Barron's Recap: Barnes & Noble, DSW Could Skyrocket

The cover story in this weekend's Barron's features the launch of the new Barron's Alternatives Monthly.

• This issue also includes picks from the Barron's Art of Successful Investing conference.
• The prospects for Sherwin-Williams, GlaxoSmithKline, Barnes & Noble Education, DSW and more are covered in feature stories as well.

Cover Story

"Surfing the Markets" Sarah Max.

A host of new products promise protection from market wipeouts, says this week's cover story in Barron's. Find out whether the so-called liquid alts -- mutual funds and exchange traded funds that employ hedge fund strategies -- are right for your portfolio, and if so, how to use them.

This is the launch of the new Barron's Alternatives Monthly.

See also: 10 Firms Looking To Use The Force To Boost Their Bottom Line

Feature Stories

In "Painting the Town," Jack Hough suggests that paint-maker Sherwin-Williams Co SHW, one of the top-performing stocks of the past decade, is well positioned to ride the housing recovery and can keep growing.

"A Shot in the Arm for GlaxoSmithKline" by Jonathan Buck points out that this global leader in vaccines, with its strong respiratory and HIV treatments, looks poised to grow. See how GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK could merit a premium valuation to its peer group.

Lauren R. Rublin's "18 Picks From Some of the Smartest Investors" features the best investment ideas of Barron's Art of Successful Investing panel, including Felix Zulauf, Scott Black, Ross Margolies, Jeffrey Gundlach and Sarah Ketterer. Their picks include airlines, dollar stores and Puerto Rico bonds.

Barnes & Noble Education Inc BNED operates over 700 college bookstores but has lots of room for growth, says "Big Retailer on Campus" by Andrew Bary. See why Barron's believes its shares should be worth twice their current value.

In Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal's "That's Buff! The New Look at Dick's Sporting Goods," see how sporting-equipment merchandiser Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS has invited Nike and Under Armour to open "stores within its stores" and is reaching out to female buyers.

Margaret Vitrano, co-manager of ClearBridge Large Cap Growth, is interviewed in Lawrence C. Strauss's "A Fan of American Express and Schlumberger." See how she has delivered stellar returns by focusing on growth at a reasonable price. Vitrano also names some of her current picks.

Check out "DSW Puts the Right Foot Forward," in which David Englander shows how DSW Inc.'s DSW heavy investment in technology likely will boost earnings and lead to a hefty 40 percent leap in the footwear retailer's shares.

Steve Garmhausen's "The Millionaire Maker" offers best advice from Ameriprise's Susan Kim, who says patience and discipline are the keys to building wealth. See why she likes biotech and financial stocks, as well as select land-development companies.

In Penta article "Stashing Your Art in a Tax Haven Can Be Dicey," Stacy Perman makes a case for why art collectors would be wise to think hard before carting up their artworks and sending them into storage at a tax-haven freeport.

"What's Alternative Investing, Anyway?" is a letter from the editor and president, Edwin A. Finn Jr., on the launch of the new Barron's Alternatives Monthly.

"A Delicate Balance" is an editorial commentary by Thomas G. Donlan in which he discusses why Republicans need a radical reformer who can negotiate.

See also: Meet DisneyLife, A Potential Threat To Netflix

Columns

Columns in this weekend's Barron's discuss:

• Why markets are betting against a Fed rate hike before March
• The mess at Valeant Pharmaceuticals
• Whether a European Union corporate tax hike sets a precedent
• Tech mergers better than Dell-EMC
• Whether the reputation of hedge funds has taken a hit
• Why to be wary of alternative exchange traded funds
• The past week's dividend hikes
• A new generation of automated portfolio investing

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

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