Barron's Summary

Barron’s cover highlights Cisco (CSCO), whose CEO John Chambers at a meeting with analysts said that several mkts look ripe enough to nourish its next growth spurt: oil-rich nations looking to wire their ppl; telephone and cable providers locked in an arms race for Internet gear; corporations bundling e-mail and voice messaging on their networks and a coming flood of Internet video traffic. Anyone of these new mkts could be worth $10bn in annual sales to Cisco within 5 years. Chambers says even he is surprised by the co's early success in these new ventures. "We are winning almost all the new jump balls," he says. "We will become the leading co as the network enables all forms of communication." Since early August, the shares have risen almost 40%. Yet, at 18.8x next year's estd earnings, the stock sports a lower P/E multiple than most other networking shares. As sales and profits begin to flow from new customers and new mkts, Wall St. is likely to raise its stock-price tgts. A number of analysts think the shares easily could tack on another 15%.

Mutual fund special report highlights several fund managers picks. Those include TGT, HD, LM, AB, MMM, VZ, T, BLS, VE, CSCO, CCL, IGT, C, WMT, TOT, ADBE, ERTS, ORCL, HDB, BBV, TELN and LFC.

According to the Barron’s, Sotheby's (BID) shares have soared more than 85% this year, to $34. But, with plenty of life left in the art mkt, they could hit $40. They're cheap compared with stocks of other luxury firms.

Bargain hunters should firmly resist the online-gambling stocks, despite recent declines of about 60%. One could lose an arm trying to catch these falling knives. Stocks particulary mentioned include partyGaming, SportingBet, Neteller, FireOne and CryptoLogic (CRYP).

The shares of Western Union (WU) are off to a slow start, hurt by a clouded outlook for money transfers over the Mexican border. But patient investors could well enjoy a stock climb of 14% or more.

“Follow Up” section highlights American Real Estate Partners (ACP), saying that billionaire Carl Icahn continues to deliver for shareholders of the co. Icahn's forte is buying undervalued assets, often in bankruptcy, and then selling them when business conditions improve. Investors have done well to ride with Icahn. The stock is up 5-fold in the past 3 years. ACP may reap additional profits as Icahn capitalizes on new opportunities, but the shares aren't cheap anymore.