Another Reason to Love Registered Accounts

The main reason to have registered accounts, such as RRSPs and TFSAs, has everything to do with withholding taxes, says John Heinzl, of the Globe and Mail.

Can you explain the tax consequences of investing in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P.?

Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP) was one of six stocks I discussed in a recent column about companies that are poised to raise their dividends. Unlike the others, however, BIP isn't a corporation, but a limited partnership, and its distributions—they aren't technically dividends—are treated differently for tax purposes.

The main thing to be aware of here is that, in a limited partnership structure, income isn't taxed at the company level. Instead, it's taxed in the hands of the partners, or investors. This flow-through arrangement is similar to an income trust or real estate investment trust.

Now, if you hold BIP units in a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) or registered retirement income fund (RRIF), the tax treatment is moot because you won't pay any taxes on the distributions anyway. (That's one reason I hold my BIP units in my RRSP).

However, if you hold the units in a non-registered account, it's a bit more complicated: You'll receive a tax slip (a T5013) that reports the various sources of income that make up the distribution, and you'll enter these amounts on your tax return.

The company also provides the tax breakdown on its Web site. For example, in 2012, the partnership distributed $1.50 (US) per unit to investors, or $1.4988 (Canadian). (The company—which owns a global portfolio of utility, energy, and transportation infrastructure assets—pays distributions in US currency, but it also provides the tax breakdown in Canadian dollars.)

In 2012, the taxable portion of the distribution consisted largely of foreign dividend and interest income (62.479 cents per unit), with smaller amounts of other investment income (20.071 cents) and capital gains (3.544 cents). There was also a small deduction for carrying charges (minus 6.703 cents).

You'll notice that these numbers don't add up to $1.4988. That's because the 2012 distribution also contained a hefty chunk of return of capital (70.489 cents). ROC isn't taxable immediately; rather, it is subtracted from the adjusted cost base (ACB) of the units, which gives rise to a larger capital gain, or smaller capital loss, when the units are ultimately sold. Many REITs and mutual funds also distribute ROC. ROC can be a bit of a headache for investors. If you hold BIP in a non-registered account, you (or your accountant), will need to track those ROC payments in order to keep your ACB up to date. Knowing the ACB is necessary to calculate your capital gain, or loss, when it comes time to sell.

I'm lazy and like to avoid paperwork if possible, which is another reason I hold BIP in my RRSP. The same goes for its sister company, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. (BEP). That said, tracking the ACB isn't really a big deal—you can do it with a pencil or a simple spreadsheet.

However, here's another reason to consider holding BIP in an RRSP or RRIF: You'll avoid potential US withholding taxes. In non-registered accounts, "there are instances where [Canadian investors] would face withholding tax," Tracey Wise, Brookfield Infrastructure's vice-president of investor relations, said in an e-mail.

US withholding tax could also apply to units in a tax-free savings account (TFSA) or registered education savings plan (RESP), she said. The good news is that, with non-registered accounts, the US tax withheld can usually be applied as a foreign tax credit, but that's not the case with TFSAs or RESPs. Nonetheless, Ms. Wise said withholding taxes are infrequent and "we do our best to make it as efficient as possible for all of our holders."

Click to Enlarge

Read more from the Globe and Mail here…

Steven Cohen's Top Five Holdings

Guru Steven Cohen consistently keeps one of the largest portfolios of all the gurus, and this quarter was no different. The guru, who has suffered a tumultuous year due to insider trading controversies throughout his hedge fund, maintained an even larger and higher-valued portfolio than the second quarter of 2013.

During the third quarter Cohen bought 465 new stocks, bringing his total portfolio to 1,749 stocks valued at $18.5 billion. This is up from his second quarter holdings of 1,621 stocks valued at $18 billion. The following five companies are Cohen's five largest portfolio positions as of the close of the third quarter.

Yahoo! (YHOO)

Steven Cohen's largest position is in Yahoo! where the guru currently holds on to 7,578,592 shares of the company's stock. His holdings make up for 1.4% of the guru's total portfolio and 0.74% of the company's shares outstanding.

