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Investors have plenty of worries - chief among them inflation and a potential recession. But the engine that ultimately drives the stock market is corporate profits. As long as earnings growth stays on track, then corporate America—and by extension, your stock portfolio—remains on solid ground.
Which is why the recent earnings preview from FedEx (FDX) was so unnerving. While the official report for the quarter ended August 31 comes out Thursday, FedEx warned on September 15 that it would have bad news, with quarterly results severely impacted deteriorating economic trends in Asia, Europe and the U.S. FedEx stock was immediately penalized, and is down more than 20% since this pre-announcement.
The key question for every investor is whether the shipping giant is suffering from a company-specific malaise or whether FedEx's problems are a broad-market bellwether portending widespread doom. "FedEx is no ordinary economic actor, as its business literally touches every corner of the global economy" says Sheraz Mian, director of research for Zacks, an investment research firm.
A Downgrade for FDX
Analyst Colin Scarola, at investment research firm CFRA, suspects that part of the problem at FedEx is that it failed to adjust operations in its Express division (50% of revenues) as more international passenger flights, which transport some air freight as well, came back online after the pandemic-related slowdown, raising competition. "We don't doubt that some of the poor performance is related to ongoing global economic headwinds and high inflation worldwide. But the extent of the decline at Express leads us to believe that poor operational execution is also at play," says Scarola, who has
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While the fall equinox is still a few weeks away, the unofficial end of summer - also known as Labor Day - is upon us. That means a three-day weekend for investors and traders. The stock market is closed for 2022's Labor Day, which falls on Monday, Sept. 5, this year.
For those that may be interested, the bond market is closed for the holiday, too.
Unlike some market holidays, however, there are no early hours ahead of Labor Day. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq Stock Market and bond market all have regular trading hours on Friday, Sept. 2.
SEE MORE Hedge Funds' 21 Top Blue-Chip Stocks to Buy Now
Also note that a thin earnings calendar typically accompanies the Labor Day holiday.
As a reminder: Labor Day is a longstanding holiday in the U.S. that celebrates the American worker. The holiday was first adopted by Oregon in 1887, and seven years later, was made a national holiday across the U.S.
Dozens of other countries have a similar celebration called International Workers' Day that falls on the first day in May.
The following is a schedule of all stock market and bond market holidays for 2022. Note that regular trading hours for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq Stock Market are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern on weekdays. The stock markets close at 1 p.m. on early closure days; bond markets close early at 2 p.m.
2022 Market Holidays
DateHoliday
NYSE
Nasdaq
Bond Markets*
Monday, Jan. 17
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Closed
Closed
Closed
Monday, Feb. 21
P
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