Ask me about speculation, and I'll probably mention the quick 24.7% gain we got speculating on Silicon Laboratories, Inc. (SLAB)... a little semiconductor company that I recommended a month ago, on March 27th... SLAB just reported a fabulous 9 cent earnings beat on Wednesday, delivering a 22 cent earnings per share, versus the 13 cents the Street was expecting... I say that's better than a sharp integrated circuit to the eye...

Then again, I might tell you about Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL)... Remember SPIL, which beat the Street's consensus earnings by a penny, and issued guidance that wowed the analysts when it reported earnings the same day?... I recommended speculating in SPIL on April 6th. It's up over 18% since then.

What's so terrible or irresponsible about making some money quickly in these small, but admittedly risky, stocks?...

You got a 6% gain in Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (ALTH), and a 4.4% gain in Axsys Technologies, Inc. (AXYS) ... two more Speculation Friday picks that I endorsed in February...

But, because of accountability... we also had a monster 48.6% loss in GMX Resources Inc. (GMXR)... But, you know, that's how speculation is supposed to work... These are high-risk stocks and, when you speculate with a handful of them, you usually end up with a big loser, some that do nothing, a couple that go somewhat higher, and a big winner, and that puts you well into the black, which you should be if you did these...

Now, unlike all the killjoys out there, I think speculation is essential... Keeping up with all of your stocks and doing your homework can get boring, so we like to find small, exciting speculative stocks to keep you interested...

Now, I only give you these on Fridays typically... Next week, I might break it because I've got some really good ideas coming... But, I like to do it on Fridays typically, because the weekend is kind of like a Taft-Hartley cooling off period, where you can't buy them until you do some research, hopefully the next morning... I need, hopefully, to induce you... some of you at least... to think about doing homework before you pull the trigger...

Tonight, I've got one that's a little out of the ordinary... it's not a tech name...

It's called Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. (SMG)...

This is the world's largest supplier and marketer of consumer products for do-it-yourself lawn and garden care...

Okay, it's not exactly as those little tech stocks, but it could turn out doing as well as SLAB...

Right now, I think SMG is selling at an absurd discount to where it should be, at a price that you shouldn't be able to get it at...

On Tuesday, the company reported its fiscal 2nd quarter. It beat the Street's earnings consensus estimate by a penny. North American consumer sales were up 10%, with point-of-sale transactions at U.S. retailers up 18%. We don't have a lot of double-digit growers in retail...

But, because SMG only guided its 2009 earnings forecast to the upper half of its previous range, rather than raising guidance altogether, the stock got hammered... SMG's now down 12.5% from where it reported...

That's ridiculous...

If the people selling the stock had only done a little more homework, listened to the bullish conference call, where management said, "since we have so much of the season in front of us, I don't to get carried away. However, the trend is really encouraging..." Who would sell after listening to that on the call?...

Hey, let me tell you what else I find encouraging...

The fact that SMG's weakest link, its global professional business... that sells to commercial nurseries, greenhouses, specialty crop growers, rather than ordinary customers... that should improve in the second half, after seeing sales fall by 25% in the last quarter. That was bad...

Also, currency translation took out a 5-cent bite... Not good either... And it was the first half of the fiscal year, courtesy of the strong greenback... but, as we keep rolling dollars off the printing presses, I think our currency will eventually grow weaker, and that will give SMG's earnings a boost.

This is a company with plenty to look forward to...

28% of its sales come from Home Depot (HD*), which I own for my charitable trust, ActionAlertsPlus.com... 18% from Lowe's (LOW)... and you just know sales at both of these chains will really pick up once we reach my housing bottom call on June 30th...

SMG has also put a lid on commodity costs... 40% of the company's cost of goods sold is subject to variations in commodity prices... the urea, corn, diesel, resins... but now, over 85% of their commodity needs are locked in at low prices...

Plus, more and more people are gardening in this country... growing their own fruits, vegetables, berries and herbs... 43 million households are planning on doing that in 2009... That's up 19%... Yeah, 19%... from last year...

SMG is where they'll get their supplies... and who knows... this could turn out to be a long-term trend.

The stock's only at 14x earnings, even though I just gave you that double-digit growth... I think it makes sense as a speculative play, now that commodity (price) inflation is no longer an issue, and more people are gardening...

I also... remember, there's a big Lowe's ad that's running, which basically says, you've got to go buy this stuff...

The bottom line...