During the third quarter Cohen made a huge increase to his holdings by adding 764.75% or 6,702,198 shares. He bought these shares in the quarterly price range of $24.99 to $33.55, with an estimated average quarterly price of $28.28. Since then the price per share has increased approximately 25.4%.

Cohen's holding history as of the third quarter:

[ Enlarge Image ]

Yahoo! is a digital media company. Through its proprietary technology and insights, it delivers personalized digital content and experiences, across devices and around the globe, to various audiences.

Franco-Nevada: Safe Way to Play Gold

The bottom for gold appears to be in place. Now the question is how to play it. I suggest looking at a gold streaming and royalty company, suggests Tyler Laundon in Daily Profit.

This royalty business model of Franco-Nevada Gold (FNV) is a winner, especially in this environment, since Franco-Nevada avoids various risks associated with developing and operating gold mines.

Yet investors still get exposure to the upside of commodity price, reserve, and production increases.

In exchange for an initial investment, which helps a miner fund exploration or mine development, Franco-Nevada receives the rights to a portion of future gold production. This royalty is usually around 2% of the extracted gold.

Royalty companies like Franco-Nevada are not subject to cash calls to fund exploration, development, or mine closures.

And they do provide operational or mine development management, so a large and diversified portfolio can be assembled without the need for significant corporate overhead. For example, Franco-Nevada owns a royalty interest in more than 300 different projects.

The hard work is deciding which projects to buy into, negotiating the terms, and figuring out how much to pay. Franco-Nevada has a proven history of doing this well, and I believe the current environment offers up several new opportunities.

Hundreds of junior gold miners are sitting on too few dollars to stay in business. With their share prices obliterated, they can't even tap the equity markets to raise cash. Franco-Nevada can sweep in and buy up assets at fire-sale prices.

As a final point, I should mention that over the past two years, shares of Franco-Nevada are actually up, by 15%. That's incredible performance in the face of an imploding industry.

And I believe it highlights the fact that the gold royalty and streaming business offers investors exposure to gold's strength, without the associated downside risk that an individual miner might face.

Given the low-risk business model, I think Franco is a good way for gold investors to get some exposure to the precious metal today.

Subscribe to Daily Profit here…

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Mexico, Mines, and Moxie

Goldcorp: Fast Growth, Low Costs

US Global: Contrarian Call on Gold and Energy

Will Adobe Stock Continue to Rise on Recent Earnings?

With shares of Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) trading around $51, is ADBE an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Adobe operates as a diversified software company worldwide. It offers a line of software and services used by creative professionals, marketers, knowledge workers, application developers, enterprises, and consumers. Adobe markets and licenses its software directly to enterprise customers through its sales force and to end users through application stores and its website. Software products and platforms are seeing an increased adoption rate worldwide by consumers and businesses who are seeing increased technology exposure. The efficiency and ease offered by Adobe products make it a viable option to many.

Adobe reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, and investors are feeling optimistic about Adobe despite the fact that the company missed forecasts for its third-quarter earnings and fourth-quarter guidance. Adobe's Creative Cloud service has shown impressive growth, passing 1 million paid subscribers. The growing popularity of cloud-based software and Adobe's success with the model has investors feeling good about the company even though it posted a decline in earnings and revenue in the last quarter.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Adobe stock has been on a strong move towards higher prices in the last couple of years. The stock is currently trading at all-time high prices but it may need time to digest these levels. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Adobe is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Adobe options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Adobe Options	23.05%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very small amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
October Options	Flat	Average
November Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very small amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Decreasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Adobe’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Adobe look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-44.83%	-66.67%	-64.86%	26.03%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-7.92%	-10.13%	-3.57%	0.11%
Earnings Reaction	6.25%*	5.58%	4.19%	5.71%

Adobe has seen decreasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with Adobe’s recent earnings announcements.

*As of this writing

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Adobe stock done relative to its peers, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), and sector?

	Adobe	Apple	Microsoft	Oracle	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	36.94%	-12.80%	23.51%	-0.06%	11.37%

Adobe has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Adobe provides valuable software products and services to a wide range of companies and consumers operating in diversified industries worldwide. The company recently reported earnings and issued guidance that has investors optimistic. The stock has been trending higher in recent years and is currently trading near all-time high prices. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been decreasing, however, investors have been pleased with the company. Relative to its peers and sector, Adobe has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Adobe to continue to OUTPERFORM.

