Barron's Recap: Oil Stocks To Buy Now

This weekend in Barron's online: five top oil stocks are bargains, as well as the prospects for Bed Bath & Beyond, Wabash National, Southwestern Energy, CVS Health and more.

Cover Story

"Five Oil Stocks to Buy Now" by Avi Salzman. The plunge in crude oil prices has created a rare opportunity to pick up quality stocks on the cheap, according to this week's cover story in Barron's. Find out why Chevron, EOG Resources, Occidental Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell and Schlumberger are Barron's top picks. See when the supply-demand imbalance that caused the drop in the price of crude is likely to sort itself out, and what the signs suggest about the explosive growth of U.S. production going forward. Moves by the Saudis are also in the mix, as well as the healthy dividends of these Barron's favorites. See also: How The Experts Are Playing Oil Right Now

Feature Stories

"Bed Bath & Beyond Embraces the Web" by Alexander Eule says that after years of disregarding online sales, this domestics retailer now is focusing its Internet presence. See why the payoff for Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY could be huge. David Englander's "Wabash National's Fast Lane to Growth" takes a look at leading maker of freight trailers Wabash National Corporation WNC, with an eye on how a surge in demand could prompt a jump of up to 40 percent in the stock. In "Seeing the Forest," Lawrence C. Strauss profiles J. Dale Harvey, who launched his concentrated fund, Poplar Forest Partners almost five years ago. See why Harvey likes to keep the fund's bets concentrated, with only a few dozen names at a time. The article names some that made the cut. Increased demand from utilities and industry are likely to boost natural gas prices in 2015, says "Southwestern Energy Shares Offer 60% Upside" by Jacqueline Doherty. See why that bodes well for depressed shares of Southwestern Energy Company SWN. Check out "Hopeful on China, Fearful of a Russian Default," in which Lawrence C. Strauss interviews Carl Weinberg, founder and chief economist of High Frequency Economics, to reveal why he is optimistic about China but concerned about the economic deterioration in Russia. In Steve Garmhausen's "A Financial Advisor Adds the Active Ingredient," top-ranked independent advisor Richard Brown shares why he believes in active strategies intended to enable smoother, stronger performance. Check out his take on technology and health care. Penta article "Congress Targets Charitable Giving Accounts" by Robert Milburn discusses how the rapid growth in donor-advised funds and potential abuses have attracted unwanted attention from lawmakers and could lead to new rules on distributions. "A Smarter Policy Toward Cuba" is an editorial commentary by Thomas G. Donlan that discusses how after the president offered up a more rational approach to Cuba, it is up to Congress to give that open door a chance. See also: Everything About The Markets Is Fixed Now, Right?

Columns

Columns in this weekend's Barron's discuss:

• How the Fed has undone the damage to the stock market from falling oil
• The downside of cheap money
• Streetwise's look back at 2014
• How 2014 fared after the frosty first quarter
• How old-guard tech stocks shone in 2014
• A new app for commission-free trading
• Last-minute gadget stocking stuffers
• A slew of new actively managed fund products in 2015
• The year in exchange traded funds
• Big dividend hikes in the past week
• The oil and gas industry and the GOP Congress

Online Exclusives

Barron's online exclusives this weekend include: "CVS Stock Poised to Reach New Highs" by Teresa Rivas. At its annual Analyst Day, CVS Health Corp CVS reiterated its 2015 guidance and five-year growth targets, hiked its dividend by 27% and boosted its share buyback plan. An upgrade from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey capped off an upbeat week for the stock, which reached an all-time high of $96.73. 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.