Halliburton Maintains Dividend

Oil industry services giant Halliburton  (NYSE: HAL  )  announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.125 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 9% from $0.09 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on June 26 to the holders of record at the close of business on June 5. Halliburton is one of the largest oil-services companies and is represented in more than 80 countries.

The regular dividend payment equates to a $0.50-per-share annual dividend, yielding 1.1% based on the closing price of Halliburton's stock on May 17.

HAL Dividend data by YCharts

More Expert Advice from The Motley Fool

Domestic oil & gas service companies have taken a hit in the recent past due to a slowdown in the natural gas drilling boom of the last couple of years. As this market looks to rebound, investors would be wise to consider Halliburton, one of the top companies in the business and one of those most in tune with the domestic market. To access The Motley Fool's new premium research report on this industry stalwart, simply click here now and learn everything you need to know about how Halliburton is positioning itself both at home and abroad.

Investing Ideas from Ira Sohn 2013

Each year, the Ira Sohn conference is held in order to give hedge-fund gurus a forum to share stock ideas in order to benefit the Ira Sohn Foundation, which funds research into pediatric cancer. In the video below, Motley Fool contributor John Reeves dives into some of the recommendations from last year, and tells investors how they performed. He then talks about some of this year's recommended stock picks, and gives investors his take on those investments.

One of the stocks John discusses is Chipotle Mexican Grill. Chipotle's stock has been on an absolute tear since the company went public in 2006. Unfortunately, 2012 hasn't been kind to Chipotle's stock, as investors question whether its growth has come to an end. Fool analyst Jason Moser's premium research report analyzes the burrito maker's situation, and answers the question investors are asking: Can Chipotle still grow? If you own or are considering owning shares in Chipotle, you'll want to click here now and get started! 

5 of Last Week's Biggest Winners

What's better than momentum? Mo' momentum. Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest scorchers.

Company

April 19

Weekly Gain

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX  )	$85.60	54%
Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK  )	$18.73	47%
Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS  )	$31.27	25%
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S  )	$7.17	15%
Actions Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ACTS  )	$3.14	11%

Source: Barron's.

Let's start with Vertex. The biotech soared after positive mid-stage clinical data for its treatment of cystic fibrosis in patients with a particular mutation. The group taking Vertex's combination performed considerably better than the control group.

Overstock's stock went over well after posting blowout quarterly results. The online discounter's profit of $0.32 a share was well ahead of the $0.12 the website earned a year earlier and the $0.13 analysts were expecting. Revenue also climbed by a robust 19% to $312 million during the period.

Just like Vertex, Alkermes popped on favorable clinical trial results. Alkermes' ALKS-5461 -- an oral opioid modulation drug -- showed promise in a midstage trial for the treatment of major depressive disorder. The sharp move higher excited investors, but at least one analyst felt that the move up may present an opportunity to get out. Mizuho downgraded the stock from "buy" to "neutral" later in the week.

Sprint Nextel moved nicely higher when DISH Network kicked off the week with a rival bid to acquire the country's third largest wireless carrier. DISH wants to be a major telecommunications powerhouse to match the country's two largest players that have invaded the broadband television space. This buyout saga is just beginning.

Finally we have Actions Semiconductor moving up after rolling out a new chip. The Chinese provider of mobile system-on-a-chip solutions introduced the new ATM7023 chipset, which supports the latest Android operating system, giving the company another way to get into gadgetry running the mobile operating system of choice.

Keep the good vibes coming
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Is SYNNEX a Cash Machine?

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. FCF = free cash flow. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over the past 12 months, SYNNEX generated $196.6 million cash while it booked net income of $146.5 million. That means it turned 1.9% of its revenue into FCF. That doesn't sound so great.

All cash is not equal
Unfortunately, the cash flow statement isn't immune from nonsense, either. That's why it pays to take a close look at the components of cash flow from operations, to make sure that the cash flows are of high quality. What does that mean? To me, it means they need to be real and replicable in the upcoming quarters, rather than being offset by continual cash outflows that don't appear on the income statement (such as major capital expenditures).

