H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) turned in strong numbers for its last fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2009. Income from continuing operations climbed 15% to $513.1 million ($1.53 per share), compared to $445.9 million ($1.36 a share) the previous year. But, the income growth came on basically flat revenues of $4.1 billion.

The Tax Services division saw revenues grow 1.5% to $3 billion, with pretax income up 13.7% to $893.8 million. H&R Block prepared 5.8% fewer returns, though the average fee per returned was up 7.2%. The up-tick in fees resulted from increased tax return complexity and an increase in clients with higher adjusted gross incomes.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) closed at $15.38. HRB is expected to report Q4 EPS on June 29. HRB July option implied volatility of 42 is below its 26-week average of 47, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) closed at $54.72. GIS is scheduled to report EPS Q4 on July 1. GIS pre-announced EPS on June 8. GIS June option implied volatility of 25 is near its 26-week average of 27, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) closed at $15.86. HRB May option implied volatility is at 53, July is at 51; below its 26-week average of 56, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) closed at $25.39. INTU May option implied volatility is at 41; July is at 42; below its 26-week average of 49, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX) has approximately 6,800 offices. JTX closed at $8.24. JTX is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on March 3. JTX March and April option implied volatility of 79 is above its 26-week average of 58, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) closed at $20.14 HRB is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on March 6. HRB March option implied volatility is at 64, April is at 55 above its 26-week average of 54 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement into EPS.

Tax specialist H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), whose colleagues include Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX), prepared its Q2 earnings report for investors on Monday after the exchanges had closed. According to this article, the company met expectations for the bottom line. H&R Block saw a net loss of $0.40 per share from continuing operations. That was an improvement of two cents when compared to Q2 2007.

While the bottom line met expectations, the top line came in below what Wall Street was hoping for. The call was for a little over $397 million in sales revenue. H&R Block actually delivered $351.5 million. So, when you add it all together, you come up with something of a lukewarm quarter, in my opinion.

But you have to remember something about this business: tax season is coming up. So, even though we're talking about a loss right now, we should be talking about a profit once the fiscal year concludes. In fact, analysts are calling for H&R Block to earn around $1.63 per share. Management believes that somewhere between $1.60 and $1.70 per share is conceivable. That leaves room for a beat. And, at the stock's current price, H&R Block may be cheap.

Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX) is recently down 10 cents to $17.07. JTX is scheduled to report Q1 EPS on September 4. Soleil Group says: "We believe there are too many uncertainties to be aggressive one way or the other; we are maintaining our Hold rating." JTX September option implied volatility of 50 is below its 26-week average of 55 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) is recently up 24 cents to $25.23. Soleil Group has a Buy rating and price target of $28 on HRB. HRB September option implied volatility of 40 is near its 26-week average, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX down 27c to 19.48; 10-day moving average is 20.24

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), whose colleagues include Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX), reported Q4 and full-year earnings on Monday. The numbers looked pretty good to me. For Q4, revenues increased 11% to $2.6 billion and earnings per diluted share from continuing operations increased 17% to $2.11. According to this article, analysts' expectations were beat by $0.08. For the full year, the top line expanded by 10%, coming in at $4.4 billion. Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations jumped 21% to $1.39.

The tax specialist said it worked with 23.5 million clients, the most ever in its corporate history. That's a nice indication of health for the company, I suppose, but here's a better one. The board decided to juice the dividend. The annual payment will now be $0.60 per share, translating to a 5% increase. Okay, 5% isn't too exciting, I'll grant you, but H&R Block has now increased its payments to shareholders every year for over a decade.

But, as the company stated in its release, although it intends on repurchasing shares over the next few years, it will remain "particularly disciplined" about the subject in the next fiscal year. Essentially, that means shareholders should not expect a lot of share repurchases for a while. H&R Block is reacting to the fact that it is still rebooting itself after being victimized by the subprime mortgage crisis. I'd rather hear a more aggressive stance in terms of buyback plans, but I'd say there is prudent motive in such posture given the company's state.

Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) is recently down $1.63 to $36.04. MER call option volume of 10,479 contracts compares to put volume of 69,715 contracts. MER July option implied volatility of 77 is above its 26-week average of 51 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) is recently down 46 cents to $22.66. HRB is scheduled to report Q4 EPS on June 30. HRB July 20 puts have traded 27 times on transaction volume of 10,492 contracts, above its open interest of 3,670 contracts. HRB July option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 43 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

H&R Block Inc (NYSE: HRB) was supposedly going to dispose of its subprime mortgage, use the proceeds to buyback a huge chunk of stock and begin growing its tax business. Further, there was also speculation that following the sale of the mortgage business, private equity might like to scoop the company up.

However, from this week's earnings results and news earlier in the year regarding the complex structure for the sale of its subprime mortgage business, some serious questions have been raised regarding the outlook for this company. In addition, continued weakness in the tax preparation business, its flagship business, raises another red flag.

Recent news regarding Bear Stearns Hedge Fund blow-up with the final settlement-up price for Option One, H&R Block's subprime business, not to be determined until October limits investors knowledge on how much money will be available for share buybacks.

All told, H&R Block is one heck of a franchise name, but, from an investment perspective, appears to be a bet on private equity coming in and paying a premium price. Earning guidance for 2008 is looking pretty weak. If you are willing to bet on the likelihood of a buyout firm taking the company out, buy the stock. However, more evidence of a turnaround in the operations of this business is needed to drive this stock higher in the short term.

Note: The Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX up .27 to 10.59.

New Century Financial Corp. NYSE: NEW implied volatility bid up as NEW sells off on restatement. New Century Fin'l, a real estate investment trust, providing mortgage products to borrowers nationwide, is recently down $8.72 to $21.45. New Century Fin'l announced it will have to restate operating results for the first three quarters of 2006. Merrill Lynch downgraded NEW to Sell, Jeffries lowered to Hold & Friedman Billings downgraded NEW to Underperform. NEW March option implied volatility of 69 is above its 26-week average of 42 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

H&R Block-NYSE:HRB April option implied volatility & put volume elevated on hedging. H&R Block is recently down $.30 to $24.54. Soleil said on 2/7/07 "we rate H&R Block Buy; $29 price target. We believe Block is close to entraining sale of the company (whole or in parts)." H&R Block call option volume of 2,945 contracts compares to put volume of 42,299 contracts. HRB April option implied volatility of 33 is above its 26-week average of 26 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Option volume leaders today were: Cisco-(NASDAQ-CSCO), Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM), Bristol Meyers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Apple Computer (NASDAQ: AAPL).