Barron's Picks And Pans: Berkshire Hathaway, Bitcoin, Roku And More

This weekend's Barron's cover story explores what comes next for the empire that Warren Buffet built.

Other featured articles present the annual ranking of top fund families, examine regulatory issues at tech giants and review the performance of former Dividend Aristocrats.

Also, the prospects for two natural gas picks, a leading cryptocurrency and more.

Cover story "Inside Berkshire Hathaway's Future Without Warren Buffett" by Andrew Bary makes a case that as the Oracle of Omaha turns 90 this year, the company he built, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NASDAQ: BRK-A), could be in for a stock-boosting makeover.

Sarah Max's "Barron's Top Fund Families of 2019" shares why MFS Investment Management was the big winner in the Barron's annual ranking of how the industry performed in its actively managed mutual and exchange-traded funds.

In "Avoid Natural Gas Stocks Except for These 2 Names," Avi Salzman points out that most natural-gas stocks look like dismal investments as gas prices plummet. See why Barron's says Cabot Corp CBT and one other pick may buck that trend.

Regulators and presidential candidates are calling out big tech companies like Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, but self-imposed checks could be even more painful for the industry, according to "Big Tech's Regulatory Problems Go Deeper Than You Think" by Eric J. Savitz.

In Lawrence C. Strauss's "When Dividend Aristocrats Lose Their Status, Their Returns Often Improve," see why the post-Aristocrat performance of some companies is solid, and some resume raising dividends after their membership infraction. Does that include U.S. Bancorp USB?

See also: 7 Ways To Invest In Gold Amid Coronavirus Fears

"When Will Bitcoin Go Full Tesla?" by Jack Hough discusses how Tesla Inc TSLA stock has just had the ride of its life, and Bitcoin could be next as the cryptocurrency approaches a signal that in the past has led to new highs.

Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB and other big North American cannabis companies could burn through their cash balances in months unless they can raise funds or cut spending. So says Bill Alpert and Connor Smith's "Marijuana Companies Could Burn Through Cash in Months."

In "There's No Doubt Roku Is Growing Fast. But Analysts Are Split on the Stock," Nicholas Jasinski suggests that though the latest results from Roku Inc ROKU blew past their expectations, analysts still must weigh its rapid growth and large, still-untapped market against the stock's rich valuation.

Also in this week's Barron's:

Whether a stock and bond "twin bubble" is forming

Why silver prices are poised to rise more this year

The new director who bought $1 million in stock

How a small-cap fund finds exceptional growth overseas

Activist investors making moves in restaurant stocks

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.