For instance, cash flow based on cash net income and adjustments for non-cash income-statement expenses (like depreciation) is generally favorable. An increase in cash flow based on stiffing your suppliers (by increasing accounts payable for the short term) or shortchanging Uncle Sam on taxes will come back to bite investors later. The same goes for decreasing accounts receivable; this is good to see, but it's ordinary in recessionary times, and you can only increase collections so much. Finally, adding stock-based compensation expense back to cash flows is questionable when a company hands out a lot of equity to employees and uses cash in later periods to buy back those shares.

So how does the cash flow at SYNNEX look? Take a peek at the chart below, which flags questionable cash flow sources with a red bar.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. TTM = trailing 12 months.

When I say "questionable cash flow sources," I mean items such as changes in taxes payable, tax benefits from stock options, and asset sales, among others. That's not to say that companies booking these as sources of cash flow are weak, or are engaging in any sort of wrongdoing, or that everything that comes up questionable in my graph is automatically bad news. But whenever a company is getting more than, say, 10% of its cash from operations from these dubious sources, investors ought to make sure to refer to the filings and dig in.

With questionable cash flows amounting to only 1.9% of operating cash flow, SYNNEX's cash flows look clean. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, stock-based compensation and related tax benefits provided the biggest boost, at 4.4% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from changes in accounts receivable, which represented 24.2% of cash from operations.

A Foolish final thought
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies' cash flow. I think that's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. Better yet, you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home-run stocks that provide the market's best returns.

Looking for alternatives to SYNNEX? It takes more than great companies to build a fortune for the future. Learn the basic financial habits of millionaires next door and get focused stock ideas in our free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich." Click here for instant access to this free report.

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service.

Add SYNNEX to My Watchlist.

Talking About Support? Barrick Gold Has Found It

Related ABX Markets Debut Week On Negative Note; S&P 500 Falls Through Key Level Benzinga's Top Upgrades M&A Activity Boosts U.S. Stock Futures (Fox Business)

Gold stocks have been out of favor for quite some time. As the bullion peaked at the $1950.00 level in August 2011, it has been in a slow and steady decline.

The reason for its ascent from its lows in 2008 at the $750.00 level were all of sudden no longer valid.

Meanwhile, gold producers ramped up their production during this period, anticipating higher and higher prices. Unfortunately for gold miners, their timing could not have been worse. The decline from its highs has continued as gold has breached the $1200 level on a few different occasions over the last 16 months.

The slide in price of the bullion has had a devastating impact on the price of gold and gold-mining stocks. Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE: ABX), for example, has declined from its all-time high made in September 2011 ($55.95) to $13.40 last week.

Related Link: Sometimes You Need To Close Your Eyes And Buy

Gold Rallies, But Not Barrick

Even as the markets panicked on Ebola fears and gold rallied, many of the gold miners barely moved. As gold has rallied from its October 6 low ($1183.30) to north of $1250.00, Barrick Gold has declined from its close on that day ($14.24) to $13.40. Any investor that purchased Barrick Gold in anticipation of a sympathy move must be scratching their head.

While some of the other miners have mounted a rally, Barrick Gold has traded in a well-defined range over the last eight trading sessions. After rising with gold's initial move off its recent lows, Barrick Gold briefly rallied to the $14.50 level. As gold has continued to rally, however, Barrick Gold has been stuck under $14.00.

Chart courtesy of Neovest

Major Consolidation

Over the last eight trading sessions, it has found resistance at the $14.00 level. It has also made lows between $13.40 and $13.50 over the last 10 trading sessions. It has found support just ahead of that level at $13.73, at time of writing. This type of technical trading pattern can be interpreted in two different ways.

The bullish scenario would be that large investors or institutions are loading the boat. Those investors are banking on this area, the same area it bottomed in July 2002, as the bottom. As a result, shorts that are looking for continued downside are throwing in the towel and covering in the same area.