Apple’s Handheld TV, and All the Other Video Devices

How big does a  smartphone or tablet screen have to be before it can be considered a TV? Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) apparently will test an iPhone with a six-inch screen, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, it is not a tablet, at least as far as the traditional definition of tablets goes. A small step up in size, RCA makes a 13.3 inch television screen. The breadth of screen sizes opens the question of what is a smartphone, a tablet or a TV, and what some can watch based on their deteriorating vision.

Does the screen size debate matter? Yes, to the extent of what people are willing to do with a device. It is assumed that a smartphone is portable enough to carry in a pocket, probably. And a tablet has to fit in a brief case or backpack, perhaps. A television is a free-standing device that has to go on a stand or on a wall, or be suspended by wire from a ceiling.

Another question about screen size is what people will do with a device, what will they use it for? New wearable watches may have screens too small to view anything but video clips. Tablet screens may be too small to watch some HD programs. TVs are bolted-down devices, no matter how well they display video content.

The consumer electronics industry still makes distinctions that may be false, at least as far as many consumers are concerned. That cracks open the door to whether definition matters in a world in which the utility of screen size is more a matter of what content it can play and the extent to which the display is acceptable to consumers.

It may be that the only line of demarcation left in the spectrum from video watches to televisions is price. Perhaps consumers believe that the larger the screen, the more they will need to pay. That line has been blurred, too. Philips makes a 32-inch screen that retails for $450 (used) on Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). As a matter for fact, Amazon may be the largest warehouse of video devices. It sells the tiny Samsung Rugby III handset and television screens of more than 70 inches.

The line between video viewing devices already has disappeared to the point where size matters less and less. The definition probably is based on whether consumers believe that labels mean anything as video devices grow bother larger and smaller. Perhaps the line that gets drawn is based on age. People older than 65 own televisions in greater numbers than smartphones. However, for older people, the definition may not matter either. They just cannot see small screens as their vision gets worse. Otherwise, they might want that six-inch screen iPhone just like everyone else does.

Going Feral: A Boomer’s Advice for the ‘New’ Retirement

Resignation letters, especially from teachers, are becoming a genre unto themselves and not infrequently go viral. Perhaps it is because they give voice to some deep sentiments that are true but impolitic to state until after one has tendered one’s resignation.

A new entertainingly written contribution to this burgeoning field of literature, a blog post by Penn State political science professor Philip Schrodt, has particular relevance to financial advisors as a case study in what the new retirement looks like, or could look like, for affluent boomer clients.

Schrodt’s post is not only going viral but is specifically counseling “going feral” — the post’s title — as a life and career move for late middle-age professionals.

Going feral is shorthand for neither retiring nor staying on as a tired, timeserving, tenured salary collector of declining relevance — or as Schrodt puts it in announcing his move to full-time consulting: “I’ve left to pursue other opportunities and get my fat Boomer butt out of the way.”

The lengthy but fun-to-read post essentially argues that boomers, by delaying retirement for longer stretches, are blocking the progress of young people struggling to ignite their careers while failing to use this stage of life to explore other opportunities.

“Why give up a sinecure that pays three or four times the median income and if you just want to do absolute minimum — and plenty of Boomers do — involves maybe 10 hours a week, if that?” Schrodt asks, noting that he is not leaving because of poor health or an inability to perform his job at a high level.

Rather, the reasons to go feral include quitting while you’re ahead. Schrodt points to one colleague who died three weeks after retiring but thinks boomers who stay on thinking retirement will hasten their demise are making a mistake. “Even Pope Benedict decided to retire when he didn’t have the strength to do the job well.”

And he says of his own aging: “The exhaustion following a three-hour class is physically painful; and waking up at 5 a.m. thinking about what needs to done for a class the next day is no longer my idea of fun.”

Integrity is another reason for voluntarily discontinuing a long career: “In order to get tenure at any place worth getting tenure, you’ve got to publish garbage can models, and lots of garbage can models, and that is not going to change any time soon.”

And bureaucracy is another—Schrodt describes Penn State as having “a North Korean governance model without the transparency.” He adds that “in any large institution, most of the rules exist to make someone else’s job easier—or CYA.”

