This Week's 'Barron's' Roundup

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

Large-Cap Quality Players: Barron's talks with Steven Gorham and Nevin Chitkara, portfolio managers of the 14-year-old MFS Value Fund (MEIAX). Gorham and Chitkara focus on quality large-cap companies with strong balance sheets and plenty of cash flow that can be returned to shareholders. Among the stocks in their portfolio are Johnson & Johnson(JNJ), Bank of New York Mellon(BK) and Lockheed Martin(LMT).

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Bullish and Bearish: Each week, Barron's publishes bullish and bearish articles on a variety of stocks. We present summaries of those stories in this portfolio. This week, there are bullish articles on Lowe's Companies(LOW), Dr Pepper Snapple Group(DPS) and Garmin(GRMN).

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Well-Respected Stockpicker: Barron's talks with Thyra Zerhusen, a well-respected stockpicker and portfolio manager of the Aston/Optimum Mid Cap Fund (CHTTX). Zerhusen prefers companies with strong balance sheets, earnings resilience, experienced managers and geographic diversification. Among the stocks in her portfolio are Akamai Technologies(AKAM), BorgWarner(BWA) and Varian Medical Systems(VAR).

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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 Applied Materials(AMAT), Medicis(MRX) and Hospitality Properties Trust(HPT).

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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 Scientific Games(SGMS), Coca Cola(KO), AOL(AOL) and Express Scripts(ESRX).

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Research Reports: The latest analyst research highlighted by Barron's, including reports this week on Susquehanna Bancshares(SUSQ), CIT Group(CIT) and The Buckle(BKE).

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Latest Activist Purchases: Which companies are the top hedge funds chasing? This week's list includes names like Natus Medical(BABY), CardioNet(BEAT) and AVI Biopharma(AVII).

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