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.

Insurance Buys

: This

Barron's

article says that shares of property-and-casualty insurers are cheap, given their strong balance sheets and solid earnings. Among the stocks mentioned are

American International Group

(AIG) - Get Report

,

Chubb

(CB) - Get Report

and

Travelers

(TRV) - Get Report

.

Solar Energy Bear

:

Barron's

talks with Gordon L. Johnson II, a solar-energy analyst at Israeli-based Hapoalim Securities. Johnson thinks a supply glut will put selling pressure on the solar stocks. Among the stocks mentioned are

First Solar

(FSLR) - Get Report

,

Trina Solar

(TSL)

and

Suntech Power

(STP)

.

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 bearish stories on

SAP

(SAP) - Get Report

and

OptionsXpress

( OXPS), plus a bullish piece on

Microsoft

(MSFT) - Get Report

.

'Speaking of Dividends'

: This

Barron's

column highlights the latest dividend increases, initiations and cutbacks. This week there's information on

McDonald's

(MCD) - Get Report

and

Buckle

(BKE) - Get Report

.

Latest Activist Purchases

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

Viacom

(VIA) - Get Report

,

Immersion

(IMMR) - Get Report

and

Atlas Air Worldwide

(AAWW) - Get Report

.

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

Sears Holdings

(SHLD)

,

Quality Systems

(QSII)

,

Cousins Properties

(CUZ) - Get Report

and

Synovus Financial

(SNV) - Get Report

.

Research Reports

: The latest analyst research highlighted by

Barron's

, including reports this week on

Chesapeake Energy

(CHK) - Get Report

,

Principal Financial Group

(PFG) - Get Report

and

Millicom International Cellular

( MICC).

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