Barron's Picks And Pans: Activision Blizzard, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Microsoft And More

This weekend's Barron's cover story offers a look at biotechnology companies developing cutting-edge drugs.

Other featured articles discuss the outlook for stocks and bonds in the fall and how to play an October rebound.

Also: the prospects for video game stocks, retailers, marijuana stocks and more.

"The Next Frontier in Treating Disease" by Josh Nathan-Kazis covers how biotechnology companies like Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX are working to develop cutting-edge drugs that can deliver the benefits of targeted gene therapy with less risk.

Josh Nathan-Kazis's "How to Invest in MRNA Technology" suggests that patience and taking cues from the big pharmaceutical companies are the keys to making this biotech bet. AstraZeneca is among the largest shareholders of Moderna Inc MRNA.

In "Fall Forecast: Modest Gains, at Best, for Stocks and Bonds," Nicholas Jasinski shares the outlook for stocks and bonds for the rest of 2019 according to five strategists. See the case for real estate investment trusts, financials and The Coca-Cola Co KO.

For tech investors wary of trade wars, videogame stocks such as Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI have a simple playbook: making good games, according to "Activision Blizzard Gets Back in the Game" by Tae Kim.

In Avi Salzman's "Discount Stores Are the Winners as Retailers Report Earnings" see why specialist retailers such as Best Buy Co Inc BBY have had a harder time than discounters like Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR.

See also: Mixed GE Options Trades Suggest The Rally May Soon Run Out Of Steam

"Why the Future of Marijuana Stocks Is American, Not Canadian, According to an Analyst" by Bill Alpert points out that pot stocks in the United States will struggle as long as the drug remains federally illegal. But one analyst sees the tide turning and stocks like Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB popping.

In "Why the Tech Sector Is a Good Place to Wait Out the Buybacks Backlash," Al Root shares why political blowback against buybacks could hurt pharmaceutical stocks like Eli Lilly And Co LLY and consumer staples stocks like MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC MDLZ.

When the stock market reopens after the Labor Day break, it could be the start of a rough month for stocks. So says Daren Fonda's "History Says September Will Be Rough for Stocks. How to Invest for an October Turnaround." See why October may be better for Microsoft Corporation MSFT and others.

Also in this week's Barron's:

• Living with negative interest rates
• How to find income with Treasury yields so low
• Betting on a stock sell-off and a surge in volatility
• Two big volatility ETFs with very different approaches
• How to avoid 401(k) mistakes
• How "unretirement" affects your Social Security

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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