The other scenario is that this is just a pause in another leg down for the issue. On many occasions when an issue has a similar chart pattern to this, it is just a pause in the continuation of a longer-term trend.

For investors looking to find a level of support to lean on, Barrick Gold has provided one. A breach of the $13.40 level could be a strong indication of another leg lower in the downtrodden issue.

Tune in every morning, Monday-Friday, from 8-9:45 AM EST to hear Joel Elconin and Dennis Dick discuss what's moving the markets and why on Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep.

Posted-In: GoldTechnicals Commodities Intraday Update Markets Trading Ideas Best of Benzinga

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

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Cash in with Paychex

It looks very much like American investors are hunkering down and looking for value, after a week that saw a a decline of almost 3 percent in the U.S. gross domestic product during the first quarter of 2014, and after hints the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in early 2015 to combat rising inflation.

That's where good, old-fashioned value investing – the term that made Warren Buffett famous – comes into play these days. Why Buffett? He is the classic "slow and steady wins the race" investor, and he habitually seeks to take risk out of the equation with his stock picks.

That's the model investors want to emulate now, especially with the economy in such a precarious position, and one value play that stocks to the script is Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), the Rochester, N.Y.-based provider of payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses.

Why Paychex? The stock is exactly the type of steady, dependable growth company that investors want and need in a risk-heavy trading environment.

A thumbnail sketch of what exactly Paychex does is a good indicator of why it fits the value model right now. It's the boring, but money-making, model that businesses absolutely have to have to keep their finances in order, and Paychex does it all in a thorough and efficient way.

This from the company's web site:

The company offers payroll processing services that include the calculation, preparation, and delivery of employee payroll checks; production of internal accounting records and management reports; preparation of federal, state, and local payroll tax returns; and collection and remittance of clients' payroll obligations. It also provides a software-as-a-service solution to meet the payroll and human resource administrative needs; a suite of self-service online payroll services and products, including Paychex Online Payroll, Inte! rnet time sheet, online reports, and general ledger reporting service; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.

Yes, Paychex isn't the only major provider of these serves, but of all the major players in its industry, the company offers a trading value competitors like American Data Processing and TriNet Services don't.  Currently, Paychex is trading at 24 times earnings, compared to ADP's 27 times earnings and TriNet trading at a staggering 156 times earnings.

Paychex is currently trading at $41 per share, and offers a nice bonus – a 3.4 percent dividend payout that should keep skittish investors happy while the economy – and the market – sort themselves out.

That share price should rise thanks to another solid quarter of earnings growth, as Paychex just released Q4 and fiscal 2014 results. Here's a quick snapshot:

Total service revenue increased six percent for the fourth quarter; and six percent for the full fiscal year 2014.Payroll service revenue increased three percent for the fourth quarter; and four percent for fiscal 2014.Human Resource Services revenue increased 10 percent for the fourth quarter; and 12 percent for fiscal 2014.Total revenue increased five percent for the fourth quarter; and five percent for fiscal 2014.Operating income increased eight percent for the fourth quarter; nine percent for fiscal 2014.

Q4 earnings clocked in at 40 cents per share, right in line with most analysts' estimates, and on a year-to-year basis, earnings per share rose by 18 percent. Growth in two key categories – payroll services and human resources services were both up for the quarter (HR by 21 percent on a year-to-year basis), signaling continued healthy outcomes in area where Paychex excels, and where companies need good financial services providers.

Paychex also issued some forward-looking guidance this week, as well. The company's outlook! has a 5 ! percent hike in payroll services and human resources services are expected to continue to roll, at 19 percent growth. That's a fairly bullish outlook for a company that seems to be churning smoothly through turbulent economic times.

 So here's a vote for a very Buffett-like value play – Paychex – a rock of a stock in an uneven economy.

Brian O'Connell is an investment analyst at Investing Daily. He has appeared as an expert financial commentator on CNN, NPR, Fox News, Bloomberg, CNBC, C-Span, CBS Radio, and many other media broadcast outlets.

