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

FEATURED PRO: John Ing is president of Maison Placements Canada, an institutional investment dealer based in Toronto. The firm specializes in research of resource companies.

Ing's Perspective: "The energy market has been in an upswing partly because of the geopolitical situation and partly because comments (by investment bank Goldman Sachs) about an oil price spike to $105 (US) gets a lot of people excited. I'm not as excited as some people about that prediction, but I expect the price will stay north of $45 anyway and eventually prices should go higher because demand remains strong.

"Other commodities are also strong. I particularly like zinc right now. Zinc inventories have been coming down every week lately and we haven't seen zinc inventories this low for decades. As far as gold is concerned, the gold price has corrected in line with the recent strength in the (U.S.) dollar. But I think the strength of the dollar is largely due to technical factors such as tax time and the most recent uptick in (U.S.) interest rates. Yet overall, the fundamentals underlying the U.S. dollar continue to get worse with the current account and budget deficits escalating. Because the Americans are printing a lot of money and are depending on foreigners to continue buying the dollar means the dollar is headed down, so I'm still enthusiastic about gold."

First Star

* Sterling Resources (TSX:SLG)

* Recent Price: $2.20.

* 52-Week Range: $0.27-$2.41.

* Snapshot: Sterling is an international oil and gas company with onshore and offshore projects based in the United Kingdom, Romania and France.

* CEO: Robert Welty.

* Head Office: Calgary.

* Vital Stats: Revenue (past 12 mos), $0; Earnings/Loss (last 12 mos), $800,000 Loss; Market Cap, $93.3 million; Shares Outstanding, 42.4 million.

* Ing's View: "Sterling has 11 drilling licences offshore United Kingdom and any one of them are potential high-impact wells. They also have a million and a half acres onshore Romania in very attractive ground and they'll be drilling their first well there soon. Another important factor is that the management is very well seasoned."

* Ing's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.sterling-resources.com

Second Star

* Crystallex International (TSX:KRY)

* Recent Price: $4.86.

* 52-Week Range: $2.28-$5.60.

* Snapshot: Crystallex is a gold mining company operating in Venezuela. The key project is the high-impact Las Cristinas deposit.

* CEO: Todd Bruce.

* Head Office: Vancouver.

* Vital Stats: Revenue (last 12 mos), $24.3 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, -14.6 per cent; Earnings/Loss (last 12 mos), $72.8 million Loss; Market Cap, $922.61 million; Shares Outstanding, 189.8 million.

* Ing's View: "The main focus of Crystallex is the Las Cristinas deposit. This company is in a good position to develop this deposit with $130 million in cash after raising money and they have already completed a feasibility study. They are waiting for one environmental permit and that's expected within the next few months. Once they get this permit, they can begin construction, which will take about a year and a half to build that mine. Then, they will have one of the world's biggest new mines."

* Ing's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.crystallex.com

Third Star

* Breakwater Resources (TSX:BWR)

* Recent Price: .53.

* 52-Week Range: .33-.86.

* Snapshot: Breakwater operates zinc mines in Canada, Honduras, Chile and Tunisia. Zinc accounts for about 82 per cent of the company's revenue. Breakwater also produces copper, gold, silver and lead.

* CEO: Garth MacRae.

* Head Office: Toronto.

* Vital Stats: Current Price/Earnings Ratio, 17.7; Revenue (last 12 mos), $146.5 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, -14.8 per cent; Earnings (last 12 mos), $9.3 million; Market Cap, $192.2 million; Shares Outstanding, 362.7 million.

* Ing's View: "Considering their leverage to zinc prices, the stock is attractively priced. We can conceivably see this company earning 12 cents (per share). This company's going to make an awful lot of money if the zinc price does what we think it's going to do."

* Ing's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.breakwater.ca

Ing's Edge Record (past 12 mos): +27.7 per cent.

Best Pick: True Energy (TSX:TUI) +143.9 per cent. Worst Pick: Kinross Gold (TSX:K) -15.3 per cent.

Disclosure: Maison Placements Canada has participated in financings for all three of the featured stocks. The company also owns shares in Sterling Resources.

NOTE: This feature is provided for information purposes. Investors are advised to do their own research or consult with an investment professional before making investment decisions.