The newly free former professor also cites modern advantages that obviate the need to rely on the established institutions that employ boomers: the computing power in his phone alone makes his university unnecessary and he no longer needs to visit the library adjacent his campus office because he can all the reference material he needs free on the Web.

A key argument Schrodt makes concerns the equity of remaining in a professional position that both keeps him from doing things he might otherwise never do while keeping younger people who need the opportunities he is essentially hogging. For example, an academic journal accepting his paper means that it is not publishing the paper of a younger faculty member who needs the credit. What’s more, he finds that most older tenured professors do not contribute significantly to research—only a few outstanding scholars who are “fabulously productive” and with whom it is hard to compete.

Finally, Schrodt points to the cynicism that occurs “when you find yourself beginning to feel sympathetic with many of the stereotypical negative things people say about academia,” describing the transience and irrelevance of various trendy ideas.

His advice to his fellow place-holding boomers: “It’s a magical world: let’s go exploring.”

Why Spreadtrum Shares Surged

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of smartphone chip maker Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD  ) popped 13% today after Chinese state-owned company Tsinghua Unigroup agreed to acquire it for about $1.8 billion.

So what: The all-cash deal values Spreadtrum at $31 per American depository receipt and represents a premium of 17% to its closing price on Thursday. Of course, the offer is also a 9% bump from the preliminary bid of $28.50 that Tsinghua made last month, suggesting that Tsinghua is pretty confident in the smartphone tailwinds working in Spreadtrum's favor.

Now what: While the buyout still needs approval from shareholders and other regulatory bodies, Spreadtrum management is optimistic that the deal will go through. "The acquisition by Tsinghua will provide investors with significant returns, and position the Spreadtrum business for continued growth," said Spreadstrum Chairman and CEO Dr. Leo Liyou Li. "In short, we feel this transaction is favorable to Spreadtrum shareholders, and unlocking potential value otherwise hidden in the assets of Spreadtrum." Of course, with Spreadtrum shares likely all popped at this point, close rival Infineon Technologies might be an alternative smartphone play worth considering.

It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

Housing Starts Up 6.8% for May

Housing starts increased 6.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000 for May, according to a Commerce Department report (link opens a PDF) released today.

After nose-diving more than 15% the previous month, the newest numbers were expected to go up, but analysts' predictions of a 955,000 rate proved too optimistic for May's report.

Source: Census.gov. 

Housing permits tapered off in May. New privately owned housing units authorized by building permits eased down 3.1% from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 974,000, essentially matching analyst expectations.

As the last, but most complete indicator of housing stock growth, housing completions fell 0.9% month-to-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 690,000 in May.

Looking back to May 2012, housing starts have soared 28.6%, permits are up 20.8%, and completions have managed a 12.6% increase.

Today's news comes a day after a report showed homebuilder sentiment had tipped from majority pessimistic to majority optimistic for the first time since April 2006.

link

Amazon's Income Tax Expense: Higher Than You Think

Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) income tax expense has been rising recently, and despite a relatively tax-efficient first quarter of 2013, the company is seeing a significantly higher tax expense than its peers as a trend over several of its most recent business quarters. In the accompanying video, Fool contributor Asit Sharma explains what's driving Amazon's income tax expense, an overlooked aspect of the company's income statement. This is the second in a series of articles examining Amazon's lofty valuation; you can check out the first article here.

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Why Coach Might Keep Pulling Back

While Fools should generally take the opinion of Wall Street with a grain of salt, it's not a bad idea to take a look at particularly stock-shaking analyst upgrades and downgrades -- just in case their reasoning behind the call makes sense.

What: Shares of Coach (NYSE: COH  ) sank about 2% today after Canaccord Genuity downgraded the luxury handbag company from buy to hold.

So what: Along with the downgrade, analyst Laura Champine lowered her price target to $62 ($from 65), representing about 14% worth of upside to Friday's close. While bargain-hunters might be attracted to Coach's recent weakness, Champine cautions that increasing competition could continue to weigh on the shares.

