(Business Edge columnist Gyle Konotopetz regularly profiles the top stock picks of some of Canada's most accomplished investment pros.)

FEATURED PRO: Irwin Michael is president of I.A. Michael Investment Counsel and portfolio manager of the ABC Funds (www.abcfunds.com). He has managed the ABC series of funds since 1988.

Fund Form: The ABC Fundamental Value Fund, one of a series of four funds, has a five-year compound annualized return of 18.5 per cent compared to the group average of 4.9 per cent.

Management Expense Ratio: Two per cent.

Michael's Perspective: "There are still a lot of positive factors out there for the market such as historically low interest rates and corporate profits that are basically good. When we look at the Canadian and U.S. markets, we think that the U.S. market looks relatively cheap because we think a lot of the negatives have already been priced into the market. For instance, there aren't too many insurance companies in Canada that we'd like to buy. In the States, as I speak, I'm buying three insurance companies.

"In terms of the energy market, can the oil price go substantially higher? It probably could. We think that a floor for the oil price would be about $50 US a barrel and we suspect there will be

continued volatility in the oil price. We're sticking with our big names, which include Talisman Energy (TSX:TLM) and Nexen (TSX:NXY) and we've been quietly buying up undervalued smaller oil and gas companies that are trading below net asset value. It's like you're trying to pick a needle from a haystack, but they do come across."

First Star

* Canam Group (TSX:CAM.SV.A)

* Recent Price: $6.75.

* 52-Week Range: $4.21-$7.60.

* Snapshot: Canam manufactures and sells construction products, primarily steel products and components, for the multi-residential, commercial, industrial and institutional building industries.

* CEO: Marcel Dutil.

* Head Office: Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, Que.

* Vital Stats: Current Price/Earnings Ratio, 51.9; Revenue (last 12 mos), $693.4 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, -9 per cent; Earnings (last 12 mos), $3.9 million; Market Cap, $265.37 million; Shares Outstanding, 39.3 million.

* Michael's View: "Marcel Dutil's son (Marc Dutil) has come in recently as president and chief operating officer, and they've restructured the company. We like what they're doing. We see significant profit growth and a turnaround. They're no longer a pure commodity steel producer and they no longer track the price of steel. To make a long story short, we like the company. They lost money in 2004 entirely due to restructuring. So having turned things around, they've now earned 29 cents per share in the first half of this year compared to a loss of 75 cents per share in the first six months of '04. We think the company could earn at least $1 per share at the peak of its earnings cycle. We bought as much as we could at $5.75 when they offered a secondary (share) issue in March and we've subsequently added to our position. We think they're well positioned for the future."

* Web Watch: www.canammanac.com

Second Star

* Royal Host Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:RYL.UN)

* Recent Price: $5.99.

* 52-Week Range: $4.57-$6.

* Snapshot: Royal Host is involved in the hotel industry with a network that encompasses 20,000 guest rooms in the mid-market to upscale segments. The company owns 39 hotels, manages 146 properties and franchises 118 locations. It owns the master franchise rights to Travelodge Canada.

* CEO: Greg Royer.

* Head Office: Calgary.

* Vital Stats: Revenue (last 12 mos), $142.5 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, one per cent; Earnings/Loss (last 12 mos), $800,000 Loss; Market Cap, $148.82 million; Shares Outstanding, 24.8 million; Monthly Distribution, 3.5 cents per unit; Dividend Yield, six per cent.

* Michael's View: "A new group that includes George Armoyan has become involved in the company and this group is basically the catalyst to get this company back on track. The company went public in 1998 at $10 and it subsequently went to about $5 as it went off track. They've also been hurt by the SARS outbreak in Toronto, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a slowdown in travel. They've cut their monthly distribution from eight cents (per unit) to two cents and obviously the stock got pummelled (the monthly distribution has since been raised to 3.5 cents per unit). We started looking at this company at around $5 because we reckoned it had a net asset value of at least $6.50 and that was without the catalyst of George Armoyan coming in (as a member of the board of trustees). The bottom line is that we think the company has the ability to raise their distributions further and we believe the revenue-per-room rates have bottomed for the cycle. They also have excess land around their hotels so you've got a hidden asset there."

* Web Watch: www.royalhost.com

Third Star

* Handleman Co.

(NYSE:HDL)

* Recent Price: $14.18 US.

* 52-Week Range: $12-$23.84.

* Snapshot: Handleman is a category manager and distributor of prerecorded music to mass merchandisers in Canada, U.S., United Kingdom, Brazil and Argentina.

* CEO: Stephen Strome.

* Head Office: Troy, Mich.

* Vital Stats (U.S. dollars): Current Price/Earnings Ratio, 9.4; Revenue (last 12 mos), $1.3 billion; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, 1.7 per cent; Earnings (last 12 mos), $34.2 million; 5-Yr Earnings Growth, 0.9 per cent; Market Cap, $304.1 million; Shares Outstanding, 21.4 million; Dividend Yield, 2.3 per cent.

* Michael's View: "We recently bought shares in this company. We like it because it is a creeping privatization (candidate) as it continues to buy back stock, it is debt free and it has free cashflow. The company just had a tough quarter in which it surprised people with a loss of 17 cents per share due to some problems with some products. That resulted in the stock getting pummelled because people were expecting a profit of two cents per share. Wal-Mart has decided to close 25 of their stores to Handleman and people were worried that the Wal-Mart account was in jeopardy. We believe it is not. We estimate the company's book value at the end of the year will be $15 and we think it's fundamentally very cheap. They also pay a nice dividend."

* Web Watch: www.handleman.com

Disclosure: Michael is the largest individual unit holder of the ABC Funds. He does not own the individual stocks.

(This feature is provided for information purposes. Investors are advised to do their own research or consult a qualified investment professional before making investment decisions.)