This Week's Barron's Roundup

<I>Barron's</I> tweaks its 400 index, and fund manager John Hathaway goes for the gold.
By James Altucher ,

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.

Barron¿s 400 Reshuffling

:

Barron's

has made some changes to its index, adding

Wachovia

(WB) - Get Report

and dropping

Exxon Mobil

(XOM) - Get Report

.

Speaking of Dividends

: This

Barron's

column highlights the latest dividend increases, initiations and cutbacks. This week, it also lists Bear Stearns' picks of high dividend-paying stocks. Among the names are

Newcastle

(NCT)

and

Gatehouse Media

(GHS)

.

Top Insider Purchases of the Week

: Insider purchases are a lot more predictive than insider selling.

Barron¿s

lists stocks where management is buying, and we build a portfolio with them. There has been interesting activity in

Smithfield Foods

(SFD)

,

Valence Technology

(VLNC)

and

Lions Gate Entertainment

(LGF)

.

Striking Price China Plays

: Larry McMillan, a principal with McMillan Analysis Corp., offered up some beaten-down Chinese stocks that could present opportunities. The names included

China BAK Battery

(CBAK)

and

Kongzhong

(KONG)

.

Barron's Summaries

: Each week,

Barron's

has bullish and bearish stories on a variety of stocks. We present summaries of those stories in this portfolio. This week's issue has bullish stories on

AMR

(AMR)

and

EchoStar

(DISH) - Get Report

.

Research Reports

:

Barron's

rounds up interesting analyst research reports. This week there were reports on

Target

(TGT) - Get Report

,

Lennar

(LEN) - Get Report

and

Rockwell Collins

(COL)

.

Latest Activist Hedge Fund Purchases

: Which companies are the top hedge funds chasing? This week's list includes names like

BEA Systems

(BEAS)

and

Furniture Brands

(FBN)

.

John Hathaway Gold Stock Picks

: This week

Barron's

interviews John Hathaway, manager of

(TGLDX) - Get Report

Tocqueville Gold Fund. He likes

Newmont Mining

(NEM) - Get Report

and

Ivanhoe Mines

(IVAN)

.

At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no holdings in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.

James Altucher is president of Stockpickr LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He is also a weekly columnist for

The Financial Times

and the author of

Trade Like a Hedge Fund

,

Trade Like Warren Buffett

and

SuperCa$h

. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback;

click here

to send him an email.

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