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 - Cramer on VIP - Stock Picks), Suncor(SU Quote - Cramer on SU - Stock Picks) and Wimm-Bill-Dann(WBD Quote - Cramer on WBD - Stock Picks).

---

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 - Cramer on AMLN - Stock Picks) and Onyx Pharmaceuticals(ONXX Quote - Cramer on ONXX - Stock Picks).

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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 - Cramer on AIG - Stock Picks), Hologic(HOLX Quote - Cramer on HOLX - Stock Picks), Sinclair Broadcast(SBGI Quote - Cramer on SBGI - Stock Picks) and NewMarket(NEU Quote - Cramer on NEU - Stock Picks).

---

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