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.

Earnings Options Plays: Barron's "Striking Price" column highlights options strategies for first-quarter earnings. Names mentioned include SanDisk(SNDK Quote), Abercrombie & Fitch(ANF Quote) and Massey Energy(MEE Quote).

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High-Yield Players: Barron's talks with Edward A. Killen and George J. Cipolloni, managers of the Berwyn Income Fund (BERIX). The fund concentrates on investing in high-yielding stocks and bonds. They like plays involving Chattem(CHTT Quote) bonds and Kimberly Clark(KMB Quote) common stock.

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Commodities Bull: Barron's interviews Derek Van Eck, who oversees the $3.3 billion Van Eck Global Hard Assets Fund (GHAAX). Van Eck sees opportunities in the commodity sector due in part to strong demand from countries like China. Among the names he likes are Randgold Resources(GOLD Quote) and Noble Energy(NBL Quote).

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'Speaking of Dividends': This Barron's column highlights the latest dividend increases, initiations and cutbacks. This week there's information on Procter & Gamble(PG Quote) and Seagate Technology(STX Quote).

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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 Principal Financial Group(PFG Quote), Nintendo(NTDOY.PK Quote), and Agrium(AGU Quote).

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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 Best Buy(BBY Quote), Ligand Pharmaceuticals(LGND Quote), Commercial Vehicle Group(CVGI Quote) and PDL Biopharma(PDLI Quote).

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Latest Activist Purchases: Which companies are the top hedge funds chasing? This week's list includes names like Immersion(IMMR Quote), SWS Group(SWS Quote) and Trico Marine Services(TRMA Quote).

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Research Reports: The latest analyst research highlighted by Barron's, including reports this week on Express Scripts(ESRX Quote), Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) and Schlumberger(SLB Quote).

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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