Barron's Digest March 4, 2007

According to Barron’s, the bull market is still doing well. Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) has been buying Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Conoco Philips (COP), and US Bancorp (USB). Of the twelve largest companies ranked by market cap, several trade at 12 times earnings or less: ExxonMobil (XOM), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Pfizer (PFE), and American International Group (AIG).

Joseph McNay of Essex Investment Management has a few stocks that he favors now. Schlumberger (SLB), Core Labs (CLB), MEMC (WFR), SunPower (SPWR), FEI (FEIC), Harris & Harris (TINY), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Genentech (DNA), Vertex Pharma (VRTX), Focus Media (FMCN), Synchonoss Tech (SNCR), Riverbed Tech (RVBD), Google (GOOG) and Baidu (BIDU).

Barron’s ranked the top online brokers by factors from trading technology to research. The top web-based brokers were TD Ameritrade, optionsXpress, Fidelity, Muriel Siebert, and TradeKing. At the bottom of the list were Just2Trade and Zecco.

Advance Auto (AAP) is working on improving its financial performance after a tough 2006. High gas prices and interest rates hurt the company’s performance. But, analysts believe the stock could move from $37 to the mid-$40s over the upcoming year.

Clear Channel Communications (CCU) may be facing an uphill battle to get its buy-out approved for $26 billion. Several large investors believe that the offer is too low and may fight the deal.

Avalon Bays (AVB) is one of the best one REITs in the country. But the value of the shares is high compared to competition, and any weakness in the industry could drive them down.

Large mid-aged tech companies can help put stability into investor portfolios. Goldman Sachs like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Cisco (CSCO), and Apple (AAPL).

Douglas A. McIntyre