From Barron's 5-28-07 "OptionsXpress is a recognizable brand in a coveted niche. At 15 times forward earnings, the stock also is cheap for a company with pretax margins of 64%. It is also efficiently run, with revenue per employee topping $1 million last year, compared with an average of $463,000 for peers including Ameritrade (AMTD), E-Trade Financial (ETFC) and Charles Schwab (SCHW). A pristine balance sheet with no debt and more than $7-a-share in cash further accentuates its allure."

From Barron's 5-28-07 "Affordable Residential's stock fell by as much as $1, or 8.1%, to a low of $11.40, on the day the sale was announced. That ended a steady 12-month climb of 40%. The shares recently were at $11.45, around the value of the bid plus the insurance unit. The shares, however, could be worth considerably more without a deal, given that the manufactured-home sector looks poised for a rebound now that mortgages on more costly conventional homes are becoming harder to obtain...The industry is at a bottom and pointed to move up"

From Barron's 5-28-07 "Barron's has highlighted Progressive's impressive underwriting skill and shareholder-friendly approach in the past, including a feature in 2004 ("Polished Performer," Nov. 1, 2004) that preceded a 30% climb in its shares by late 2005. Since then, the stock has declined from the low-30s to 22.74. Progressive conservatively held its competitive fire in recent years as Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK-A) Geico gunned ad spending and slashed prices. Now Progressive is getting aggressive again on pricing and premium growth. The drop in the stock has brought Progressive's multiple on forecast 2007 earnings to 12, near the low end of the company's historical range and rather modest for a company that has routinely produced a return on equity of 20%. The Street is focused on the genuine near-term challenges. But over a multi-year horizon, Progressive's strong industry position and disciplined management should reward investors nicely."

From Barron's 5-28-07 "Openwave (ticker: OPWV) shareholders anxiously await a buyout for the mismanaged mobile-communications-software concern. Sybase, a database and enterprise-software vendor, emerged as a leading suitor for the Redwood City, Calif., outfit last week. The news surfaced after Openwave's largest independent shareholder, Harbinger Capital Partners, offered to take a majority stake in Openwave, through an unsolicited cash bid of $8.30, with a potential dividend sweetener. The Harbinger offer roughly equaled Openwave's average share price for May. But propelled by speculation about competitive takeover bids from Sybase and others, the shares late Friday were a bit above 9."

From Barron's 5-28-07 "It couldn't have been better for IBM shareholders. This month, at its annual analysts' meeting, International Business Machines suggested that earnings are poised to climb to about $11 a share in 2010 from $6.06 in '06, thanks to the company's increased reliance on software sales, emerging markets and further stock buybacks. IBM also plans to bolster profits through higher-margin software sales. Software ought to make up nearly half of pretax profits in 2010, up from 40% last year. Hardware sales, at the same time, should get a lift from what is called virtualization, where big computers can run several operating systems at the same time and reduce cooling costs and energy needs. There also are some bright spots in IBM's services businesses: The pretax margin from its consulting operation climbed to 9.8% last year from 7.2%."

From Barron's 5-28-07 "At Clorox's much-awaited analysts' meeting last week, Chief Executive Donald Knauss outlined a series of steps to boost profitability, including expanding the company's international strategy, taking a hard look at divisions that fail to meet new profitability hurdles, and launching two new products that may be the "game changers" investors have anticipated for more than a year."

From Barron's 5-28-07 "Lawson's Q score among investors could soon jump. It has made a promising acquisition of a like-sized European company that should allow it to tap new products and markets, upgrade its sales effort and accelerate a recent drive to lift its operating efficiency. Most important, the middle market for resource-planning software, which handles everything from accounting functions to manufacturing processes, is now the fastest growing segment for corporate software sales. And it is one that Lawson's bigger brethren haven't as yet been able to dominate."