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Beware state premium taxes on annuities

(iStock)

Don't be alarmed, but did you know that a handful of states slap premium taxes on carriers for annuities — and that some of that expense is being passed onto clients?

The practice has been ongoing for years, but it's largely been taking place under clients' noses. It's modeled into the quote investors receive.

It's not all that different from the tax nearly all states currently levy on life insurance premiums — and that's been going on since the 1800s, according to Leonard Wright, a certified public accountant and personal finance specialist.

There are currently eight jurisdictions that apply state premium taxes to clients' deposits into annuity contracts: California, Florida, Maine, Nevada, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. The tax applies based on the residence of the buyer.

“Life insurers aren't taxed on net income but on the gross premiums in each state,” said Jim Hall, regional vice president at the American Council of Life Insurers, an industry advocacy group. “The annuity tax works like a premium tax on the gross amount received.”

(Don't miss: New annuities offer exposure to equities and downside protection)

Naturally, life insurance and annuities are priced with the expectation that the state in which the client resides will take its slice of the premium dollars. This way, the company pays the tax and the expense is subsequently deducted from the client.

Rates for non-qualified annuities, according to the ACLI, include: California: 2.35%; Florida: 1%; Maine: 2%; Nevada 3.5%; Puerto Rico: 1%; South Dakota: 1.25%; West Virginia 1% and Wyoming: 1%.

For qualified annuities, California taxes insurers at a 0.5% rate. In Florida, Puerto Rico and West Virginia, they are taxed at 1%. The remaining jurisdictions — Maine, Nevada, South Dakota and Wyoming — do not tax qualified annuities.

In Florida, insurers are exempt from the annuity premium tax if they can show that they've passed the savings onto the policyholders in that state.

The extent to which an insurer passes the expense tied to the premium tax to the client varies from one insurer to another. Some companies pass on the full tax amount to the client.

“It's a matter of competition,” Mr. Hall said. “Some companies may incorporate it more. Others, less so.”

The timing of when the insurer passes on the expense can also vary. Insurance law statutes in California, Nevada and West Virginia permit the carrier to remit the tax to the state either when the client makes the deposit or when the! contract is annuitized. In the remaining states, however, the carrier pays the tax on the front end, according to Mr. Hall.

When a company decides to assess the tax expense on the customer is generally up to the carrier, however. “A company may be required to pay the tax on the front end, but they might assess it [to the customer] after annuitization,” Mr. Hall said.

But there are real planning implications for annuity purchasers in the eight jurisdictions. Mr. Wright specializes in the tax as it applies to contracts for residents in California and Nevada. What advisers need to bear in mind is whether the annuity is being held in a qualified account or in a non-qualified account.

The tax impact can be huge. In California, an annuity in a qualified account will be taxed at a rate of 0.50%. But if it's in a non-qualified account, the levy climbs to 2.35%.

“It forces you into a decision: Where should the annuity be held in the first place?” asked Mr. Wright. “Is it in a qualified plan where your distributions are considered ordinary income?”

Another factor to weigh, particularly with clients who may retire outside of states that tack on high levies: Should you hold off on the annuity purchase until you've relocated, since the annuity premium tax is based on residency? “If you want to move to Texas from Nevada, you'll pay less in taxes if you wait a year,” said Mr. Wright.

Regardless of how a client decides to proceed, it's important that advisers ensure that the annuity decision is the right call for the investor in the first place. The application of the annuity premium tax is just one consideration.

“If it is the right decision, don't let the tax tail wag the dog,” Mr. Wright added.

5 Stocks Poised to Break Out

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Trading stocks that trigger major breakouts can lead to massive profits. Once a stock trends to a new high or takes out a prior overhead resistance point, then it's free to find new buyers and momentum players who can ultimately push the stock significantly higher.

