I have a Rite Aid near my home that I have stopped in to on several occasions.  I can tell you I am in no hurry to go back. The store looks old and tired and is not laid out very well.  The store personnel didn’t seem to care that I was even there.

I don’t know if my local store is a valid indicator of the state of Rite Aid Corporation around the country, but my experience seems to be indicative of RAD’s larger problems.  Customers are staying away in droves.  Whether it is strictly the economy or other issues,

Financially, their balance sheet is still a mess. Their income statement, while showing signs of improvement (sales holding steady, operating profits the last two Q’s) still doesn’t contain lots of good news.  RAD Corporate issued a corporate update (considerably more upbeat than my quick analysis) - you can read it by clicking HERE

I did not come to kill Rite Aid as a stock or a company, but my belief is that the company is not “out of the woods” yet.

However, as a chart play, there might be a reason to look at RAD.

My chart analysis shows me that:

• The stock is sitting near a good support level
• Accum/Dist indicates that the stock may be in accumulation again
• Stochastics indicate that RAD is oversold
• Bearish MACD signal is lessening

See for yourself!

To my mind, RAD is a short-term play only.  Big profits were made in its 2009 run from 20 cents to over $2.00.  I don’t know if RAD has that kind of move again or not (I kinda doubt it), but watch for any surges.  I would never recommend buying RAD on the HOPE that it will go up, but if the chart is any indicator then there MIGHT be a bounce in it.

Good luck and good trading