Now what: Canaccord expects Coach's U.S. same-store sales to decline 6% in the third quarter. "Traffic trends appear to be deteriorating, and we believe Coach will be hard pressed to maintain its leading 30% market share with the current product in stores," noted Canaccord. "We expect fast-growing rival Michael Kors will continue to gain ground. ... Given the limited near-term visibility, we are downgrading shares of Coach to Hold from Buy." Of course, with the stock off about 15% from its 52-week highs and trading at a forward P/E of 12, believers in Coach's brand power might want to use that worry to make a long-term commitment. 

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Money.net CEO Thinks That Crude Oil Could Drop Below $70

In an interview on CNBC, Morgan Downey, the CEO of Money.net, said that a battle is currently going on between the U.S. frackers and the OPEC. This is the first time in history that crude oil is on decline and the OPEC is saying absolutely nothing. That is highly unusual, thinks Downey.

In his previous interview on CNBC, a month ago, Downey successfully predicted a decline to $80 for crude oil. Now, he believes that the downturn in crude oil could continue to mid to high 60s, unless OPEC or the U.S. frackers cut their production.

Downey explained that low oil prices are usually good for consumers, but frackers have been the source of growth in the U.S. employment in the last two years and low oil prices could offset any gains to the U.S. consumption.

Posted-In: Money.net Morgan DowneyCNBC Commodities Markets Media

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Stocks Going Ex-Dividend on Wednesday, June 11 (DLR, NDAQ, More)

Ex-dividend dates are very important to dividend investors, since you must purchase a stock prior to its ex-dividend date in order to receive its upcoming dividend payout. For more information, check out Everything Investors Need to Know About Ex-Dividend Dates.

Below are seven stocks going ex-dividend on Wednesday, June 11.

1. Digital Realty Trust

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) offers a dividend yield of 5.72% based on Monday's closing price of $58.02 and the company's quarterly dividend payout of 83 cents. The stock is up 18% year-to-date. Dividend.com currently rates DLR as “Recommended” with a DARS™ rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.

2. NASDAQ OMX Group

NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NDAQ

3 Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

>>5 Stocks Ready to Break Out

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume recently.

VeriFone Systems

VeriFone Systems (PAY) designs, markets and services electronic payment solutions at the point of sale worldwide. This stock closed up 8.7% to $34.94 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 4.60 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.57 million

Volume % Change: 162%

From a technical perspective, PAY gapped up sharply higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $32.51 with strong upside volume flows. This move pushed shares of PAY into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $34.58 to $34.78. Shares of PAY are now quickly moving within range of triggering an even bigger breakout trade. That trade will hit if PAY manages to take out its 52-week high of $35.11 to some past resistance at $36.13 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PAY as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $33.34 or above its 50-day at $32.61 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.57 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then PAY will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $40 to $45.

Monotype Imaging

Monotype Imaging (TYPE) develops, markets and licenses technologies and fonts in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Japan and rest of Asia. This stock closed up 4.1% at $26.66 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 472,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 159,530

Volume % Change: 179%

From a technical perspective, TYPE ripped higher here with above-average volume. This stock has been downtrending over the last month and change, with shares moving lower from its high of $31.41 to its recent low of $23.52. During that move, shares of TYPE have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of TYPE have now started to bounce off those recent lows and it's entered breakout territory above some near-term overhead resistance at $25.92. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if TYPE manages to take out Monday's intraday high of $26.93 with strong volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in TYPE as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $25.06 or above more near-term support at $24.53 and then once it sustains a move or close above $26.93 with volume that's near or above 159,530 shares. If that move gets underway soon, then TYPE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 200-day of $28.38 to its 50-dayat $28.85. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give TYPE a chance to tag $30 to $31.50.

AMC Networks

AMC Networks (AMCX) owns and operates various cable television brands delivering content to audiences, and a platform to distributors and advertisers in the U.S. and internationally. This stock closed up 1.1% at $58.68 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 2.22 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 909,736

Volume % Change: 147%

From a technical perspective, AMCX trended modestly higher here right above its recent 52-week low of $53.99 with above-average volume. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last two months and change, with shares moving lower from its high of $78.39 to its recent low of $53.99. During that downtrend, shares of AMCX have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. Shares of AMCX also gapped down recently from just above $66 to $53.99 with heavy downside volume. That said, shares of AMCX have now started to spike off its 52-week low with volume and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if AMCX manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $60.46 to its gap-down-day high of $60.90 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in AMCX as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $56.63 or above its 52-week low of $53.99 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 909,736 shares. If that breakout materializes soon, then AMCX will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap-down-day zone that started just above $66.