>>5 Stocks With Big Insider Buying

One example of a successful breakout trade I flagged recently was technology player Uni-Pixel (UNXL), which I featured in May 9's "5 Stocks Ready for Break Out" at $5.50 a share. I mentioned in that piece that shares of Uni-Pixel was starting to trend higher and move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade above some key overhead resistance levels at $5.55 to $6 a share.

Guess what happened? Shares UNXL triggered that breakout in spades on Thursday with monster upside volume flows. Volume registered 5.78 million shares, which is well above its three-month average action of just 328,205 shares. This stock exploded sharply higher and it tagged an intraday high of $7.21 a share, which represents a monster gain of just over 30%.

As you can see, trading breakouts that trigger with heavy upside volume and rack up huge profits very quickly.

Breakout candidates are something that I tweet about on a daily basis. I frequently tweet out high-probability setups, breakout plays and stocks that are acting technically bullish. These are the stocks that often go on to make monster moves to the upside. What's great about breakout trading is that you focus on trend, price and volume. You don't have to concern yourself with anything else. The charts do all the talking.

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

Trading breakouts is not a new game on Wall Street. This strategy has been mastered by legendary traders such as William O'Neal, Stan Weinstein and Nicolas Darvas. These pros know that once a stock starts to break out above past resistance levels and hold above those breakout prices, then it can easily trend significantly higher.

With that in mind, here's a look at five stocks that are setting up to break out and trade higher from current levels.

CytRx

One biotechnology player that's quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade is CytRx (CYTR), which operates as a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology. This stock is off to a poor start in 2014, with shares down sharply by 28%.

>>5 Toxic Big Pharma Stocks to Sell Now

If you take a look at the chart for CytRx, you'll see that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last two months, with shares moving higher from its low of $2.78 to its recent high of $4.50 a share. During that uptrend, shares of CYTR have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed CYTR back above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. Shares of CYTR are now approaching a big breakout trade if this stock can manage to clear some key near-term overhead resistance levels.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CYTR if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $4.50 to $4.64 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that registers near or above its three-month average volume of 2.12 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then CYTR will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6 to $6.50 a share, or even $7 a share.

Traders can look to buy CYTR off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 200-day at $3.95 or its 50-day at $3.47 a share. One can also buy CYTR off strength once it starts to clear those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Viggle

A media player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Viggle (VGGL), which provides an interactive platform to create engagement with TV content and targeted advertising through a loyalty program that rewards users for watching television. This stock hasn't done much over the last month, with shares off by 2%.

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

If you take a look at the chart for Viggle, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending for the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $3.60 to its recent high of $5.89 a share. During that uptrend, shares of VGGL have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. Shares of VGGL are now starting to spike sharply higher today and the stock is quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade above some key near-term overhead resistance levels.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in VGGL if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $5.89 to $6.10 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that registers near or above its three-month average action of 54,743 shares. If that breakout starts soon, then VGGL will set up to spike sharply higher towards $7 to $7.50 a share, or even $8 a share.

Traders can look to buy VGGL off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $4.53 a share. One could also buy VGGL off strength once it starts to take out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Skullcandy

Another stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade is Skullcandy (SKUL), which designs, markets and distributes performance audio and gaming headphones, earbuds, speakers, apparel and other accessories under the Skullcandy, Astro Gaming and 2XL by Skullcandy brands in the U.S. and internationally. This stock is off to a decent start so far in 2014, with shares up around 8.4%.

>>3 Stocks Rising on Big Volume

If you take a glance at the chart for Skullcandy, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending over the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $6.72 to its intraday high of $7.87 a share. During that uptrend, shares of SKUL have been riding above its 200-day moving average and the stock has been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of SKUL within range of triggering a big breakout trade above some key near-term overhead resistance levels.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in SKUL if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $7.87 a share and then once it takes out its 50-day moving average of $8.02 a share with high volume. Watch for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that registers near or above its three-month average action of 752,783 shares. If that breakout kicks off soon, then SKUL will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $8.94 to $9.30 a share, or even $9.69 to $9.90 a share.

