Barron's Summary: Positive on CHL, GS, SVU, BCO; Cautious on WFM, TWTR
- Cover story: Barrons ETF Roundtable; Jared Kizer of BAM Alliance, Fran Rodilosso of Van Eck, Luciano Siracusano of WisdomTree, Chris Brightman of Research Affiliates, and Maz Jadallah of AlphaClone discuss new approaches to ETF investing including smart beta, an umbrella term for index investing designed to beat the market rather than simply match it.
- Tech Trader: Cautious on Alibaba: Tiernan Ray says Chinese e-commerce sites IPO prospectus, which did not come with updated financials, raises many questions, including those concerning loans to media companies owned by chairman Jack Ma and how subject to the whims of Chinese regulators company will be, in addition to concerns about its partnership structure.
- Trader: Now that the market is into its fifth month of 2014, its safe to conclude it probably wont be like last year; Positive on GS: Those willing to think about the long term may be rewarded by investing in Goldman Sachs despite its equity and fixed-income businesses, since demand for underwriting, trading, and custodial services is likely to keep growing; Positive on SVU: Company is in a better position to compete in food wholesaling, and has begun to reverse the issues that led to losses amid a focus on returning to sustainable and healthy profits.
- Features: 1) Positive on CHL: Companys mobile growth could rebound as it rolls out its high-speed network, prompting increased, lucrative smartphone use, and could see upside after Alibabas IPO, given the e-commerce sites reliance on it; 2) Special Report: Picks from those who attended the Sohn conference, including William Ackman (FNMA), David Einhorn (short ATHN), Mariko Gordon (EFII, FUL, PCRX), Jim Grant (Gazprom), Michael Guichon (Fiat), Jeffrey Gundlach (short XHB), Phillippe Laffont (LBTYA), Michael Novogratz (Brazilian stocks), Larry Robbins (HUM, WLP, MON), Zach Schreiber (VLO, MPC; short WTI), Chris Shumway (MCO); 3) Positive on FLS: Shares of leading player in fluid-control products and services have rallied and could continue to rise as demand grows in the multiple markets it serves.
- Small Caps: Positive on BCO: Recent selloff looks like a buying opportunity for company that retains substantial franchise value in a fragmented industry; Positive on BGFV: Sporting goods retailer is expanding its merchandise lineup by adding higher-margin name-brand goods as it seeks to return to pre-recession operating margins. - Follow-Up: Cautious on WFM: Shares have fallen on slowing growth, but P/E multiple belongs to a time when retailer saw 15-20% annual profit increases; any future stock rise will come from earnings and not multiple expansion, but growing competition will make that difficult; Cautious on TWTR: While its tough to justify Twitters stock price based on its financial outlook, some deep-pocketed tech and Internet giants could see franchise value in the stock, and shares may have found a floor; Positive on BEAV: Company is a good way to play the rise in aerospace and defense M&A.
- Mutual Funds: Interview with George Evans, Portfolio Manager, Oppenheimer International Growth (top ten holdings: BT, SAP, Roche Holding, Aalberts Ind, SYT, Aryzta, UL, Inditex, Intertek Group, Weir Group); Interview with Marty and Ari Sass, Chairman and CEO & Senior VP of M.D. Sass (top picks: MCK, ACT, SBGI, NXST, CBS, SLB, CBI, CAM).
- European Trader: European large-cap stocks could begin to shine again with some help from the ECB (Positive on ING, Deutsche Post).
- Asian Trader: With demand for deep-sea oil and gas exploration rising, two of the best plays in offshore drilling are Singapore shipyards (Positive on Keppel, SembCorp Marine).
- Emerging Markets: San Diego-based Brandes Investment Partners, with a value-oriented and sharply contrarian approach, likes Russia and Brazil despite problems in those countries (Positive on Gazprom, PBR).
- Commodities: Prices for commodities from sugar to nickel to palm oil are poised to rise as investors prepare for the possibility of more extreme weather this year.
- Streetwise: Though offshore drillers such as NE and RIG have been hammered this year, Dallas-based refiner HFC looks interesting despite recent disappointments because production in Permian Basin is booming and company has $1B on its balance sheet to keep paying dividends