Barron's Picks And Pans: Interpublic, Zimmer Biomet And More

• Featured stories this weekend in Barron's ponder the prospects for a global advertising company and a medical device company.
• Barron's offers two stocks that it thinks are worth a wager now, one of which is backed by Sam Zell.
• Other featured articles include a way to invest with Bill Ackman and Dan Loeb on the cheap.

"Advertising Giant Interpublic Could Pop 20%" by Jack Hough makes a case that a successful melding of traditional and digital advertising is giving Interpublic Group of Companies Inc IPG a leg-up on rivals. "When you have a fragmented media environment, companies need someone to make sense of it, and they want that someone to be agnostic," says the firm's chief executive. In "Joint Manufacturer Could Gain 25%," Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal takes a closer look at Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc ZBH. The nation's leading hip- and knee-replacement maker is trading at a steep discount to its peers, and it recently authorized a $1 billion share buyback. The aging of the baby boomer generation should help the company as well. David Englander's "Two Stocks That Look Like Buys" examines why Real Industry Inc RELY and International Game Technology Ordinary Shares look like buys now. The former is an acquisition-oriented company, backed by investor Sam Zell. The latter recently reported good earnings for the first time since the merger with Gtech. See also: Barron's: Lovely Homes at Higher Prices Closed-end funds run by two hedge fund pros offer a backdoor way to invest in hedge funds, according to "How to Buy Bill Ackman, Dan Loeb on the Cheap" by Andrew Bary. Check out the article on alternative investments to see why that gives investors access the acumen of these pros cheaply. Other options include reinsurance companies from Loeb and David Einhorn. Also in this week's Barron's:

• Why investors should avoid VIX-tracking exchange-traded funds
• The problem with private equity funds for the masses
• A portfolio manager who sees 10 percent earnings growth for S&P 500
• Why American Airlines Group Inc AAL is too cheap to ignore
• Why former Internet darling Yahoo! Inc. YHOO likely will be sold
• Boeing Co BA, Duke Energy Corp DUK and 10 other stocks with safe dividends
• Why analysts are increasingly optimistic about Mattel, Inc. MAT
• How Cerner Corporation CERN could turn out to be a quiet winner
• Whether a volatile first quarter is in store for security software makers
• The dangers of Facebook Inc FB cozying up to Beijing
• 7 cheap Asian tech stocks that can charge higher

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.