FedEx

5 Things to Watch on Wall Street This Week

From a mysterious media event at Facebook to struggling restaurant operator Darden's latest earnings report, here are 5 things that will help shape this week on Wall Street.

Could Same-Day Delivery Save the Post Office?

By 2015, the U.S. Postal Service is expected to be losing money at a rate of $20 billion a year. But the Post Office has a plan intended to help stop the bleeding -- or at least slow it down. Next week, it will begin testing a new same-day delivery service called "Metro Post."

Holiday Shopping Calendar: Your List of the Best Days to Buy

Black Friday has been around for decades, but in the last several years, the holiday shopping season has gained a number of additional "special" shopping days. So if you're looking for the right days for deals, (or when to avoid the crowds) here's a run-down of all the retail deal days worth knowing.

Dow Posts Largest Percentage Drop Since July

Chevron shares dropped 4.2 percent to $112.45 after it said third-quarter profits would be "substantially lower" than the previous quarter, while Alcoa fell 4.6 percent to $8.71 after it posted a quarterly loss. The company cut its outlook for global aluminum demand, citing a slowdown in China.

FedEx Delivers Weaker Economic Outlook, Cuts Earnings Forecast

FedEx says the global economy is worsening and it's again cutting its forecast for the fiscal year ending in May. The package delivery company also expects net income for the current quarter ending in November to fall well below last year's quarter.

5 Ways That the iPhone 5 Will Change the World

Apple has finally introduced the iPhone 5. Smartphone fans and Apple investors are naturally excited: The very nature of the shiny new handset and the bar-raising nature of some of its features will send out ripples far beyond Cupertino.

Cuts to First-Class Mail to Slow Delivery in 2012

The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service said Monday it is seeking to move quickly to close 252 mail processing centers and slow first-class delivery next spring, citing steadily declining mail volume. The cuts are part of $3 billion in reductions aimed at helping the agency avert bankruptcy next year.

Facebook Friends' New Benefit: Send Money Easily

In a joint effort with PayPal, Facebook launched a new app this week that could remake the money-transfer business. We test drove Send Money, a cheap -- sometimes free -- method for moving funds between you and members of your social network.

The Post Office Is Doomed. Some Say Good Riddance

If the USPS went into bankruptcy, would anyone care? Not according to former UPS board member Gary MacDougal, who argued in a scathing attack last week that "the rapid growth of email, online bill paying," and private parcel delivery firms like UPS and FedEx has made the Post Office obsolete. Statistics suggest he's right.

Mail Delivery Just Got More Interesting

As the U.S. Postal Service works feverishly to close its budget gap, UPS is taking advantage of the turmoil to highlight how much more innovative its brown-clad couriers can be, compared to their blue-suited cousins.

5 Things to Watch on Wall Street Next Week

There's never a dull moment on Wall Street -- and next week will be no exception. Here are some of the items that will help shape the week ahead once Monday rolls around.

World's Most Admired Companies: Apple Is Still No. 1

Now that the skies are clearing after the worst economic storm in modern history -- far more violent than the experts had predicted -- we face a surprising new roster of winners and losers, as Fortune's 2011 ranking of the World's Most Admired Companies makes clear.

Justice Department Investigates UPS and FedEx

The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into the country's two largest delivery companies, UPS and FedEx. Both have policies aimed at preventing customers from negotiating lower shipping rates through third parties.

Buzzword of the Week: Drive

Once a clearly defined term that meant "to use force to compel or control a physical thing," drive has become one of the most insidious and overused buzzwords in the business lexicon. What's being driven now is often intangible, and the mechanics of who or what's doing the driving are a mystery. Hey, let's drive some eyeballs to this story!

FedEx Looks to Deliver Solid Gains in Its Latest Quarter

FedEx will likely show an increase in fiscal second-quarter earnings of about 20% from a year earlier when it releases its latest report on Thursday. The huge air-cargo carrier is looking for a jump in revenue to more than offset rising costs for jet fuel and other items.

Most FedEx Ground Drivers Lose in Class-Action Case

Right now, millions of Christmas presents are zooming around the country in FedEx trucks -- driven, one might think, by FedEx employees. However, it turns out the employment status of those drivers depends on which state they are working in, and according to a judicial ruling issued Tuesday, most are independent contractors.

Week in Preview: Spotlight on FedEx, Best Buy, Discover

FedEx, the world's leading package-delivery service and an ostensible bellwether of the U.S. economy, will report its latest earnings this week. Also, with the holiday shopping season well underway, Best Buy and Discover Financial Services are also reporting quarterly results.

Are Air Cargo Costs About
to Go Sky High?

The discovery of two explosive devices found in packages on U.S.-bound cargo planes Friday raises new questions about security in the air-freight industry -- and its potential cost. How big is the risk, and how much is security worth?