Barron's Picks And Pans: Cummins, US Bancorp, Comeback Energy Stocks And More

• This weekend's Barron's cover story shows how trade tensions will test companies and investors.
• Other featured articles question whether earnings can save the bull market and present the results of the latest Big Money Poll.
• Also, the prospects for a powerhouse regional bank and a leading maker of truck engines and generators.

"How Trade Tensions Will Test Companies and Investors" by Avi Salzman and Daren Fonda suggests it's more than just the direct impact on targeted goods. Uncertainty over tariffs may cause businesses to delay or change spending and hiring plans. See what that means for the likes of Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR and Masco Corp MAS.

Jack Hough's "Will Booming Earnings Save the Bull Market?" points out that the quarterly earnings parade is starting, and this one matters more than most. See why Barron's believes the biggest year for corporate earnings growth since 2010 promises relief for stalled stocks. What does that mean for the likes of Facebook, Inc. FB?

In "Big Money Poll: More Good News for Stocks," Vito J. Racanelli shows why the latest Barron's survey finds professional money managers upbeat about the global economy, corporate earnings and equities, despite rising interest rates, inflation fears, trade-war threats and presidential tweets. See what that means for Citigroup Inc C and others.

Shares of Minneapolis-based regional powerhouse U.S. Bancorp USB have lagged behind those of bigger rivals, according to "U.S. Bancorp Ready to Play in the Big Leagues" by Andrew Bary. A money-laundering scandal didn't help. Now, though, Barron's makes a case for the stock looking attractive.

See Also: What To Do With Homebuilders Stocks

In Vito J. Racanelli's "Cummins Could Regain Its Highs," see how nearly 100-year-old global maker of truck engines and power generators Cummins Inc. CMI may be a good example of why knee-jerk reactions by the stock market can be a value investor's best friend. The share price is down more than 16 percent in the past few months.

"Energy: Looks Like a Comeback" by Ben Levisohn takes a look at how oil prices, which hit their highest level in three and a half years this past week, finally may have risen high enough to make the stocks attractive to investors again. Are Cimarex Energy Co XEC and Pioneer Natural Resources PXD poised to be winners?

Also in this week's Barron's:

• Why deficits don't matter until they do
• What could fuel another aluminum rally
• Whether Facebook will go the way of AOL
• The prospects for oil at $80 a barrel
• The limits of modern portfolio theory
• Why emerging market debt is riskier
• How rising rates have begun to bite