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.

Profiting With Heartland Values: Barron's interviews Brad Evans, lead manager of Heartland Value Plus (HRVIX). The fund is up 9.5% for the first half of 2008 and has five-star ratings from Morningstar. Among the stocks he favors are Cimarex Energy (XEC) and Asset Acceptance Capital (AACC).

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Halftime Show: Barron's gives itself a report card on its picks and pans for the first half of 2008. Barron's made correct calls on Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Dynegy (DYN) and a wrong one on American International Group (AIG).

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Speaking of Dividends: This column highlights the latest dividend increases, initiations and cutbacks. This week there's information on Cummins (CMI) and Walgreen Company (WAG).

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Bullish and Bearish: Each week, Barron's publishes bullish and bearish stories on a variety of stocks. We present summaries of those stories in this portfolio. This week there are bullish stories on Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ), Diageo (DEO) and Qualcomm (QCOM).

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Latest Activist Purchases: Which companies are the top hedge funds chasing? This week's list includes names like Third Wave Technologies (TWTI), Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) and Barrier Therapeutics (BTRX).

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Research Reports: The latest analyst research highlighted by Barron's, including reports this week on Zions Bancorp. (ZION), Deckers Outdoor (DECK) and AutoZone (AZO).

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Top Insider Purchases of the Week: Insider purchases are a lot more predictive than insider selling. Barron's lists companies where managers are buying stock, and we build a portfolio with those companies' stocks. There has been interesting activity in Copart (CPRT), Hovnanian (HOV), Isle of Capri Casinos (ISLE) and GeoResources (GEOI).

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1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting

At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no holdings of stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.

James Altucher is president of Stockpickr LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He is also a weekly columnist for the Financial Times and the author of Trade Like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett and SuperCa$h. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.

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