To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>5 Rocket Stocks to Beat a Sideways Market

>>Sell These 5 Toxic Stocks Now

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

Facebook Enters Its First Post-IPO Test

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Facebook (FB) reported during its first-quarter call this week that it has surpassed 1 billion mobile users.

While this rare feat stirred up much excitement, it also underscored that Facebook has in some ways maxed out its market penetration potential, sending it on its way to exhausting its mainstay ad-growth avenues.

Recognizing this, outgoing CFO David Ebersman cautioned to analysts during the call that as comps become more difficult, Facebook continues to expect its year-over-year ad revenue growth rates will decline from the first-quarter rate and be meaningfully lower by the end of 2014.

Gartner research director Brian Blau says that Facebook user fatigue has definitely already kicked, though it's happening in cycles. In the U.S., where many of the users were among the first adopters of Facebook, usage is really slowing down. The next wave of users are in many of the emerging markets, where fascination with the social media platform has just starting to kick in and usage still has a lot of room to grow. But in a few years' time, enthusiasm is also expected to wane there. "Because Facebook is not really increasing the amount of ad inventory, while ad prices may be able to go up a little bit, there's going to be a certain ceiling that they're going to hit," said Blau. "And even if they have the ability to grow, it's going to be in a market where the users are not going to be as valuable, where the ARPUs (average revenue per user) aren't going to be as high as they are for example here in the United States." Facebook mentioned during the call that its app install ads were doing well, but didn't talk that highly about its new video ads. "If maybe they think that there's going to be a longer spin-up cycle on some of these new ad products, that could also contribute to potential slower growth later on." In an effort to combat stagnation, Facebook has been voraciously snapping up new growth opportunities and seeking ways to monetize new products such as Facebook Paper. This is also in keeping with one of founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's favorite mantras: "move fast and break things." It wouldn't come as a surprise then if Facebook announced another spate of acquisitions and handful of product launches in a year from now. But realizing the revenue potential of all these new products and properties could take years and the question is whether investors will be patient enough to see Facebook through the slowdown in the meantime. "I think this is going to be one of the first big IPO tests for them," said Blau. Chances are, Facebook will be able to manage itself through the next three or four quarters while allowing these changes to happen and at the same time keeping investor sentiment positive; a testament that management has really matured. With its warning of markedly different growth rates ahead in Wednesday's report, Facebook has given analysts ample room to reset some of their expectations and the chance to build their models on that type of scaling back. Thus investors are unlikely to punish Facebook if anything goes wrong. More likely, they're going to recognize that Facebook has a plan in place to deal with slower growth, which is horizontal movement or expanding into different apps and services. Blau says he thinks Facebook will ultimately be successful in leveraging its new products to make up for the fatigue they're seeing in the main product. But it's not going to be any single new product on its own serving as an emerging growth engine. Thus, it's definitely not going to be Instagram alone because the product by itself does not have enough users; the user base is quite a bit smaller compared to the Facebook app. What will serve as a new growth engine is, for instance, an Instagram, plus a WhatsApp, plus an Oculus VR app, plus Moves, along with the spate of other properties it is likely to have acquired and new products it is likely to have rolled out by next year. It will be a core collection of apps that Facebook can monetize. "That would make up a new line of business for Facebook ... I think that it's very clear that that is what they're going to head towards," says Blau. "And if investors can see Facebook past the monetization of at least a portion of them, then they may be satisfied enough to give them the breathing room that Facebook needs." -- Written by Andrea Tse in New York Follow @atwtse
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Initial jobless claims rise to 304,000

More Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits last week and a new estimate for the previous week erased what had first looked like a seven year low, the Labor Department said Thursday.

First-time claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 304,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level, the Labor Department said.

Last week, Labor reported first-time claims for the week ending April 5 had dropped to 300,000, which was reported as the lowest since May 2007.

Economists had forecast this week's report would show a rise to 315,000, according to a survey by Action Economics.

