Barron's Recap: Cat Fight Among The Telecoms

This weekend in Barron's online: the cat fight among the big telecoms, the Barron's health and wealth roundtable, as well as the prospects for J.C. Penney, Norfolk Southern, Leucadia National, OM Group and more.

"

" by Tiernan Ray. While

scratches for market share against

and

,

muddles along, says this week's cover story at

. Check out the article to see why the aggressive price cutting among these telecoms poses serious risks for investors. Also see why which of these four companies is the best bet for investors, and why regulators ought to allow Sprint and T-Mobile to merge.

"Living the Good Life" by Beverly Goodman discusses how having a satisfying lifestyle after retirement requires so much more than simply hitting the right numbers. The Barron's panel of experts, the health and wealth roundtable, explains why. Jonathan R. Laing's "The Favorite Picks of Top-Performing Hedge Funds" takes a look at why Chicago's annual Invest For Kids charity program lured a record turnout of over 1,200, a testament to investors' hunger for new ideas. In "J.C. Penney's Turnaround Gets Tougher," Jack Hough makes the case that this struggling retailer's ambitious financial goals may not be very realistic. See why a miss on sales growth could prompt

stock to fall as much as 35 percent. By reducing its dependence on hauling coal,

is on its way to becoming a broad-based transporter, explains "America's Cheapest Railway Ticket" by Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal. See why its shares could rise up to 12 percent. Check out "A Mini-Berkshire at a Bargain Price" for Andrew Bary's take on why

shares could rise 25 percent, even though it has been one of the worst performers among the 85 financial companies in the S&P 500. In Sarah Max's "Cracking the Code of Fixed-Income Investing," the Frost Total Return Bond fund's manager, Jeffery Elswick, is profiled. This former Navy cryptologist discusses his strategy and his choices with Barron's. Merrill Lynch advisor Richard Piatas offers his best advice for focusing on clients' health care as well as their investments, in Steve Garmhausen's "The Doctor Is In." See why Piatas likes cyclicals now and sees a tailwind in cheap energy. "Art Advisors: Are They Worth It?" by Robert Milburn examines how the recent explosion in the art market has spawned an industry of art advisors to both new and seasoned collectors. Check out this Penta article for a tour with an advisor and a client. David Englander's "OM Group's Magnetism" points out that, with its shares down sharply this year, diversified industrial

could catch the eye of an activist investor as it struggles to recover from the downturn in Europe. "Starting Over" is an editorial commentary by Thomas G. Donlan in which he discusses how, now that the old election campaign is done, a new one has just begun.

Columns in this weekend's Barron's discuss:

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