Ahead of the Tape
FedEx Flies Under the Radar on Fed Day</br></br>Investors seeking to take the global economy's temperature on Wednesday will be focusing intensely on the words and actions of the men and women at the Federal Reserve.</br></br>They would do well to look at FedEx Corp. as well as the Fed. The term "bellwether" is sorely overused, but it certainly applies to the world's largest airfreight company by volume.</br></br>Not only is trade a leading indicator of the global economy's health, but the high-value international airfreight that makes up much of FedEx's revenue is the leading tip of that leading indicator. Unfortunately for FedEx, the past year or so has been full of disappointing results and management guidance for that usually lucrative part of its business.</br></br>Between last May and today, expectations for its adjusted earnings per share in the fiscal year through May 2014 went from a predicted $8.56 to $6.97. Wednesday's results for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 are seen at a reported $1.46 versus $1.45 a year ago.