OK - This is a bunch of crap if you ask me... I swear if I could I would start riding my bike to work to protest gas prices! Read this artical...

Exxon Record Breaking Year

This is what bothers me:



Profit for the fourth quarter of 2006 declined to $10.25 billion from $10.71 billion Exxon earned in the 2005 quarter — a record quarterly profit for any U.S. public company



This is freaking stupid, this huge company is ripping off all of us small guys to get rich. Gas prices is one of the big reasons FORD is hurting (the Truck and SUV market). The thing is, there is little to nothing that we can do about our gas prices.... Ohhh... This is not what I wanted to read this morning.....


GURRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

dude ive got that in my wallet. pocket change.
haha

 

Zach...what kind of APR do you have? I might need a loan....

 

oh idk 1.5% works for me

 

Sweetness!

 

This is how I get to work now for that very reason:

 

My new mode of transportation....

 

If percent of profit is based on selling price, then higher selling prices result in more profit. How is this "ripping" people off?

Price gas in Europe lately?

This is how capitalism works you know: you sell a product and if people want it enough they'll pay your prices. More of Matt's approach and less driving and Exxon will make a lot less money.

You can't have your cake and eat it too: keep demand up and expect prices to stay down -- especially with supply problems and uncertainty being what they are.

Sorry, but this bash is unrealistic and smacks of simple class warfare.

You completely neglected to mention gross earning: 377.64 billion.

Doing the math: 377.64 / 39.5 = 10.46

So, the company made a 10.5 % profit on their earnings. You consider this EXCESSIVE? Don't you run a business? What's your profit margin? Aren't we getting ripped off? Gosh, Charles, a little transparency is in order here like these publicly held companies, I think.

So, please post your earnings and profit so we can see if you're one of the good guys who doesn't make any money.

I'm so tired of hearing business run down because they make money. Give it up folks, you should know better.

Next time do the math before you complain. Sorry if that sounds harsh but this whole class-warfare rabble-rousing type of post deserves it IMO.

 

This question is a bit off topic, but it just came to mind and made me curious...

in the gas station business, is it like any other form of business where there might be a few different names all owned and run by one large business? for example, i know there's Exxon gas stations, but does Exxon run any other gas stations??? like amaco, or texaco, or hess, BP, etc.... i was just wondering because i have no idea if they're all out there on their own, or if they were all owned by just a few oil companies.

 

In NJ, the oil companies are not allowed to run gas stations. They must provide franchise or leases to independent companies to run the stations. State law.

However, I question how independent those companies are.

Many gas stations are like franchises: private ownership with contractual agreement with the brand/supplier.

 

N3elz's first post.

^

Yes We all Hate it when "The man" Is doing good, but we are quick to take advantafe of him when he is down! Newsflash Exxon doesn't set their Prices! The Futures market does. So this year they made a profit, Next year they could tank and have to lay people off, Stop exploring For new sources of oil, and there stockholders will lose their investment. Are you guys saying you wouldn't buy gas if it was 60 cents a gallon and they are losing money on it, because you are so moral that you couldn't take advantage of them?

~HJ

 

that's what i figured. Thanks John!

 

It wouldn't be so bad if the oil companies didn't cry to the world about not making any money when this oil fiasco started, and then turn around the next quarter with the biggest profit in oil history.

 

Once again, the media has twisted the story somewhat. Citicorp, Altria(cigarette manufacturer), and Merck all made more profit per dollar than Exxon. Merck, a pharmaceutical (sp?) company, made 25.4 cents for every dollar of revenue in 2004. That's 2.5 times Exxon ratio. Banking and pharmaceutical companies are always the most profitable companies. Whose products do you need more? Medicine or fuel? Hmmm....

 

Yay for Exxon!!!!!

 

Talking to an MBA here about this, he indicated that often companies with around 10% or less profit are ripe for dumping by stockholders. It's considered a very marginal profit margin and flirting with losing serious value in the market (which translates to the company itself being worth less, credit availability dropping when needed, etc.)

Always something to consider when you look at a publicly traded company. They MUST perform well or their stock price will drop as people sell out their interests.

Not that Exxon is likely to suffer much from this. Most investors look at more than just profit margin and Exxon Mobil has other value to it I'm sure. Just putting that 10.5 % number in a deeper perspective.

 

John -
I agree somewhat with you... 10% earnings isn't uncommon in the small bussiness world. But when you are talking 377.64 BILLION dollars, 10% is steap!! This is the best that any American Based company has done in HISTORY! But yet, mid-year they complain about cost's and say that the prices have to increase... C'mon... Let's be realistic.... John, at what point can they say, OK, this is enough RESERVE money... 40 Billion? 50 Billion??? It isn't all % based...

Anyways, I didn't want this to become a bashing session... It is just interesting, and something that bothers me as a individual paying $2 Gallon for gas.

 

Well, Charles, I'm definitely with you on gas PRICES -- but you can't lay it at the feet of Exxon necessarily.

Still, I must say: what is a virtuous profit percentage? If someone can define that for me, and a "curve" to show how it changes with respect to revenue, I'd like to see it.

Put that way, it sounds silly doesn't it? Virtuous profit levels? By whose standards, lol?

And yet, that's what this argument seems to be trying to establish.

But if you're just blowing off steam about prices, that makes sense. I just didn't agree (and still don't) with your premise about profit.

 

Hmm, more profit = more money for helicopter pilots flying in the gulf... Go Exxon!
Seriously it's a business. The purpose of any business is to make money, let it go. It's not like it's a huge profit margin.