Investing in Water: Flying Over Lake Meade

By Ann Sosnowski & Bryan Bottarelli

Plus... Tech Stock Investing: Taser Exhibits Its Comeback Stock Status

Diligent Investor
I’ve pounded the pavement for almost a year now, exclaiming that Taser is the comeback stock of the year. Already since the beginning of 2007, TASR stock has moved from $7.95 per share to $13.77, nearly double.

Trading Tactics
Over the last 12 months, this collection of water companies has gained 30%, out-performing the Dow’s one-year gain of 21% and the Nasdaq’s one-year gain of 20% by a strong margin.

This week has been flush with increasingly good news for Taser International Inc. (TASR:NASDAQ). In only two days, the company has released news of two new taser orders, a strategic partnership, and a date for the release of its C2 model, which was unveiled at this past January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in California ordered 1,420 Taser X26 non-lethal weapons this week. The order will ship both in the second and third quarter of this year.

Taser X26 non-lethal weapons retail for $799.95 per piece, so this order totals about $1.14 million without X26 accessories, like TaserCams.

Not only did it receive an order from law enforcement, but it also received a military order for the Taser X26. The United States military’s major distributor Aardvark Tactical Inc. (no specific branch was specified) ordered 2,400 Taser X26 weapons, a total of $1.92 million according to the retail price of the weapons.

These should also be shipped out during the current and third quarter. Additionally, there are hopes for a follow-on order of up to $22.8 million worth of Taser equipment!

I’ve pounded the pavement for almost a year now, exclaiming that Taser is the comeback stock of the year. Already since the beginning of 2007, TASR stock has moved from $7.95 per share to $13.77, nearly double. Current Diligent Investor MicroCap Hot Sheet subscribers are seeing gains of 70.90% on TASR currently, one of the biggest gains in the open portfolio that’s up a total of 239%.

Also in the news yesterday, and maybe some of the most exciting to date, is the strategic partnership between TASR and iRobot (IRBT:NASDAQ) the company that’s ridden high on its Scooba and Roomba robots for housecleaning.

IRBT also has a PackBot Explorer that is used for military purposes. The deal between IRBT and TASR is to attach a X26 to the PackBot Explorer to incapacitate and control dangerous suspects from afar. This new taser robot can be used not only for military purposes, but also for border control, and hot-spot areas around American cities. (Yes, I live in Baltimore, and yes, I would support taser-like weapons posted on every hot-spot street corner, instead of the blue panic lights that ruin the skyline.)

This is, however, only the first of many projects that the two emerging technology companies plan to collaborate on.

Not only is TASR up on the collaboration news, but iRobot, which has been stuck in a long-term falling trend under its 200-day Moving Average practically since its IPO in November 2005, is finally back above its 200-day Moving Average.

If you are at all interested in investing in the company, now would be the time.

And finally, the C2 Taser, which has been created for civilian use and was unveiled at the CES in Vegas this past January, finally has a release date. TASR has announced that the C2 will be available on July 23. It had previously indicated that it would retail for $299 per unit. Incidentally enough, the release of the C2 coincides with Taser executives ringing the Nasdaq bell at the open of trading that day.

Of course I’m still bullish on Taser International Inc. (TASR:NASDAQ) and of course we’re still holding! The company is well on its way to being at least a $30 stock in the next year.

While traveling to Las Vegas recently, I was shocked to look out of the airplane window to see the water levels of Lake Meade at such low levels. This picture of Lake Meade is a good example of what I’m talking about.

The calcium deposits in the water leaves the white marks, showing you just how much the lake levels have dropped. And if the drought continues to pinch water supplies, you could see increased investor activity in the water sector.

In fact, the PowerShares Water Resources (PHO:AMEX) just reached a new 52-week high this week, and this could prove to be a strong entry point for this basket of eater companies. The PHO is a basket of water companies that seeks returns that correspond to an equity index called the Palisades Water index. The top holdings of this index include names like:

ITRON (ITRI:NASDAQ)
TETRA TECH (TTEK:NASDAQ)
VALMONT (VMI:NYSE)
WATTS WATER (WTS:NYSE)

Over the last 12 months, this collection of water companies has gained 30%, out-performing the Dow’s one-year gain of 21% and the Nasdaq’s one-year gain of 20% by a strong margin. If you’re looking for a safe, simple, and winning investment going into the peak summer months, I’d strongly recommend adding the PowerShares Water Resources (PHO:AMEX) to your investment ledger.