Exxon set to hit record profits.

Exxon set to hit record profits.

thinkprogress.org

With a flailing U.S. economy and skyrocketing oil prices, Exxon Mobil is “within striking distance of setting an all-time profit record - again.” The company is expected to earn $39.2 billion for 2007, “which breaks down to the company earning about $75,000 a minute.” January 24, 2008 8:10 pm

(visit the link for the full news article)

Just as this short piece notes, isn't it irking that as the economy is tanking and the average, and not so average, joe and jody are about to take a hard hit, Exxon/Mobil is stall able to break records for profits. Records that the company itself set last year.

In another thread I noted that economists had predicted a recession if there was a prolonged war in Iraq. I bet had they known about how Bush Co was going to set things up for their oil buddies they would have predicted much worse.

Why is it I am paying about $2.75 lately for gas, and have paid anywhere up to $3.10 in the last few years breaking my bank yet these bastards are making all time profits? The corporate-fascist-State must be stopped. This is criminal.

thinkprogress.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by Animal
Why is it I am paying about $2.75 lately for gas, and have paid anywhere up to $3.10 in the last few years breaking my bank yet these bastards are making all time profits?

Oh my. I wish I had gas prices that low. I've paid as high as $3.75 for regular. What really drives me nuts is I am forced to drive to work. The shift I work is not compatible with mass transit so I don't exactly have a lot of choice. I am driving a 4-banger, but still pay close to $50 a tank.

Record profits... of the backs of the working class.

And people wonder why during the French Revolution the rich were being beheaded with such regularity. They bring it on themselves with greed. How can you feel sympathy with some CEO making millions a year by profiteering off of the working serfs? Yet, when some day of reckoning comes these rich fat cats will whine and cry about how they can't understand why people would hate them.

$3.75 is insane, I would be screwed. I am a graduate student and I have a commute to school, one I can barely affordas it is. I just don't understand how this is legitimate. How is it that these corporations are allowed to do this to the people of this country.

When did we, the people, take a backseat to profit? In who's mind is this a just way to run the world?

Sourcereply to post by Animal


Do you know anything about net profit margin? What about the pharmaceutical drug manufacturing industry it's profit margin is 16.9%. Exxon is only 9.1% net profit margin. And from what I hear, Exxon is keeping Wall Street afloat. Exxon Mobil made 100 billion in revenue, but only 10 billion of that is real profit, the rest went to cost to keep supplying the oil and fuel that we use on the daily basis. Most consumers don’t think about their phone bill, software prices or banking fees nearly as much as they think about how much it costs them to fill up their gas tanks. The banks in America have a net profit margin of 16.6%. Microsoft's net profit margin is 30.8%. I definitely don't want the government to take control of any companies profits.



Look at the whole picture before accusing Exxon of making to much money. Other oil companies like Chevron and BP are making record profits too, but when looking at their net profit margin instead of gross then it's not that much for any of them. They all have to pay employees too. And if we ever start controlling what a company can make by putting a gun to their head ( government ) then there goes capitalism out the window.

I like how we're all supposed to be so outraged by Exxon's profits but we just ignore the fact that nearly all federal and state gas taxes are percentages meaning that the more gas costs the more the state and fed profit. Unlike Exxon the states and fed don't have that profit crunched between exploratory, research and acquisition costs never mind the thousands on their payroll.

For the states and fed it's all money in the bank. Why do you think those talks about stopping the federal gas taxes for just a couple of Summer months ended so quickly? Not only did they end but now a new $.40 tax is being proposed.

Yup, let's all hate on Exxon.

If you're going to hate because of cost to you and their obscene profiteering the least you can do is be consistent.

The reason for the record profit is not as it seems. The price of oil and thus profits have been on the rise for sometime for almost all natural resource companies. The reason is simply the U.S. Dollar is buying much less then it did last year and subsequent years. The increase in price is just a product of inflation from the U.S. government printing dollars from no where to finance war and social programs. So the next time you see a high prices at the pump be angry not at the oil company, but at the U.S. government for robbing you of your buying power in the name of war and welfare.

