Barron’s Digest February 12, 2007 Issue

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Feb 11, 11:33AM EST

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Barron’s says that smart moves by CIT (CIT) management are positioning the company for more stock price gains.

Vonage (VG) cannot offer the "triple play" of voice, TV, and broadband, which will make it hard for the VoIP stock to recover from its sharp sell-off,

As adjustable rate mortgages reset up, companies like New Century Financial (NEW) are likely to be further punished.

Costco Wholesale (COST) is the new big retailer to beat. The company has superior management and great opportunities for growth. The shares are pricier on a forward P/E basis that Wal-Mart (WMT), Home Deport (HD), and Target (TGT). But, the company’s financials may be misunderstood because of its conservative treatment of depreciation.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is coming out of its options scandal with good prospects and a lot of cash. At $51, the stock has a forward P/E of 15. That could take the stock into the $70s over the next 12 to 24 months.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) is likely to benefit from its insulin related products as the number of diabetics grows worldwide. Its product line is more complete and convenient than those of competitors Eli Lilly (LLY) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY).

Some investors are unhappy that the management and board of Tut Systems (TUTS) did not get more of a premium when the company was sold to Motorola (MOT).

A hedge fund is trying to get the board of Ceridian (CEN) forced out and have the company spin-off its fast-growing Comdata operation.

Companies that use spit tests for drug testing are doing poorly. Better bets are urine test companies OraSure Tech (OSUR) and Medtoc Scientific (MTOX).

John S. Herhold, the energy research firm, likes Anadarko (APC), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Apache (APA), EnCana (ECA), Canadia Natural (CNQ), Linn Energy (LINE), And EV Energy Partners (EVEP)

As Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) recovers from a rough numbers in 2006, it appears that earnings and cash flow will drive the big generic drug firm’s results higher in the next year.

Hitachi (HIT) will spin-off its fiberop modules business this week. The new company will be called Opnext (OPXT). A similar company Optium (OPTM) went private four months ago.

The success of Blackstone’s buyout of Equity Office Products (EOP) depends on rising rents and real-estate prices

Douglas A. McIntyre

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.