Close the Book on Tax Month – Technical Analysis

Stock_Numbers

Highlighting: H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Tax month comes to a close tonight. Do you have your taxes done yet? H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) has rallied to gains of over 5% in the last 5 days as the mad rush to wrap up taxes before the month is through causes individuals to turn to this company’s services. So, does this stock show seasonal strength around this time of year?

Of the 1661 stocks analyzed today, 1373 advanced, 275 declined and the last 13 were flat on the day. Stocks averaged gains of 1.74% on volumes just 1% higher than the day previous. Small-Caps overwhelmingly dominated the gains today, revealing returns that averaged 2.57%. Gains amongst Mid-Caps and Large-Caps came out equivalent , returning 1.45% in value by closing bell.

Download link for all stocks: Today’s Technical Analysis


Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com
H R BLOCK INC (HRB)
	18.91	+ 0.57 (3.11%)

Support 2	Support 1	Pivot Point	Resistance 1	Resistance 2
18.06	18.49	18.71	19.14	19.36
Expected Short-Term Trading Range: 17.25 – 18.36

Support & Resistance Analysis		Broke Upr Resistance (2)
MACD Analysis		Positive/Increasing		MACD
MACD vs. Signal		Above/Widening		0.101
RSI Analysis		Bullish		RSI
Stochastic (Fast) Analysis		Increasingly Overbought		64.538
50-Day MA Analysis		Above 50-Day MA		%K (fast)
200-Day MA Analysis		Above 200-Day MA – Crossover		98.013
Critical Level Analysis		Broke Above Previous Trend

H R BLOCK INC (HRB) Seasonality
Analysis has revealed that with a buy date of October 25 and a sell date of August 24, investors have benefited from a total return of 361.22% over the last 10 years. This scenario has shown positive results in 6 of those periods.
Conversely, the best return over the maximum number of positive periods reveals a buy date of May 8 and a sell date of July 4, producing a total return over the same 10-year range of 126.11% with positive results in 10 of those periods.
The buy and hold return for the past 10 years was 161.61%.
Comments:
H&R Block has been gaining nicely over the past few sessions on higher than average volumes. Looking to the charts and we notice that the stock commonly finds strength commencing around this timeframe as investors catch wind of the numbers generated over the tax season. These positive seasonal tendencies run through to July for returns averaging 7% over the period. Tax deadline in the US was on April 15 and the company has already indicated that preparation fees from its retail operations were down 5%, however that has not deterred investors from being drawn to the stock. In Canada, tax deadline is tonight at midnight, and investors will be anxiously waiting to determine the final outcome of revenue obtained over the period. The decline was cited to be the result of "Do-it-yourself" programs, such as Intuit, which allow for swift, easy and cost-effective electronic filing solutions. There is no word on whether these programs will dominate in Canada as they have in the US. Despite this, the stock remains slightly undervalued, with targets of around $20 or almost 6% above current levels. The stock also pays a 3.2% yielding dividend that should be sufficient to cover the commission should you choose to play this equity.
News Headlines for H R BLOCK INC (HRB)
'Fast Money' Recap: Market Breakthrough? - Fri, 03 Sep 2010 Your First Move For Tuesday September 7th - Fri, 03 Sep 2010 Financial Stocks: Financials rally on relief over August jobs report - Fri, 03 Sep 2010 [at MarketWatch] - The U.S. financial sector was set to end its solid week on a high note Friday as better-than-expected data fueled hopes the economic recovery isn't being derailed.

Equity Clock – By The Numbers will be offered following each trading day.
Disclosure: Mr. Vialoux does not own securities mentioned in this report.
Disclaimer: Comments and opinions offered in this report at EquityClock.com are for information only. They should not be considered as advice to purchase or to sell mentioned securities.
Data offered in this report is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed.