Barron's Recap: Why Honeywell Is Better Than GE

This weekend in Barron's online: a look at Honeywell, the Barron's ETF roundtable, highlights from the Sohn Investment conference, as well as the prospects for Signature Group, McDonald's and more.

"

" by Sandra Ward.

is the company that GE wants to be, according to this week's

cover story. CEO David Cote has remade Honeywell into an industrial powerhouse with a rock-solid balance sheet and double-digit profit growth. See why its shares could rise up to 20 percent in the coming year.

"ETFs Go Global" by Chris Dieterich says that investors in exchange traded funds are faced with a slew of new products, some appealingly sophisticated and some overly complex. The experts on the Barron's 500 ETF Roundtable sort through them and offer some guidance.

Andrew Bary's "Time to Give Utility Stocks Another Look" makes a case for why utility stocks are looking attractive again after a 10 percent pullback. See why they may have total return potential of 8 percent or more per year. Barron's names eight stocks and one ETF worth a look now. In "Best Bets From Wall Street's Superstars," Avi Salzman takes a closer look at some of the highlights of this year's Sohn Investment conference. The article includes some of the top picks to come out of the recent gathering of the world's top investors. A famous turnaround specialist's involvement with Signature Group Holdings bodes well for the company's shares, says "Riding With Sam Zell" by David Englander. See how an acquisition strategy and federal net operating tax-loss carryforwards could pay off for investors. Check out "Time to Retire Social Security's Predictions," in which Bill Alpert examines why, as insolvency of Social Security looms, U.S. forecasts for retirement spending have vastly underestimated actual costs and trust fund balances. In Jack Hough's "Trouble on the Menu at McDonald's," find out why the turnaround plan that

announced last week looks less than appetizing for shareholders. It is more about financial engineering than about food, says Barron's. Legendary investor Marty Whitman had a great run, according to Amy Feldman's "Can Third Avenue Get Back On Track?" Can a new manager with an eye on risk could help the fabled value shop regain its performance edge? "Big Fan of Apple and Bristol-Myers" by Lawrence C. Strauss features an interview with Michael Carmen, the lead manager of the Hartford Opportunities Growth Fund. Carmen names some of his current picks in the article and shares why he sees even better days ahead for them. In Penta article "The Rare Art of Deluxe Decor," Richard Nalley offers a peek at a gem of a room at the French Embassy in New York that was created by French firm Atelier Mériguet-Carrère using Old World skills. The same firm refurbished the Oval Office in 2011. See "Precision Investor Ron Carson" for Steve Garmhausen's discussion of why Carson Wealth Management shuns bets on the market in favor of pinpointing undervalued stocks. "We can identify companies with huge margins of safety," Carson says. Follow-up article "Phillips 66 Is Unlocking More Shareholder Value" takes a look at why shares of

are a gusher,

shares are still a bargain and

could fall another 30 percent. In Barron's Asia: "Fed's Yellen Adds to Thailand's Woes" by Wayne Arnold discusses how the Federal Reserve chair's recent warning rattled a market that has been under pressure for months as capital heads for the exits. "Lessons of 1940" is an editorial commentary by Thomas G. Donlan that examines how the British and French applied the wrong lessons from World War I and so were mentally unprepared for a new war.

Columns in this weekend's Barron's discuss:

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