But this time of year, jobless claims numbers can bounce around because Easter's date changes from year to year and that can affect Labor's seasonal adjustments.

The longer-term trend is still moving down, a sign of the job market's slow improvement..

In Thursday's report, Labor said the 4-week moving average was 312,000, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average. That is the lowest level for this average since October 6, 2007 when it was 302,000.

Claims averaged well over 600,000 a week through much of 2009.

Earlier this month, the government reported the economy gained 192,000 jobs in March while January and February job gains were 37,000 higher than previously estimated. The unemployment rate held steady at 6.7%.

More 787 Dreamliner Sales Will Not Save Boeing Pension Plan

Another company is dumping another one of its pension plans. Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is normally in the news for announcements about its 787 Dreamliner plane or other plane orders. On Thursday, the news is that Boeing announced future retirement plan changes for its non-union employees. The company claims that this is delivering market-leading retirement benefits while strengthening competitiveness, but some 68,000 workers are now scheduled to move from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.

Boeing is telling nonunion employees who are participating in its defined benefit pension plans that in 2016 they will transition to a company-funded defined contribution retirement savings plan.

While this will not impact the operating earnings that analysts use, there will be a non-cash pension curtailment charge of approximately $110 million that will be recorded in the first quarter for 2014 GAAP earnings – and that is in addition to previously announced $140 million and $80 million non-cash charges tied to prior retirement plan changes as well.

Boeing said that in 2016 it will make cash contributions each pay period through a new defined contribution component of the 401K plan. The transition also includes managers and executives, and the company was also quick to say that retirees already receiving pension benefits are not affected by this change.

The plan includes a three-year transition benefit to employees’ 401(k) accounts equal to 9% of their eligible income in 2016, 8% of income in 2017 and 7% of income in 2018.

All nonunion employees hired since 2009 and new hires of 28 unions have already been moved to defined contribution plans. Similar changes were also included in contract extensions ratified this year by members of the company’s biggest union.

Boeing said, “All pension benefits earned through the end of 2015 are the employees’ to keep. The credit-based portion of employees’ defined benefit pension will grow with interest credits until employees begin receiving their pension benefit.”

Boeing shares were up only 0.2% at $129.10 in late-Thursday trading. The company’s 52-week range is $79.37 to $144.57 and the consensus price target is up above $152.

Bargain Buys in Commodities

We believe the recent sell-off represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase inflation protection at ultra low, bargain prices, suggests Richard Stavros, editor of Inflation Survival Letter.

This is mainly because the market has significantly overreacted, with uncanny similarity to last May, when a sell-off was triggered after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made his initial comments about plans to taper the stimulus program.

GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index (GCC) is an exchange-traded fund that aims to track the Equal Weight Continuous Commodity Total Return Index (CCI-TR), which provides exposure to diversified commodities. The index is up 4.75% year-to-date, and up 24.63% over the last five years.

The CCI-TR is an equal weighted index of 17 commodities plus an additional Treasury bill yield. CCI-TR is one of the only commodity indexes to provide meaningful exposure to all four major commodity subgroups: Energy, Metals, Agriculture, and Softs.

Similarly, GreenHaven is exposed to 17 commodities including: corn, wheat, soybeans, soy oil, live cattle, lean hogs, coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, platinum, gold, silver, copper, natural gas, crude oil, and heating oil.

Due to its equal weightings, the ETF offers significant exposure to grains, livestock, and soft commodities, and a lower energy weighting than many of its peers. Currently, the ETF has 24% of its allocation in soft commodities, 24% in metals, 34% in agriculture, and 18% is in energy.

GreenHaven is rebalanced every day to maintain each commodity's weight as close to 5.88% (equal weighting of all 17 commodities) of the total as possible. However, allocations for commodities may suffer dramatic change over time. For example, the ETF recently closed out its position in orange juice for other soft commodities.

Commodities tend to serve as an inflation hedge over the long-term. As inflation rises, the value of paper/fiat currency loses value and demand for commodities (tangible goods) often increases.

Also, during an inflationary environment, the costs to produce commodities such as energy, food, softs, and metals often increases, forcing commodity prices higher to keep pace with the inflation rate.

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