Johnny Depp as Financial Guru? Who knew?

A stock that strikes gold after news of a buyout bid? Unusual.

A stock that strikes gold after literally striking gold? Unusually lucrative.

Odyssey Marine Exploration was the stock market equivalent of the guy scanning the beach with a metal detector. Now its stock is up over 50 percent after the company pulled an estimated $500 million worth of Colonial era silver and gold coins out of a sunken cargo ship.

Odyssey, which trades on AMEX under the symbol OMR, is the only publicly traded company in the business of diving for buried treasure. Its 17-ton haul announced on Friday was recovered from a 400-year-old ship that had sunk 40 miles southwest of England.

No, it's not just "finders-keepers" when it comes to shipwrecks. A British judge signed an order granting Odyssey exclusive rights to the site last month.

The company also made millions in 2003 with coins salvaged from a wreck off the coast of Georgia. The intervening years were rocky as Odyssey poured cash into state of the art gadgets but found no booty to bankroll the costs.

At this point Odyssey has two major finds under its belt, which makes investment look less risky (at least relatively speaking). Maybe now is the time to consider playing pirate.

by Liz Gunnison