Taser Loses a Vowel

Yes, Taser (Nasdaq: TASR  ) is now back to trading under its original four-letter ticker symbol. Having spent a brief stint under the symbol TASRE, the company is back in compliance after filing its financials.

What started out as simply a good day for Taser has turned into a great week for the stun-gun maker. On Wednesday, the company's shares climbed 11% higher after a wrongful-death case was dismissed in Texas and the company received a favorable analyst recommendation. Thursday found the stock marching 5% higher after the company made nice with Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ  ) and the Arizona Attorney General's office concluded its inquiry into the consumer side of Taser's website.

The stock is nowhere near where it was when it was trading in the low $30s (split-adjusted) just 14 months ago. It may take months of good news and a profitable financial recovery to get the stock within shooting distance of those highs.

But Taser is doing its part. Over the past two weeks, the company has tried to win back the public -- which it was starting to lose, over the plethora of anti-Taser stories that were creeping up in various newspapers -- by putting out three press releases detailing incidents in which Tasers were used to neutralize hairy law-enforcement situations.

For the time being, Taser remains the worst-performing recommendation in the Rule Breakers newsletter service. Shares are off by nearly 75% since they were singled out. In that same issue, BioSante Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: BPA  ) was picked, too, and it's off by a gulp-worthy 59%.

But if you figure a bad month like that would be enough to stifle the ultimate growth research experience, think again. Two months later, the two picks in the February issue have gone on to more than double. Yes, roughly half of the 32 stocks that have been recommended have produced double-digit percentage gains. The average recommendation -- with Taser and BioSante figured into the mix -- is up by better than 21%.

Yes, Taser lost an E, but it may have gained something even more valuable -- momentum.

Want to learn more about Rule Breakers investing? Kick the tires for a month as part of a free trial subscription.

Fools, now is the time to open your hearts and wallets to worthy causes! Please support our five Foolish charities at www.foolanthropy.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz lives in Miami -- a Taser town. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. T he Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.