By Nicole Strandlund Business Edge

Act I: Elements of Success

* The player: Inspiration Mining Corp. (TSX:ISM)

* Action: Up 41 per cent, or $1.31 in a week (from $3.20 April 16)

* Recent Price: $4.51

* 52-week high/low: $4.52/0.52 What do Vancouver Island, Ontario and Utah have in common? The interest of the newest mining company on the TSX and its happy shareholders, for starters.

Ontario's Inspiration Mining explores for nickel near Timmins, Ont., for gold-copper in Utah and for polymetallic, volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits on Vancouver Island.

Just in case you're not up on your mining lingo, VMS deposits are like portfolio diversification - they are good protection against fluctuating prices of different metals because they contain myriad elements.

Inspiration Mining, a former member of the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index, made the jump to the TSX on April 16, and since opening for trading has increased 41 per cent.

So whether shareholders remember their periodic tables or not, Zn, Cu, Pb, Ag and Au are making them money. Whoever said Grade 10 chemistry wasn't useful in everyday life?

Act II: Sirius Music

* The player: Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (TSX:XSR)

* Action: One of the week's biggest losers, down 27 per cent, or $1.75 (from $6.50 April 13)

* Recent Price: $4.75

* 52-week high/low: $13.60/4.75 With all the options out there, TV-watching is no simple task. First you have to choose the hardware: Plasma versus LCD or the up-and-coming organic LED (OLED) screens, 4:3 versus 16:9 aspect ratio, and then there's the signal: Digital cable versus satellite, HD or standard definition.

Sometimes it's just easier to listen to music. But oops - not so fast. The world of radio is changing faster than you can groan, "No more choices!" Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings, which operates as XM Canada through a subsidiary, offers satellite radio on 100 channels with programming that includes news, talk, kids' stuff, music and, of course, hockey. Next season, the company will offer more than 1,000 NHL games - and just in case you're travelling when a game is on, XM Satellite Radio is piped into Air Canada flights and will be a standard feature in all 2008 Infiniti vehicles.

But as XM's shareholders are painfully aware, XM isn't the only satellite radio provider, and soon consumers will face another option: HD radio. (Wal-Mart, Best Buy and others are beginning to carry HD radio products.)

So turn up the music - the fun has just begun. And you thought choosing a TV was tough.

Act III: Fuel for Thought

* The player: Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT)

* Action: Up 29 per cent or $0.45 in a week (from $1.53 April 17)

* Recent Price: $1.98

* 52-week high/low: $1.98/0.90 Although the proliferation of fuel-guzzling mega-vehicles on the roads may indicate otherwise, drivers do care about the environment - at least in some corners of the world.

Cummins Westport Inc., a joint venture of Canada's Westport Innovations and the American Cummins Inc., announced this month that Delhi Transport Corp. has ordered 500 buses equipped with the Cummins Westport clean-burning compressed natural gas engine.

The market responded positively to the news for Westport, which develops technologies allowing engines to operate on cleaner fuels. Cummins designs, manufactures and distributes such engines.

Cummins' stock (NYSE: CMI) climbed from US$75.19 to US$85.55 in the same period.

Act IV: A Tiny Reprieve

* The player: Westaim Corp. (TSX:WED)

* Action: Down 86 per cent or $5.78 in a year

* Recent Price: $0.95

* 52-week high/low: $6.73/0.85 "Strategic review" might be an overused buzz-phrase, but in Westaim's case, it might be exactly what shareholders ordered.

The Calgary-based investment company's stock, which has been tanking steadily in the last year, enjoyed a slight lift on the news that Westaim is undertaking a strategic review of its business plan.

The company says the share price doesn't reflect the value of its investments in iFire Technology, a flat-screen TV technology developer, and Nucryst Pharmaceuticals.

Shareholders seem pleased Westaim is going to do something about it.

After the announcement, Westaim shares traded as high as $1.13, the highest they've been since early March. Nucryst shares (TSX:NCS), which have fallen from $13 a year ago, closed slightly up at $3.83.

(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 April 24, 2007.)

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