Traders can look to buy SKUL off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits just below its 200-day moving average of $7.10 a share. One can also buy SKUL off strength once it starts to take out those breakout levels share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide

Another stock that's starting to trend within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide (QTWW), which develops, produces and sells natural gas fuel storage systems and integrates vehicle system technologies in the U.S., Germany, Canada, India, Spain and Taiwan. This stock has been hit hard by the bears so far in 2014, with shares down sharply by 44%.

>>5 Utility Stocks Hedge Funds Love

If you look at the chart for Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, you'll see that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $2.99 to its recent high of $4.62 a share. During that uptrend, shares of QTWW have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. Shares of QTWW are now starting to spike higher off some near-term support at $4.05 a share and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade above some key near-term overhead resistance levels.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in QTWW if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $4.50 to $4.62 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.39 million shares. If that breakout materializes soon, then QTWW will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 50-day moving average of $6.14 a share to its 200-day moving average of $6.26 a share.

Traders can look to buy QTWW off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits just below some key near-term support at $4.05 or at $3.88 a share. One can also buy QTWW off strength once it starts to bust above those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

You On Demand

My final breakout trading prospect is broadcasting player You On Demand (YOD), which provides integrated value-added service solutions for the delivery of video on demand and enhanced premium content for digital cable providers, Internet protocol television providers, over-the-top providers, and mobile manufacturers in the People's Republic of China. This stock is off to a strong start in 2014, with shares up sharply by 42%.

If you look at the chart for YOU on Demand, you'll see that this stock is spiking sharply higher today right off its 200-day moving average of $2.93 and back above its 50-day moving average of $3.16 a share. This stock is quickly pushing shares of YOD within range of triggering a major breakout trade above a key downtrend line and above some key near-term overhead resistance levels.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in YOD if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $3.58 a share and then once it takes out more resistance $3.70 to $3.72 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that registers near or above its three-month average action of 967,227 shares. If that breakout kicks off soon, then YOD will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.57 to $5.05 a share. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give YOD a chance to tag $5.50 to $6 a share.

Traders can look to buy YOD off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $2.95 or at $2.66 a share. One can also buy YOD off strength once it starts to clear those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a conformable percentage from your entry point.

To see more breakout candidates, check out the Breakout Stocks of the Week portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>The Next Alt Anergy Stocks Poised to Explode Higher

>>5 Big Stock Trades to Buy in June

>>3 Stocks Under $10 Making Big Moves

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.

Delamaide: More grief in mortgage debacle

WASHINGTON — One of the enduring scandals of the 2008 financial crisis was the government's half-hearted effort to provide relief to distressed homeowners while generously bailing out banks and allowing those who presided over the disaster to collect multimillion-dollar bonuses.

And now a new report adds another grievance to this catalog of woe. The Government Accountability Office last week detailed how federal regulators botched an effort to rectify the sloppy and sometimes fraudulent foreclosures by the banks, which drove millions of families from their homes.

In cutting short an Independent Foreclosure Review before it was completed, the GAO found, bank regulators may have underestimated the extent of errors, so that the $3.9 billion in cash compensation the banks were ordered to pay to homeowners was lower than it might have been.

The review and settlement covered 4.4 million cases in 2009 and 2010 where widespread errors, resulting in part from robo-signing of unverified documents, were made in home foreclosures.

Moreover, the report found, an additional requirement of $6 billion in foreclosure prevention relief by the 15 banks involved — actions such as loan modifications designed to keep more people in their homes — was fulfilled in part by measures the banks had already taken and in any case were never fully vetted by the regulators.

The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters of California, was quick to criticize the regulators.

"I'm troubled by the recent GAO report," Waters, one of the four lawmakers who asked the GAO to investigate, said in a statement, "which shows that … regulators claimed $6 billion dollars of settlement payments that never truly occurred."

