Barron's Picks And Pans: Coca-Cola, Disney, McDonald's, Verizon And More

This weekend's Barron's cover story takes a look at where the Mouse House may be headed.

Other featured articles examine the prospects for a leaner, more focused communications giant and a defensive stocks winner.

Also: a fast-food giant, retail picks and an overlooked industrial.

"How Bob Iger Seeks to Work More Magic at Disney" by Jack Hough says that under the current CEO, a former ABC executive, Walt Disney Co DIS is coming out from under TV's shadow by making a big push in theme parks and streaming. Find out whether Barron's believes investors will be charmed by these changes.

Nicholas Jasinski's "Verizon Stock Left Rivals in the Dust in 2018" makes the case that investors rewarded Verizon Communications Inc. VZ stock for most of 2018 as the telecom giant grew leaner, meaner and more focused. See where Barron's thinks this telecommunications conglomerate could go from here. 

In "Coca-Cola Stock Staged a 2018 Comeback," Teresa Rivas points out that in a year when defensive stocks shot swiftly to the top of investors' wish lists, shares of The Coca-Cola Co KO made out better than most. Note that this article is one in a Barron's series looking at how the Dow Jones industrials have fared in the past year.

Nuveen's Robert Doll is an astute market strategist and a successful fund manager as well, according to "Retailers, Energy Stocks Fit This Fund's Strict Rules" by Lewis Braham. Doll shares why he likes Best Buy Co Inc BBY, Target Corporation TGT and other picks now.

See also: A Recession In 2019? Analysts Aren't Convinced

In Teresa Rivas's " McDonald's Stock Was a Slow and Steady Winner in 2018," see why Barron's says that in a year when investors could use a little comfort food, shares of McDonald's Corp MCD delivered — and it could perform even better in 2019. This is another in the series examining how the Dow components have fared in the past year.

"The Most Interesting Industrial Stock You've Never Heard of Deserves a Look" by Al Root discusses Cognex Corporation CGNX, which it says plays hard, but don't let that fool you. The company is a leader in machine vision, and its shares offer an opportunity to buy a great company at a good price, according to the article.

Also in this week's Barron's:

Why the market for streaming is looking more like cable

Whether this is a bear market or a zombie market

Why now could be the time to look at preferred stocks

How high fees are hurting returns for index funds

The No. 1 issue for big tech in 2019

A warning from Vanguard's Jack Bogle

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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