Barron's Bullish Picks in 2004 Beat Benchmark Indexes for Second Straight Year; The 100 Stocks That Were Profiled Positively by America's Premier Financial Weekly Rose 18% in 2004.

NEW YORK -- For the second consecutive year, it paid to invest in the stocks that Barron's--America's premier financial weekly--were bullish on. In 2004, the 100 stocks profiled positively in Barron's were up 18%--nearly twice the gain for the broad market.

"That's a pretty good showing, considering the performance of the major market indexes," said Ed Finn, editor and president of Barron's. "As for 2003, we're still monitoring that crop of stocks, which are faring well--at least on the bullish side. Through the end of 2004, the 89 stocks that were profiled favorably in 2003 were up an average of 53.8%, against an increase of 34.7% for the benchmark indexes."

The overall performance of the shares of companies profiled negatively performed respectably in 2004. The 32 companies that were the subjects of negative articles gained 8.4% from the Friday prior to publication through Dec. 31, versus an increase of 11.1% for the benchmarks. Ideally, the negative bunch would be lower, but the markets were broadly higher last year.

Among the bullish group of 2004 stories, some notable winners include EMC, Franklin Resources, T. Rowe Price, Transocean, St. Joe, Monster Worldwide and U.S. Steel. Barron's small-cap maven, associate editor Rhonda Brammer, continued her long hot streak, identifying such big gainers as Napco Security Systems, Cavco Industries and ABX Air.

In the bullish group, 81 of the 100 companies saw their share prices rise subsequent to Barron's articles. In the bearish group, 13 of the 32 stocks declined.

So, where did Barron's stumble with its picks in 2004?

The mega-cap stocks generally had a tough 2004 and that's where some of Barron's problems occurred. Citigroup, American International Group, Colgate-Palmolive and Hewlett-Packard all declined subsequent to the publication's bullish write-ups. So far in 2005, however, blue chips are besting small-cap issues, and AIG and Citigroup are both performing well.

One of the biggest losers from the bullish group was 3Com, which long has been a trap for value-oriented investors. A networking company with lots of cash on its balance sheet, 3Com has struggled to turn a profit while competing against industry giant Cisco Systems. Barron's also took a hit with FLYi, a former regional airline that has transformed itself--unsuccessfully so far--into a JetBlue-type low-cost carrier operating primarily out of Dulles airport near Washington, D.C.

Notable losers from the bearish group include Astra Zeneca, Revlon and Life Energy, now known as Global Environmental Energy, a trash-to-energy outfit that generated a lot of hype but little revenue.

Some of Barron's bearish calls, however, look bad so far, including Taser International, Sirius Satellite Radio and Greenhill & Co.

"We began this scorecard last year because we feel that it's important to keep our readers abreast of the stocks we write about in each issue," Mr. Finn said. "Whether the picks we make are right on target or totally off, we intend to provide this scorecard on an annual basis going forward."

Barron's Scorecard Methodology

Barron's compared the performance of each stock to a relevant benchmark, rather than simply using the S&P 500 for all the stocks. For large companies, Barron's used the S&P 500 index. For mid-size firms, the editors used the S&P 400 mid-cap index, and for the small companies, the Russell 2000 index. Foreign companies profiled generally were large, so they were measured against the S&P 500.

About Barron's

Barron's magazine, published by Dow Jones & Company since 1921, is America's premier financial weekly. Barron's delivers "News Before the Market Knows" to an influential audience of corporate decision makers, institutional investors, individual investors and financial professionals.

Each issue provides readers with a complete market wrap-up of the previous week's activity, plus in-depth, sophisticated news reports and an outlook on the week to come. Barron's covers what happens when money and markets come together - who wins, who loses and for what reasons.

Each weekend, Barron's is read by people eager to prepare for the market's opening bell on Monday morning. Barron's comprehensive combination of reporting and statistics aptly arm these readers for the shocks and turmoil of market battles to come.

Barron's is read intensely--cover-to-cover, week-after-week--by some of the most powerful people in the world, people who need this information delivered in a timely, accurate and reliable manner for their professional success and their personal, financial well-being.