Waters also faulted the settlement for failing to ensure that foreclosure victims received compensation commensurate with the harm done, because the early end to the review left regulators with insufficient data to determine individual cash payouts.

T! he independent consultants had completed review of fewer than 15% of the cases when the IFR was shut down in early 2013. The consultants had already collected $1.9 billion while working at a snail's pace to get through the reviews.

In negotiating the subsequent settlement for cash compensation, regulators projected an error rate of 6.5%. However, the GAO found that some of the consultants had found error rates as high as 27% or 16%, while others reported no error rate because they did not complete any reviews.

Nonetheless, the GAO found that "that the final negotiated amount generally fell within a reasonable range" given the assumptions about harm done. Whether a $300 payment, which is what some of the eligible victims received, would be deemed reasonable by those who lost their homes is another issue.

The GAO report came down hardest on procedural shortcomings in the foreclosure prevention part of the settlement, faulting regulators for not setting up a system to verify the banks' claims about their policies.

"Without specific procedures, regulators cannot assess implementation of the principles and may miss opportunities to protect borrowers," the report said.

The lack of structure and specific objectives in the settlement also meant that banks had considerable leeway in what they counted toward fulfilling their portion of the $6 billion agreement.

For instance, they could credit the full amount of a mortgage benefiting from relief rather than just the amount of relief provided. The report used a hypothetical example to show how this technique alone could result in relief to a third as many borrowers.

The GAO also criticized the lack of transparency on the processes used to determine the cash compensation. The methods of categorizing borrowers and the compensation they were entitled to remain murky as decisions were made with insufficient data.

As a result, a chance was lost to boost confidence in the regulatory process — one of the points of the whol! e exercis! e.

"In the absence of information on the processes," the GAO said, "regulators face risks to public confidence in the mortgage market, the restoration of which was one of the goals of the file review process."

The GAO recommended that the regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve, adopt more rigorous testing of the foreclosure prevention measures and provide additional communication about the compensation process. As of March, according to the Federal Reserve, over 3.6 million checks worth $3.2 billion, or about 84% of the overall settlement, had been deposited.

The regulators, apparently unfazed by the report, were noncommittal in their responses. They are totally on top of reviewing compliance with foreclosure prevention, they claimed in letters attached to the report, and as for more transparency on the criteria for compensation, they'll give that some thought.

In Congress, Waters renewed her call for her committee chairman, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to hold hearings on the foreclosure review and settlement. Last month, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked his chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), to hold hearings on foreclosures after his staff's review of OCC documents indicated a high error rate.

So while the new GAO report documents another sorry chapter in the mortgage debacle, it is not likely to be the end of the story.

Darrell Delamaide has reported on business and economics from New York, Paris, Berlin and Washington for Dow Jones news service, Barron's, Institutional Investor and Bloomberg News service, among others. He is the author of four books, including the financial thriller Gold.

Reports: Millions of Snapchat usernames, phone…

SAN FRANCISCO — Several million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers were apparently leaked online late Tuesday night.

Several days ago Snapchat acknowledged in a blog post that a security group had alerted it about a potential vulnerability "by which one could compile a database of Snapchat usernames and phone numbers."

That has apparently happened. Several websites including GigaOm and The Verge are reporting that 4.6 million usernames and phone numbers were posted as a downloadable database by so-far anonymous hackers. The site where the database was posted appeared to be down on Wednesday morning.

USA TODAY has reached out to Snapchat for comment.

Snapchat is a popular messaging app that lets users send each other photos that quickly disappear.

In its blog post of Dec. 27, Snapchat described how its Find Friends feature allows users to upload their contact lists to Snapchat as a way of linking up friends.

According to that post:

"Adding a phone number to your Snapchat account is optional, but it's helpful for allowing your friends to find you. We don't display the phone numbers to other users and we don't support the ability to look up phone numbers based on someone's username."

The company said it had implemented safeguards making an exploit "more difficult to do."

Are Asset Managers Now Too Big to Fail?

