This Week's Barron's Roundup

Editor's note: Welcome to Stockpickr's "Barron's Roundup." Each weekend, James Altucher presents Stockpickr portfolios related to articles in the latest issue of Barron's.

Barron’s 400 Reshuffling: Barron's has made some changes to its index, adding Wachovia(WB Quote) and dropping Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote).

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Speaking of Dividends: This Barron's column highlights the latest dividend increases, initiations and cutbacks. This week, it also lists Bear Stearns' picks of high dividend-paying stocks. Among the names are Newcastle(NCT Quote) and Gatehouse Media(GHS Quote).

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Top Insider Purchases of the Week: Insider purchases are a lot more predictive than insider selling. Barron’s lists stocks where management is buying, and we build a portfolio with them. There has been interesting activity in Smithfield Foods(SFD Quote), Valence Technology(VLNC Quote) and Lions Gate Entertainment(LGF Quote).

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Striking Price China Plays: Larry McMillan, a principal with McMillan Analysis Corp., offered up some beaten-down Chinese stocks that could present opportunities. The names included China BAK Battery(CBAK Quote) and Kongzhong(KONG Quote).

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Barron's Summaries: Each week, Barron's has bullish and bearish stories on a variety of stocks. We present summaries of those stories in this portfolio. This week's issue has bullish stories on AMR(AMR Quote) and EchoStar(DISH Quote).

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Research Reports: Barron's rounds up interesting analyst research reports. This week there were reports on Target(TGT Quote), Lennar(LEN Quote) and Rockwell Collins(COL Quote).

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Latest Activist Hedge Fund Purchases: Which companies are the top hedge funds chasing? This week's list includes names like BEA Systems(BEAS Quote) and Furniture Brands(FBN Quote).

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John Hathaway Gold Stock Picks: This week Barron's interviews John Hathaway, manager of (TGLDX Quote)Tocqueville Gold Fund. He likes Newmont Mining(NEM Quote) and Ivanhoe Mines(IVAN Quote).