The market has been looking to the financial sector for clues about the health of the economy and the strength of any pending recovery. But this is a departure from the past, mostly because of the group's role in the global economic meltdown that shook the markets last fall.

Historically speaking, other industries have offered more clues about the country's economic health, one of the best being transports.

Transports Are A Leading Indicator

Transports are considered early cycle indicators, with consumer and business spending quickly showing up in the group's results. So while the financials are squarely in the spotlight, the transports deserve some attention too in order to develop a more rounded view of the economic landscape.

Let's take a closer look at some major players operating in different segments of the transports sector.

Federal Express (

...

It was a brutal day for stocks as the euphoria from the Fannie and Freddie bailout dissipated in response to renewed concerns about weakness in the financial sector. The Dow dropped 280 points to close at 11,231.

Lehman Brothers Inc. (LEH) spooked the market when word spread that the troubled investment bank's negotiations with Korea Development Bank had stalled. Lehman has been aggressively pursuing additional capital in order to provide protection against deteriorating assets and strengthen its balance sheet. Lehman shares were down more than 40% on the day.

The downtrend in the overall market and financial sector was hastened by American Insurance Group, Inc (AIG), as investors speculated that the world's largest insurer would also need to raise more capital to protect itself from exposure to mortgage related assets. AIG has already posted $20 billion in losses over the last three quarters and raised $20

...

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF) has once again dipped lower after temporarily rebounding last week. The recent drop belies the company's strong fundamental composition. Estimates continue to rise, with the current-year estimate jumping to $17.68 per share from $13.01 per share 60 days ago. The next-year estimate now stands at an amazing $22.29 per share, up from $17.09 per share 60 days ago. That places this growth stock deep into value territory.

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. (GNK) shares have also begun to recover after dipping lower earlier in the month. The current-year estimate now stands at $7.53 per share, up from $7.50 per share 30 days ago. That places this stock into value territory, with a forward P/E multiple of 7.2X. Genco reported strong second-quarter results on July 30 in which its revenue was up 184% to $104.6 million.

Company

...

Stocks finished mixed during a rough session that saw further declines in commodities and commodities stocks. The Dow managed to finish with a gain of 15.96 points, or 0.14%, to 11532. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.51 points, or 0.66%, to 2333. The S&P 500 also declined 2.59 points, or 0.20%, to 1274.

Once again, falling crude prices and a strengthening dollar did little to comfort investors after the auto companies reported sales that slid more than analyst’s estimates and the Fed Beige Book showed increasing inflationary pressures.

General Motors (GM) saw car sales fall 20% in August year-over-year. For Ford ( F), it was even worse, falling 27%. But even the mighty Toyota (TM) wasn't spared, as it saw sales fall 9.4%. As expected truck sales were awful which hurt Ford, the maker of the popular F-Series truck, the hardest.

The Fed Beige Book painted

...

Stocks finished mixed during a rough session that saw further declines in commodities and commodities stocks. The Dow managed to finish with a gain of 15.96 points, or 0.14%, to 11532. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.51 points, or 0.66%, to 2333. The S&P 500 also declined 2.59 points, or 0.20%, to 1274.

Once again, falling crude prices and a strengthening dollar did little to comfort investors after the auto companies reported sales that slid more than analyst’s estimates and the Fed Beige Book showed increasing inflationary pressures.

General Motors (GM) saw car sales fall 20% in August year-over-year. For Ford ( F), it was even worse, falling 27%. But even the mighty Toyota (TM) wasn't spared, as it saw sales fall 9.4%. As expected truck sales were awful which hurt Ford, the maker of the popular F-Series truck, the hardest.

The Fed Beige Book painted

...

Stocks started the week off in the red on low volume with financials causing a great deal of the bearish action thanks to concerns over American International Group, Inc. (AIG), which stemmed from a Credit Suisse analyst cutting his price target on the company. This news hit the street on the heels of Fitch Ratings’ late Friday announcement that it might cut its ratings on AIG. The Dow Jones Industrial component was Monday’s biggest decliner of the 30 stocks that make up the index, losing 5.49%. Volume was thin mainly because many traders are on vacation during the last week of August.

The Dow tumbled 241.81 points, or 2.08%, to 11,386.25, erasing Friday’s gain of almost 200 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 25.36 points, or 1.96%, ending the session at 1,266.84. The Nasdaq composite index declined by 49.12 points, or 2.03%, closing at 2,365.59.

Monday’s

...

Stocks started the week off in the red on low volume with financials causing a great deal of the bearish action thanks to concerns over American International Group, Inc. (AIG), which stemmed from a Credit Suisse analyst cutting his price target on the company. This news hit the street on the heels of Fitch Ratings’ late Friday announcement that it might cut its ratings on AIG. The Dow Jones Industrial component was Monday’s biggest decliner of the 30 stocks that make up the index, losing 5.49%. Volume was thin mainly because many traders are on vacation during the last week of August.

The Dow tumbled 241.81 points, or 2.08%, to 11,386.25, erasing Friday’s gain of almost 200 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 25.36 points, or 1.96%, ending the session at 1,266.84. The Nasdaq composite index declined by 49.12 points, or 2.03%, closing at 2,365.59.

Monday’s

...

Stocks started the week off in the red on low volume with financials causing a great deal of the bearish action thanks to concerns over American International Group, Inc. (AIG), which stemmed from a Credit Suisse analyst cutting his price target on the company. This news hit the street on the heels of Fitch Ratings’ late Friday announcement that it might cut its ratings on AIG. The Dow Jones Industrial component was Monday’s biggest decliner of the 30 stocks that make up the index, losing 5.49%. Volume was thin mainly because many traders are on vacation during the last week of August.

The Dow tumbled 241.81 points, or 2.08%, to 11,386.25, erasing Friday’s gain of almost 200 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 25.36 points, or 1.96%, ending the session at 1,266.84. The Nasdaq composite index declined by 49.12 points, or 2.03%, closing at 2,365.59.

Monday’s

...

Stocks closed the week with a fierce rally that was triggered by a sharp drop in oil prices and speculation about the fate of Lehman Brothers. The Dow gained 198 points to close at 11,628.

Crude Saw a Major Reversal After Yesterday’s Climb

Crude retreated from its big rally in yesterday's session, dropping $6.59 on the day to close at $114.59 per barrel. The descent came in response to a number of developments, none more important that Russia's apparent pullback from its occupation of Georgia. Today's move lower was crude's largest one-day drop in close to 4 years and provided the market with some much desired comfort.

Welcomed Words from the Fed

Dollar strength also contributed to the selloff in crude, which received a boost in response to language from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said that the Fed would "act as necessary," to

...

The five best performing stocks on the Zacks #1 Rank List last week were: Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. (GNK), Knoll, Inc. (KNL), Mariner Energy, Inc. (ME), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) and Parker Drilling Company (PKD).

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. (GNK) was a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company last week as shares gained more than 10.7%. Earnings estimates for this year are up 3% in the past month, and analysts currently expect 2009 EPS to grow approximately 37% from 2008. Meanwhile, GNK has beaten Wall Street's quarterly earnings expectations for 4 consecutive quarters with an average surprise of 14.6%.

Favorable contracts and profit-sharing agreements led to a strong second-quarter performance for GNK, which it reported on Jul 30. Earnings per share of $1.95 beat the consensus of $1.72 by almost 13.4%. Revenues jumped 184% from last year

...