FedEx stays positive…despite its latest earnings statement.

Even Mary Poppins wishes she had this much optimism.

Just when you thought the economy was stabilizing, last week FedEx announced it was taking an $876 million fourth quarter hit as it continues to cope with the weakening demand for its services amid the global recession. Despite the dismal forecast, FedEx head honcho Fred Smith is staying positive, stating that the level of decline appears to have tapered off.

Fewer industries have been hit harder by the recession than the transportation services industry. Although volume for the country’s top railroads has increased, the numbers are still down 20% from the same period last year. In April, the total loads carried by US trucking companies dropped almost 25% when compared to last year’s numbers — the largest decline since 1993, the year the American Trucking Associations began tracking the metric.

Why is FedEx so optimistic? Although its fourth quarter numbers were bleak, they were still higher than most industry analysts projected. Throughout the doom and gloom, FedEx has excelled at trimming costs, whether it meant cutting its work force or grounding planes and parking trucks. It has slashed the number of daily US-to-Asia flights by 30%. Smith points out that express volume outside the US has flattened out, falling only 12% in the fourth quarter after bottoming out at 13% in the third.

For the near future, FedEx is hanging its hopes on the improvements seen within the credit and stock markets, stating the positive trends will translate into a closer alignment between customers’ inventories and sales volumes.

Keep in mind FedEx is known as one of the best-managed companies in the world; more importantly, it is seen as a barometer for the wider economy, due to its leading role as a facilitator for global trade. So maybe a little positive thinking isn’t out of line here.

In six to 12 months, time will tell.