As U.S. President George W. Bush described the blackout as a “wake-up call” to upgrade an “antiquated” electrical grid, a sleepy little Calgary utilities play was slowly awakening from its slumber.

And by the end of the first trading day in the aftermath of the massive power outage in northeastern North America, Calgary-based International Utility Structures Inc. (IUS-TSX) had stolen the show. Big time.

On a day when the pickings were thin for traders trying to unearth stocks that would be beneficiaries of increased investment in upgrading an outdated electrical system, IUS, an unsung manufacturer of metal utility structures, was not only the big winner on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but also beat the pants off the best stocks on North America’s three other major exchanges – the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange.

Showing the form of a classic underdog, IUS gapped up to 40 cents at the Friday opening bell, eight cents above its previous day’s close, and surged like Seabiscuit to the wire, closing at 56 cents.

The thinly traded stock, trading 32,500 shares in the previous nine days, traded 157,300 shares on the day on the strength of heavy trading in the stretch run of the final hour before the closing bell.

IUS was up 75 per cent on the day, waxing all comers in North America, including American Stock Exchange contender Corrpro Companies (CO), a provider of corrosion control to the energy industry that spiked 60 per cent to take second place.

For IUS, 75 per cent is a lot of pop, considering it’s a debt-riddled company in a financial restructuring mode. IUS failed to make a scheduled Aug. 1 semi-annual interest payment of $3,750,000 US.

The company has said the issue of the late payment may be resolved by the end of August.

Ironically, the massive power outage may end up being a saving grace for IUS, by thrusting to the forefront the issue of power grid spending in the U.S.

Although IUS markets metal structures for overhead lighting, power line, traffic lights and telecommunications to more than 100 countries, the U.S. is a critical market.

IUS CEO Robert Jack chose to reserve comment the day after the blackout, saying he needed more time to analyse the impact of the power outage.

StreetSignal’s Danny Deadlock, one of few analysts with IUS on the radar, acknowledges that the late payment is a “red flag.”

Yet, Deadlock still hasn’t given up hope for the company’s prospects of a successful financial restructuring.

“With the power crisis, I suspect investment bankers will come knocking on their door now,” said the Hanna-based analyst, whose Edge stock picks, including IUS, have returned a phenomenal 61.5 per cent (see Pro’s 3 Stars for his latest choices).

IUS shares have been in steady decline since peaking at $4.25 four years ago and recently traded down to 25 cents as punters dumped shares on news of the late payment.

“It’s one of the only pure plays (in utility structures) in North America,” said Deadlock.

Of course, in spite of some positive vibes from Bush, IUS still represents considerable risk to shareholders. Stocks that rally on the back of disasters rarely sustain their strength for very long.

And if IUS doesn’t get its financial house in order soon, they’ll be the ones groping in the dark.

* TRUST MANIA: Just over two months ago, Canaccord Capital’s oil and gas trust analyst Bruce McDonald was throwing up a caution flag for investors in the red-hot sector, with a hold on most of the companies he covers.

At the time, McDonald believed the sector was somewhat overheated and that many of the trusts he covers had reached fair value or beyond.

But these runaway steeds can’t seem to be reined in – not even by a resurgence in the overall market or by the dog days of summer that are supposed to dog share prices in the oil and gas sector.

McDonald’s top three picks at that time were Vermilion Energy Trust (VET.UN-TSX), NAL Oil & Gas Trust (NAE.UN-TSX) and Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COS.UN-TSX).

All three trusts have continued to gain ground and two of them, Vermilion and NAL, have already busted through McDonald’s 12-month targets.

Year to date, the majority of oil and gas trusts are up anywhere from 10 per cent to 40 per cent while paying healthy distributions to unitholders, skunking most conventional oil and gas stocks.

* SAGE WORDS: “Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.”

– Thomas Edison



HOT ALBERTA STOCK: INTERNATIONAL UTILITY STRUCTURES
IUS-TSX 56 Cents
Up 23 cents (+69.7 per cent) on 157,300 shares (for week ending Aug. 15).
In the aftermath of the massive power outage in the northeast, investors were scouring the Earth for stocks that could spike on speculation of increased investment in the power grid. The day after the lights went out, unheralded, unloved and thinly traded Calgary company IUS, which manufactures metal utility structures, emerged as the big winner in North America with a single-day surge of 75 per cent.



COLD ALBERTA STOCK: RISE HEALTHWARE
RHS-TSX Venture 7 1/2 Cents
Down .075 (-50 per cent) on 5,500 shares (for week ending Aug. 15).
Call the doc. Stock in the Calgary developer of information systems for the medical profession was surgically halved to hit a 52-week low. The good news was that this isn’t a shareholder revolt, with only 5,500 shares changing hands.