On a side note if you used a fixed amount of gold for the last ten years it would have continued to buy the same amount of oil during that ten year period. It goes to show you not all things are as they appear on the surface.

BlueRidge

reply to post by Solarskye


Really? Only $10 Billion in profits? How about you show some evidence of that. I was kind enough to supply a source that stated $39.2 billion, another record profit.

Ands please, I said nothing about putting a gun to anyones head. Your response is IMO reactionary. Sure, I do believe that there needs to be government controls over how corporations do business. Any one who disagrees with this premise, again IMO, is being willfully blind to the reality of the situation.

Corporations have ONE goal, Profits. Sure there is the argument that a corporation can't profit if it does not provide a reasonable, valuable, quality service. One quick example of how this idea is flawed. Say there is no government regulation, and ONE company controls all the production in one market, they can sell you any kind of crap they want, at any price if it is a commodity you need. Think California energy.

I personally think Exxon has a lot to explain when they continue to set record profits (which come after paying their bills) while the rest of the country suffers.

reply to post by Animal


i am retired as of may 25/07 am using up my +34 years of extra leave that lasts till end of june 08 which i didn't waste while working for the government.i figured that an emergency might occure in my family which i could use that for---it never happened.our 2 cars a new 1 and the old 1 have been parked in the drive way since may.

the stores for all we need are about 1/4mile down the road so i walk there almost everyday to pick up what we need.i'm trying to clear the 2 deep freezers out so we can unplug them,because the power company keeps jacking the rates up every 6 months now.

the greed of the big companies has got to the point that my wife and i refuse to support them anymore than necessary-we are cutting back a little at a time until they force us to cut them off completely.they are killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

microsoft and windows or someone using their names keep on "updating" what they think we need? computer wise when all i need is a way to read the news or receive/send hotmail to our family here and our children +300 miles away.we are not interested in change just for the sake of change just to make "crooks"? rich.

some/most of the ceo's of big companies do little more than sign their names on documents and attend parties for the rich and mighty yet get saleries of 1/4 million or more per year plus bonuses----this doesnt seem honest to me--i had to work hard all my life for what we have which isn't much and at the same time endure the insults of the world.

I just try to imagine the money that is being brought into countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran now that oil is trading in the 90's. When their economies are dependent upon oil revenue and oil is trading 350% higher than it was before the war.... they must be doing OK. I am sure they owe Bush a big pat on the back. He is killing his own nation and providing a ton of our wealth to a large chunk of the Middle East.

I know it isn't that simple, but it feels that way.

You may not like it, but it is legit; it's really simple economics. They know that you're going to pay what they put gas at and since we have to have gas, that makes demand and supply pretty much inelastic. For example, gas now is about $2.77-2.82 around me, but, if they raise the price to say $2.95, I'm still going to buy it, just like everyone else. Thing is, we're willing to pay pretty much anything they'll charge, we may not like it, but we'll still do because we have too.

Its been like this for decades in the uk, i now pay £1.20 per liter , thats nearly £5 per 1 US gallon. almost double what you guys pay.

Everything cost more in the UK its daft


I'm just thankful that our health care is still free, mind you we do pay for it twice over in other area's.
If they ever tried to abolish the NHS there would be a revolution.

There is still a level of accountability here in the UK in relation to our politicians, don't get me wrong there is still corruption but our press and even police take great pleasure in weeding them out.

Why don't you complain to local, state and federal lawmakers about all the taxes that are tacked onto the price of gas?

Why don't you complain to local, state and federal lawmakers that we need more alternate fuel stations throughout the country, to make alternate fuel vehicles feasible?

Why don't you complain to local, state and federal lawmakers that we need more money pumped into alternate fuel research period, instead of the billions that go into social services like welfare and food stamps? Why are we still paying farm subsidies?

Nah, it's simply easier to take the ignorant approach and blame the company providing the commodity.

[edit on 1/26/2008 by titian]

reply to post by titian



I was actually part of a "Sustainability Practicum" at the University of New
Mexico and we did just that, we we lobbying (correct word) the state legislature for money for a Sustainability program at the University as well as for money for our first planned project of building Bio-Diesel Processors, Diesel Trucks, and the like. First to con all remaining diesel buses on campus to Bio-Diesel and then to do out reach where we traveled with small scale processors to show others how to do the same.