Nearly three and a half years after passage, the sweeping Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act remains a subject of intense controversy.

The two retired legislators for which the law is named will appear together at a conference for independent investment advisors on Wednesday — the MarketCounsel Summit in Las Vegas.

And two widely disseminated commentaries on the law published this week — both of them critical — may set the tone for questions that advisors and journalists will be asking former Sen. Christopher Dodd and former Rep. Barney Frank, both Democrats.

The Wall Street Journal devoted all of its above-the-fold lead editorial space Monday to a criticism of an idea vetted by the Dodd-Frank-created Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that  would expand the definition of systemically important financial institutions to include asset  managers.

The Journal editorial draws a sharp distinction between the world of investing, where risk is expected and desired, and the world of banking, where safety is paramount. It notes that the dot-com bust of 2000, which saw the Nasdaq drop more than 60%, did not lead to a systemic crisis because it was private money that was lost.

“An asset manager decides where to invest money on behalf of clients. The profits or losses on these investments accrue to the clients, not the manager. A market decline shouldn't threaten an asset manager or the larger financial system,” the Journal writes. This contrasts with banks, whose customers expect to be able to writhdraw every penny of their deposits, for which taxpayers are liable through federal deposit insurance.

Were the U.S. Treasury, which chairs FSOC, to rope in the likes of BlackRock or Fidelity as “systemically important,” then asset managers, too, will become too big to fail, their new status will raise regulatory costs paid for in investor fees, and taxpayers will be on the hook for potential bailouts, the Journal argues. The editorial warns that Treasury has already breached the nonbank distinction by designating Prudential and AIG, two large insurers, as systemically important.

Perhaps most devastating, the Journal called Frank as chief witness. It quoted the law’s co-author speaking a conference last month panning the new FSOC idea: “[FSOC]  has enough to do regulating the institutions that are clearly meant to be covered — the large banks. I have not seen the argument made yet to cover [the] very plain-vanilla asset managers," he told a New York gathering of bankers.

On the same day, another leading financial journal, Investor’s Business Daily, ran a lengthy critique of Dodd-Frank by Nicole Gelinas, a CFA and fellow at the free-market-oriented Manhattan Institute think tank.

Gelinas takes a broader view of Dodd-Frank, arguing that its biggest failing is perpetuating, rather than curtailing, “too big to fail.” Rather than allow systemically important financial institutions to go under safely, the law seeks to “make the world safe from bankruptcies,” she writes, noting that “bankruptcy is a natural, healthy occurance in a capitalist system.”

Gelinas also fingers FSOC as particularly harmful because its mandate of identifying market risks and promoting market discipline is inherently contradictory. “Why should investors monitor big firms if the government is already doing it for them?” she writes.

She quotes Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher in testimony he gave Congress this summer warning that “as soon as a financial institution is designated as systemically important … it is viewed by the market as being the first to be saved.”

The privilege that creates in the marketplace has fueled the growth of large banks, whose four largest representatives have assets amounting to 50% of GDP in 2011, compared to just 9% in 1990, according to Fisher.

Gelinas shows how under Dodd-Frank large financial institutions are shielded from bankruptcy. The law’s Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA), rather than declare insolvency and work out an equitable arrangement between creditors and debtors, is actually authorized to inject taxpayer funds — a bailout, in other words — to keep the institution alive.

Gelinas quotes President Barack Obama as saying, at Dodd-Frank’s 2010 signing ceremony, that “there will be no more tax-funded bailouts—period” under the law.

The Manhattan Institute scholar laments the law’s sweeping approach — the bill was criticized for its 2300-plus pages — as opposed to enacting discrete technical fixes to the problems that caused the 2008 financial crisis, such as repealing a law that prohibited regulation of new derivatives markets.

She cites favorably a 5-page bill advocated by the Fed’s Fisher that would end any government guarantee or subsidy and notes that Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have introduced a 30-page bill that would bring back Glass-Steagall’s separation of investment and commercial banking.

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