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.

Cheap Russian Stocks: Barron's believes the conflict between Georgia and Russia is driving Russian stocks down to interesting levels, although there are risks in investing in such a volatile region. Barron's advises investors interested in Russia to consider stocks like VimpelCom(VIP Quote), Suncor(SU Quote) and Wimm-Bill-Dann(WBD Quote).

---

Biotech Buyouts: Barron's thinks a wave of consolidation is coming for the biotech sector, as Big Pharma looks to boost its pipeline. Potential takeover candidates include Amylin Pharmaceuticals(AMLN Quote) and Onyx Pharmaceuticals(ONXX Quote).

---

Billionaire Fund Manager: Barron's interiews Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott, CEO of Sprott Asset Management. He likes James River Coal(JRCC Quote) and Cal-Maine Foods(CALM Quote).

---

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 Broadcom(BRCM Quote), R.H. Donnelley(RHD Quote), and a bearish piece on Fannie Mae(FNM Quote) and Freddie Mac(FRE Quote).

---

Latest Activist Purchases: Which companies are the top hedge funds chasing? This week's list includes names like Cleveland Cliffs(CLF Quote), Biogen Idec(BIIB Quote) and Answers(ANSW Quote).

---

Research Reports: The latest analyst research highlighted by Barron's, including reports on InterDigital(IDCC Quote), Vale(RIO Quote) and Children's Place(PLCE Quote).

---

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 AIG(AIG Quote), Hologic(HOLX Quote), Sinclair Broadcast(SBGI Quote) and NewMarket(NEU Quote).

---

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