This Week's 'Barron's' Roundup

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

Top Dog Stock Picks: Barron's shares some top picks from big investors who attended a recent investment conference in Chicago. Among the names mentioned are Apple(AAPL Quote), Core Mark Holding(CORE Quote) and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold(FCX Quote).

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Small-Cap Growth Manager: Barron's talks with Ryan Crane, manager of the $44 million Houston-based Stephens Small Cap Growth Fund (STSGX). Currently, Crane sees opportunity in small-cap growth companies that operate in such areas as business services, health care and manufacturing. Among the stocks in his portfolio are Cybersource(CYBS Quote), VistaPrint(VPRT Quote) and EPIQ Systems(EPIQ 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 Allstate(ALL Quote), Home Depot(HD Quote) and the United States Natural Gas Fund(UNG Quote), plus a bearish piece on Apple(AAPL 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 Simon Property Group(SPG 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' shares. There has been interesting activity in Hewlett Packard(HPQ Quote), Brigham Exploration(BEXP Quote), Oculus Innovative Sciences(OCLS Quote) and Air Transport Services Group(ATSG Quote).

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Latest Activist Purchases: Which companies are the top hedge funds chasing? This week's list includes names like PetSmart(PETM Quote), Terra Industries(TRA Quote) and Visteon(VSTN Quote).

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Research Reports: The latest analyst research reports highlighted by Barron's, including reports this week on Navistar(NAV Quote), American Express(AXP Quote) and MasTec(MTX 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