Shipping giant FedEx (NYSE: FDX) reported its fiscal first quarter 2009, posting EPS of $1.23 a share, a 22% drop year-over-year.

The two main reasons for the 22% hit to its quarterly profit are high fuel costs and a slowing U.S. economy, which resulted in a lower demand for the company's express deliveries. Revenues were actually up 8.4% to $9.97 billion.

While it would be premature to say that market conditions are improving for the company, FedEx believes that it is doing everything it needs to do in order to compete and succeed in this current environment. According to the company's CEO, Fred Smith, "FedEx is taking strong, proactive actions to manage through this difficult cycle.''

One method of offsetting rising fuel costs will be implemented in January 2009, when the company will be raising its rates by an average of 6.9% for U.S. and U.S. export services.

Looking ahead, the company raised its second quarter outlook to between $1.40 and $1.40, higher than the $1.35 that analysts consensus, and raised its full year 2009 guidance to between $4.75 and $5.25, versus the consensus of $5.18.

The market is reacting somewhat positively to this mornings report as the stock is up slightly in in pre-market trading.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Fred Smith, founder and CEO-for-life of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), says that the economy is not so healthy. He should know. His company does business in almost any town of any size in almost every country in the world. So, he may have come to his point of view a little late since many experts believe that the economy has been in a recession for at least two months.

According to Reuters, Smith said "The only positive story in the U.S. economy right now is U.S. exports." He also indicated he believes there is a chance things could get better in the second half.

Smith is a good example of the inclination of many U.S. CEOs to soft pedal the fact that the economy is awful. It's as if they hope that not talking about the problem, or saying things are a little better than they seem, will make their troubles go away. It is a "head in the sand" approach that doesn't do companies and their shareholders any good because it means that management is not doing the necessary work to prepare for a tough ride.

But, a CEO who can't be pushed out has that luxury.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

It wasn't the bagels burning up, it was the owner.

Before work I often stop by New York Bagel & Deli (NYBD) in Santa Monica for coffee, a bagel and the word on the street. Well this morning I got an earful from my friend Brian Gruntz, the owner, about the pay and severance package Bob Nardelli received for running The Home Depot (NYSE: HD)...before bailing out after failing to increase shareholder value in terms of share price. Hundreds of millions of dollars...for what?

Even though it is almost six months later, Brian still finds it outrageous that Nardelli and other CEOs are rewarded for contributing nothing to their company's bottom line, or shareholders', and often negative results due at least in part to their failure of leadership. Brian went on to rant about a story he read somewhere linking CEO performance and the construction of personal mansions, which start to pop up, like oracles, six months before their demise.

A survey from Barron's magazine describes Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs as the "ultimate CEO who matters." This survey identified the upper echelon of CEOs across the globe who have "top notch reputations" in the financial community and who likely would be missed by investors if they unexpectedly left their jobs.

To qualify, CEOs need to have been on the job for at least three years, but Barron's tended to prefer those who had at least five years of experience because it takes time to influence a large company and develop a reputation in the investment world. This survey is not entirely scientific considering Barron's drew on the subjective opinions of its own staff and many prominent investors.

Many of the CEOs who made the list have either founded their companies or have been with them for a decade or longer. Founders include Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS), Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK), and Fred Smith of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX). It is noted in the article that, "a founder often has intimate business knowledge, commands strong employee loyalty and can resist periodic entreaties from Wall Street for quick fixes to tough problems."

A common theme for all CEOs is that they have all delivered for the shareholders. Nearly all of the companies have stocks that have bested the Standard & Poor's 500 index during the CEOs tenure. One CEO in particular, Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple Inc.), is so valuable to his company that the report notes that "Jobs' departure probably would result in a greater loss of stock-market value than the loss of any other CEO in the world. Jobs might be worth 20 or so points to Apple shares, roughly $16 billion." No wonder Apple is so eager to minimize its CEOs association with the company's option-backdating woes.