Barron's Portfolio Is #Winning

Barron's, the weekly investor newsletter with a cult-like following, this weekend published the performance for its top picks for the first half of the year. To put it simply, Barron's is simply #winning, Charlie Sheen style.

Beating the Benchmark

Portfolio managers know that performance is all about beating the benchmark. For the first half of 2013, Barron's bullish portfolio has gained 7.4 percent vs. the 3.0 percent gain for its benchmark and 2.7 percent gain for the S&P 500. For its bullish picks from 2009, the portfolio is up 23.3 percent from inception, besting the benchmark's gain of 18.1 percent and the S&P 500 at 16.1 percent.

Barron's constructs portfolios out of stocks that it writes about, both bullish and bearish. In the first half of 2013, Barron's made 67 bullish calls on stocks and six bearish calls, most notably of TeslaMotors TSLA.

Related: The Fortune Global 500 Shows China's Economic Growth And Apple's Momentum.

Barron's 2013 bearish picks were down a whopping 21.2 percent in the first half of 2013, beating its benchmark which rose 2.3 percent. However, its 2012 bearish picks rose 23.4 percent vs. the benchmark gain of 19.8 percent, meaning that only these picks underperformed.

Bullish Stock Picks

The bullish portfolio saw an average stock return of 7.4 percent in the quarter with only 20 of the 67 recommendations declining from the date of the bullish article being published. Three stocks, Chiquita Brands CQB, New York and Co. NWY, and Delta Air Lines DAL all rose more than 40 percent since the date of recommendation. Additionally, 8 other stocks rose more than 30 percent since the date of recommendation.

One stock that Barron's recommended to be long that has declined since the article was published is Apple AAPL. Apple shares were recommended to buy on January 28 at $439.88 only for the stock to fall to $396.53 on June 28. However, Apple shares regained some ground last week and closed at $417.42 on Friday.

Tesla Strength a Bane

Barron's recommended shorting six stocks over the first half of the year, most of which worked except for TeslaMotors. Barron's recommended shorting the following six stocks in the first half of 2013:

• Uni-Pixel UNXL was recommended short on 5/13 at $34.75 and finished the first half down 57.8 percent at $14.66.


• Sabesp SBS was recommended short on 4/29 at $14.53 and finished the first half down 28.3 percent at $10.41.


• Globe Specialty Metals GSM shares were recommended short on March 18 at $14.75 and finished the first half down 26.3 percent at $10.87.


• Intuitive Surgical ISRG shares were recommended short on January 28 at $577.82 and finished the first half down 12.4 percent at $506.13.


• Linn Energy LINE was recommended short on February 18 at $35.93 and finished the first half down 7.7 percent at $33.18. However, shares fell sharply last week further and closed at $23.21 Friday after disclosing an SEC investigation last week for accounting irregularities.


• TeslaMotors TSLA shares were recommended short on June 10 at $102.04 and finished the first half up 5.2 percent at $107.36.

Tesla shares have actually risen further in the last week, gaining to new highs over $120 per share on news of stronger sales in Hong Kong than previously expected. However, Barron's, along with many others, remain negative on the stock as the short float percentage has reached nearly 32 percent.

What's the Point?

If you would have invested in the Barron's portfolio, you would have made money. So maybe investors should take some capital and invest in the Barron's portfolio, by investing in stock that they recommend. After all, they are #winning.