Barron's Recap: America's Top Financial Advisors

This weekend in Barron's online: the best financial advisors state-by-state, the Nasdaq at 5,000, as well as the prospects for Apple, HCA, the E.W. Scripps-Journal Communications merger and more.

Cover Story

"Top 1,200 Financial Advisors for 2015" by Steve Garmhausen. Barron's exclusive state-by-state listing of the top 1,200 financial advisors in the United States is featured in this week's cover story. See who comes out on top in your state and what investments they favor now. Find out what the greatest concern of most investors is now, as it is not this year's cooling of stocks, the plunge in oil prices, or even the prospect of higher taxes. See why, out of the 50 states and District of Columbia, 17 of them have a new top advisor this year. And see why many of the advisors are looking abroad for opportunities, and where they see the best prospects. The article also includes links to the financial advisor rankings for the past two years. See also: How To Win The Loser's Game: The Investing Documentary Blowing Up On Reddit

Feature Stories

"Nasdaq 5000 and Beyond" by Alexander Eule makes the case that when the Nasdaq tops the 5,000 benchmark again, it is likely to stay there. Unlike the Nasdaq of the dot-com era, the rise in the index currently is driven by strong corporate profits. Is Nasdaq 7,000 on the horizon? Jack Hough's "Apple Shares Could Return 25% in a Year" suggests that, with Apple Inc.'s AAPL understated earnings, cash hoard, growth potential and history of beating expectations, it is time for the stock to carry at least a market valuation, if not a premium. In "HCA Has a Healthy Outlook," Reshma Kapadia points out that the Affordable Care Act challenge before the Supreme Court has hurt shares of hospital operator HCA Holdings Inc HCA. See why a 20 percent rise in shares could be in the cards, regardless of the outcome. The planned merger of E.W. Scripps Co SSP and Journal Communications, Inc. JRN could boost the value of its combined broadcasting and newspaper operations, according to David Englander's "Scripps Deal Could Pay Off for Shareholders." See "Old School Investors," in which Eric Uhlfelder profiles Peter Collery and David Hurwitz of hedge fund SC Fundamental Value, which has avoided bubbles by investing in profitable, undervalued, low-volatility companies. Where do they see the best opportunities now? In Richard Rescigno's "Investing in Cuba," the chairman and president of Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors is interviewed. Find out how Tom Herzfeld's foresight in establishing a Cuba-focused fund back in 1994 is now poised to pay off big. The CEO Spotlight is turned on Panera Bread Co PNRA in "Panera Bread's Ron Shaich: 'Flour on His Shoes'" by Dyan Machan. See how Shaich has come out of retirement to remake the company he helped found. Barron's Asia article "China Needs Good Fortune in the Year of the Goat" by Wayne Arnold takes a look at why the end of the Year of the Horse and the beginning of the new year will not relieve Beijing from the problems of slower growth, high debt and weak property prices. "Marching Along Through Budgets" is an editorial commentary by Thomas G. Donlan that discusses how the federal government has begun to notice the high cost of strength. See also: Apple Hits A Wall: A Technical Look

Columns

Columns in this weekend's Barron's discuss:

• What could lead to a market crash
• What could lead to an unraveling of the eurozone
• Why consumer discretionary stocks could be headed for a fall
• Whether Arista is a credible threat to Cisco
• New websites for researching funds
• BlackRock's reimagined bond index
• What is working for hedge funds in 2015
• How the housing market is holding back the U.S. economy
• Dividend aristocrats that keep payouts rising
• The looming sequestration fight

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.