Earnings preview: Will Wall Street accept FedEx's Q3 package?

That's to be expected, though. Businesses and consumers have cut back on sending packages through parcel companies. As economic activity has declined, so has FedEx's prospects. When I commented on the company's last quarterly report, I noted that management didn't express a lot of confidence in the macro environment. The status quo is still rather awful, so I would imagine that the press release and conference call will remind shareholders to remain patient while FedEx figures out the best methods for keeping ahead of the nastier effects of this great recession. Investors should watch for the company's take on cash flow and fuel costs. In the last conference call, which you can peruse over at Seeking Alpha, FedEx promoted its cash-flow characteristics and discussed the beneficial effect of lower fuel prices. Wall Street will also be interested to hear about volume trends.

FedEx has a mixed record in terms of recent earnings performance, in my opinion. I don't feel an overwhelming belief that the company will beat the analysts. However, will FedEx turn out to be an interesting earnings trade? Believe it or not, the business received an upgrade from an analyst yesterday. And with the market still in bullish mode, maybe sentiment will be on this company's side and Wall Street will buy on the news. Even so, I think it would be risky placing money down on FedEx at this point. I know I won't be placing any money down on the shares. Sure, the stock will eventually recover along with the rest of the market, but I think there is still some downside risk to owning this company at this point in the economic cycle.

Disclosure: I don't own any stock mentioned here; positions can change without notice.