The legislature seemed interested until the time came to vote, then they dumbed us like a bad date. IMHO, there will be no conversion to other fuel/energy types until the energy industry itself is ready to make the change. Maybe it would be helpful to harass (in a good way) my politicians, but my impression is that they are not willing to upset the powers that be.

Originally posted by Solarskye
Do you know anything about net profit margin?

I'm glad someone is pointing this out quickly. Not knowing a thing about operating a business, the anti-capitalists always are quick to jump on this crap.

think-progress doesn't.

Originally posted by Solarskye
Sourcereply to post by Animal

 

Do you know anything about net profit margin? What about the pharmaceutical drug manufacturing industry it's profit margin is 16.9%. Exxon is only 9.1% net profit margin...The banks in America have a net profit margin of 16.6%. Microsoft's net profit margin is 30.8%.

Interesting you would question my understanding of Net Profit Margin and then use NPM comparisons to show how my post is fundamentally flawed. You see according to the link you provided,

It is difficult to compare accurately the net profit ratio for different entities. Individual businesses' operating and financing arrangements vary so much that entities are bound to have different levels of expenditure, that comparison of one with another can have little meaning...Profit margin is an indicator of a company's pricing policies and its ability to control costs. Differences in competitive strategy and product mix cause profit margin to vary among different companies. link

So maybe you should do a little studying up on the basic logic of your argument before you use it.

Originally posted by apc

Originally posted by Solarskye
Do you know anything about net profit margin?

I'm glad someone is pointing this out quickly. Not knowing a thing about operating a business, the anti-capitalists always are quick to jump on this crap.

think-progress doesn't.

How about rather than merely bashing you actually show how Thinkprogess is wrong? Oh, thats right you can't.

Exxon Financial Data

OK, lets have a look at the data then shall we? Please note the profits after Tax and Total Operating Expenses are $39,500,000,000. Ok now add in the "Extra Items, whose cost is $5,977,900,000. The resulting income?

$33,522,100,000.00 so it looks to me like Thinkprogess's mistake was being to conservative in it's reporting of Exxon's profits.


Edit: for some reason the Financial data resets to Quarterly automatically, so please when you visit the link at the top right hand side of the screen click on "annual" to see the annual data sheet. Sorry for the inconvenience.


[edit on 26-1-2008 by Animal]

[edit on 26-1-2008 by Animal]

[edit on 26-1-2008 by Animal]

sigh...

2006: 10.45%
2005: 9.75%
2004: 8.50%
2003: 8.71%
2002: 5.60%
2001: 7.20%
2000: 7.61%

Their profit margin has risen less than 3% since 2000, most of that during the invasion of the Middle East. Exxon's prices reflect market supply and demand. If OPEC is thinking, "Hey... we might get nuked soon" guess what... prices goes up! Now whether or not Exxon gets their oil from them is irrelevant. Exxon sells at the price the market decides.

You want something to whine about? Whine about the jacked up taxes. Whine about the war. But take your anti-capitalist rhetoric to an economics class and in the mean time buy Exxon stock.

reply to post by apc


What is your point? That I should be happy that we live in a nation where the people who run corporations like Exxon possess the majority of the wealth in this nation? Who cares if their profits have only risen by less than 3% they still are in possession of a majority of the wealth.

For all the passion you have for capitalism tell me how things are suppose to work out if a small percent of people in this country are allowed to control the majority of the wealth. How are the rest suppose to pay for basics needs like homes, education, health care, food, energy, and the like?

I have no problem with capitalism that is controlled, but let unchecked it is a destructive elitist form of economics that supports the interests of the few, the elite.

I took macro and micro economics, and I am satisfied with that. It does not take a PhD to know we the people are being screwed.

You can make all the statements you want, but you fail to bring in anything convincing. Your bias is plain, and personally i could care less. Unless you want to participate in a debate in which you are trying to be informative and constructive there really is nothing for us to discuss. Your rhetoric is quite pointless as far as I am concerned.



[edit on 26-1-2008 by Animal]