Barron's Recap: The Big Money Poll

This weekend in Barron's online: the semi-annual Barron's Big Money Poll, as well as the prospects for Qualcomm, Anglo American, Taubman Centers, Esterline Technologies, Blackstone and more.

Cover Story

"Big Money Poll: Where Pros Are Investing" by Jack Willoughby.Money managers have reined in their optimism since last fall, according to this week's Barron's cover story. However, the pros still see stocks rising another 8 percent through the middle of 2016, and they see bargains in Europe, energy and technology and share a few picks. Of course there is that anticipated interest rate hike in the fourth quarter to consider as well.See also: If You Want To Be Bullish, Check Out Transportation, Says Pro Tim Anderson

Feature Stories

"A Recharge for Qualcomm" by Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal makes a case for 30 percent upside ahead for QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), since activist hedge fund Jana Partners presented the mobile chip giant with ideas for reawakening its stock.Jonathan Buck's "Anglo American Mines for Precious Profits" suggests that long-suffering shareholders could finally see a payoff from the turnaround of London-traded miner Anglo American. Find out why 20 percent upside could be just the start.In "Mall REIT Taubman Could Deliver Rich Returns," Andrew Bary points out that Taubman Centers, Inc. (NYSE: TCO) owns the industry's top collection of high-end shopping malls but still trades at a steep discount to net asset value. See why that discount could close.Restructuring is putting the aerospace supplier Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE: ESL) on course to better efficiency, sales and profitability, says "Esterline Technologies Looks Ready to Climb" by David Englander.Check out "Hunting Liquid Assets," in which Bill Alpert profiles of Disque Deane Jr., Matt Diserio and Marc Robert, fund managers at Water Asset Management. See how the hedge fund is lapping up shares of companies that provide solutions the world's water problems.In Fleming Meeks's "Where Free Cash Flow Is King," co-chief investment officers Bill Priest and David Pearl of Epoch Investment Partners are interviewed. Check out the article to learn why they currently favor Boeing, Morgan Stanley and some other picks.Like rivals KKR and Carlyle, private equity giant Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) is increasingly reaching out to the wealthy and their advisors for funding, as indicated by the title of Robert Milburn's Penta article "Blackstone Courts Wealthy Individuals, Advisors.""A Battle-Tested Risk Strategy," by Valerie Block offers some best advice from advisor Richard Saperstein of Treasury Partners. Find out why Saperstein sees peril now in emerging markets, but also opportunity in oil and in U.S. stocks.Follow-up article "Comcast's Scotched Deal Puts Time Warner Back in Play" suggests that Comcast may now have Cablevision in its sights, and Charter is no doubt interested in Time Warner. Also, Home Depot still has room to run.In Barron's Asia: "Why China Unicom Is Disconnected from Reality" by Isabella Zhong points out that the 48 percent rise in the shares of telco China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (ADR) (NYSE: CHU) since mid-April is at odds with falling revenues and customer defections to rivals."Unnatural Nature" is an editorial commentary by Thomas G. Donlan that examines why, when we select technologies to repress or to advance, we should be careful to consider costs as well as benefits.See also: Apple Earnings: Wall Street & Main Street Are Increasingly Bullish

Columns

Columns in this weekend's Barron's discuss:

• The bad week for Hillary Clinton and for Comcast
• Nasdaq peaks, then and now
• Stocks that are now safer than utilities and consumer staples
• The surprising results for Amazon Web Services
• Three websites that mimic Peter Lynch
• Managed futures funds that offer diversification
• ETFs based on European equities that have been hot
• The past week's dividend hikes
• Why wage growth is poised to accelerate
• A new theory on the flash crash

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter.