inflammatory bowel diseases. (One source reports an estimated one million cases of inflammatory bowel disease in the U.S. and 400,000 new cases every year.)

The bigger bonus? It's 25 per cent smaller than the company's suppository currently on the market - and as you can probably imagine, size matters.

Act IV: Profit who?

* The player: Rentcash Inc. (TSX:RCS)

* Action: Down 45 per cent year to date (from $7.88 Jan. 2)

* Recent Price: $4.35

* 52-week high/low: $9.75/4.02 Sometimes it seems the market could care less about awards.

Rentcash, the Edmonton-based payday advance broker, was recently ranked first by Profit Magazine in the 19th annual Profit 100 ranking of Canada's Fastest Growing Companies.

The company earned that honour by reporting five-year revenue growth of 33,700 per cent. (2001 revenue was $456,000 and 2006 revenue was $154 million.)

The second-place finisher, Digital Oilfield Inc., posted a mere 8,757-per-cent gain.

You would think investors would be happy with that announcement for Rentcash, which operates 423 retail outlets as The Cash Store, Instaloans and Insta-rent.

But the stock chart paints quite the opposite picture. RCS stock is one of the TSX's biggest year-to-date losers, down 45 per cent, or $3.53, from its $7.88 close on Jan. 2, 2007, and down 55 per cent from its $9.75 high on Oct. 30, 2006.

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 June 19, 2007.

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