FedEx misses on economic pressures, stock should be avoided

As the press release states, the economy is just ruining FedEx's fundamentals. However, there is a bullish case out there for the company. Take a look at this article, for instance. It mentions that FedEx has grabbed some market share during these tough times. Indeed, recessions are made for that. They always offer opportunities to strike while the competition is likewise down in the dumps and experiencing difficulties. But, I'm not sure I buy the bullish case necessarily. For me to be bullish, I'd have to believe that the stock doesn't have a chance of retreating below the 52-week low. You certainly couldn't call me confident today. As I write this, shares of FedEx are being sold off. They're down over 7% on high volume. Sure, the day's sentiment isn't great anyway. But when I look at package volume and operating margin, I just don't see how the company can be a buy.

Maybe I'm not being ahead of the curve. Maybe I should be more bullish on FedEx and its competitor United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS). After all, at some point, you've got to start discounting better times, correct? And with the recent bullish tone of the market, one might make an argument that things are turning. Well, maybe I'm being too bearish, but I don't believe that we are out of the woods yet in terms of the crisis. There's more macro pain ahead. I think the stock market will retreat again, and with it, so will FedEx, I'd imagine. I'd rather see better market conditions and better price action in the stock before considering packaging my portfolio with FedEx.

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