Cargo business down
 

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Demand for express shipping is deteriorating rapidly with the downturn in the economy, overwhelming the benefit from both DHL's withdrawal from the U.S. market and from lower fuel prices, according to a Tuesday note from J.P. Morgan.

Late Monday, Fedex Corp. (FDX: 66.11, -8.32, -11.2%) cut its fiscal-year outlook, to a range of $3.50 to $4.75 a share from a prior range of $4.75 and $5.25 a share, because of declines in the express market. That's an unanticipated 17% drop in next year's earnings, wrote Thomas Wadewitz, an analyst with the investment bank.

"Our sense is that the decline in the overall market is very sharp," he said in the Tuesday note.

Full article - [HTML]<a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B2CA50ADA%2D378F%2D4F3E%2DB837%2 D3ADDF292948B%7D&siteid=rss">Here</a>[/HTML]

Your 'link' doesn't seem to work but here's a similar doom & gloom article...




Sharp falloff in express demand to hurt shippers
Fedex and Con-way warn and UPS is downgraded at J.P. Morgan
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last update: 1:21 p.m. EST Dec. 9, 2008

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Demand for express shipping is deteriorating rapidly with the downturn in the economy, overwhelming the benefit from both DHL's withdrawal from the U.S. market and from lower fuel prices, according to a Tuesday note from J.P. Morgan.
Shipping is viewed as a benchmark for the economy, reflecting overall gross domestic production growth, or contraction.
Late Monday, Fedex Corp. (FDX: 63.14, -11.29, -15.2%) cut its fiscal-year outlook, to a range of $3.50 to $4.75 a share from a prior range of $4.75 and $5.25 a share, because of declines in the express market. That's an unanticipated 17% drop in next year's earnings, wrote Thomas Wadewitz, an analyst with the investment bank.

Tough environment for shipping stocks like FedEx, Conway, DHL and UPS as economy weakens and demand falls for express deliveries.
"Our sense is that the decline in the overall market is very sharp," he said in the Tuesday note.
Wadewitz maintained a neutral rating for Fedex stock, but he cut his rating for United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS: 54.18,-4.44, -7.6%) to neutral from overweight.

"We expect meaningful support for UPS's fourth-quarter results from the sharp decline in fuel prices and the two-month lag in their surcharge, and looking forward, DHL's withdrawal from the U.S. market should provide meaningful support for UPS's air express volumes," Wadewitz said.
"However, based on both the FDX comments and other transport-demand data points, it appears that parcel-market weakness will likely overwhelm the other positives."
Shares of UPS were down about 3.6% in premarket trading to $54.98, while Fedex shares were off by 7.5% to $66.94.
In addition to Fedex, Con-way (CNW: 22.17, -3.60, -14.0%) said it reduced its workforce by 8%, or about 1,450 positions, from across the company's 303 locations in North America.
Shipping volumes are at 2003 levels, said Con-way Freight President John Labrie, while U.S. manufacturing is at its weakest point in 26 years. See full story.
"The declines in shipping activity, which we first saw at the end of the third quarter, steepened in October and November, and are continuing in December," he said.
Shares of Con-way fell 13.3% to $22.38 in premarket trading. DHL is a unit of Deutsche Post AG (DE:555200: news, chart, profile) . The German shipper said Nov. 10 it would close most of its U.S. air and ground business because of eroding demand. See full story.
Christopher Hinton is a reporter for MarketWatch based in New York.

Here's a fix to your link FAIL ;)

Declining express demand hits FedEx, Con-Way, UPS - MarketWatch

If it's fallen off for you guys, I can't wait to see what the first 4-6 months of 09 looks like for us over here .:eek:

Didn't you get the memo? The end of the world is imminent...at least that's what most news stations are predicting... :rolleyes:

YouTube - Apocalypse: The End of the World

Dynasty,

Not to be the typing or English police, but in the future, can you please use the key to the left of the [ENTER] key, the one that has both the ' and " signs on it. Most of us use the ' for words like can't and it's , instead of your can,t and it,s. If for no other reason than it makes you look more professional. Unless of course you're an A-10 driver, then it's totally understandable.

JJ

typo"s fixed:D