Exxon Mobil posts 8.9 Billion $ Profit - First Quarter 2006
 

Yeah, as long as they're not taking advantage......................

Shame on both of you.
You post garbage with apparently no real knowledge or understanding of what you are talking about.

XOM posted $36 billion profit last quarter which translated to approx. 10% net profit, this quarter they post under $9 billion. Assuming total sales are equivalent for both quarters (i haven't seen the official numbers yet) , they earned a 2.5% net profit this quarter! Those bastards. yea right.
Seriously, if you don't understand the details of what you are posting, don't post it.
If you do understand the details but choose to post in such a way as to try and decieve the more uninformed readers you are pond scum or even worse, lawyers. No offense ;)

sammyg2, looking at the chart, comparing 1st qtr 2005 profits with 1st qtr 2006 profits (standard business practice I believe) shows E-M made around $1.1 billion more in 1st qtr '06 in profits. I would assume, but could be wrong, that 1st qtr sales are similar from year to year, not similar to 4th quarter sales from the year before, since most all business compares similar quarters when judging their performance. I wouldn't take offense to the term lawyer since I think it's an honorable profession, even though I am not one, but if you choose to call me pond scum then you should be a little better informed yourself, or more closely look at the info displayed yourself. Don't be knee-jerk.
Thanks,
Dave

Oh, and by the way sammy, my original statement was not passing judgement, implying clearly that I didn't have all the facts.

Isn't profit what you make after deducting operating costs from sales income?

It would appear that either operating costs have declined or sales have increased. But we all know that operating costs have risen (hurricanes/political instability etc) or that is what the oil companies have said. Sale income is directly proportional to volume and sales price. I cannot imagine a sales volume increase that would account for this boost in profit. That leaves us with sale price. Seems to imply that given these three variables (operating costs/volume/price), the only thing that would account for the recent record profits the oil companies have enjoyed is that the sales price has risen well beyond any increases in operating costs.

Why isn't anyone whining about the exponentially higher profit MARGINS from Yahoo! or Microsoft or Starbucks? I wish gas receipts had to print out the taxes paid like you see on receipts at the grocery store or gun store. If you saw the approx. $.50 in fed. and state taxes you oaid on every gallon, you might not just be blaming the company that brings the gas to market.

But those taxes are a fixed cost in the price of gas. Their relative merits are a topic other than what we are discussing here as they have no bearing on profits being gathered by oil companies.

The only reason anyone CARES AT ALL about oil companies' profits now is because they think gas is too expensive. Did anyone whine about oil companies' low profits in the '90s? Did anyone say, "Gee, how are we getting away with $.95 per gallon?"? No. Taxes are a FAR larger share of the price of a gallon of gas than are the profits.

Why dont you guys buy some Exxon stock instead of whining about how much money they keep making?

Yeah. Where were you guys while flippers and investors were making killer profits in the housing market, driving prices up and out of the reach of many middle-class Americans? Windfall tax for house flippers?

And, we have a winner folks! My mind has been read yet again!

XOM is the ticker...

ah, I see we have quite a few middle-class Americans here...
:rolleyes:

So instead of trying to make a point at how the profits gathered by oil companies may be justified, you guys are instead telling me to worry about state and federal taxes on fuel, invest in their stock to make some money for myself and be indignant at real estate investors and the effect they have had on housing prices?

Thanks for the help anyhow.

How are their profits unjustified? I believe their profits are high, but they aren't ridiculous. Similiarly, if a housing flipper wants to speculate and take some risks for a potential great reward, more power to 'em.

Basically, at what level are profits justified or unjustified?

No, I'm telling you that people's anger toward profits is irrational and approaches socialism. A bigger chunk of the price of a gallon is taken by the feds and states, who do nothing to bring the gas to market. In fact, they do plenty to make it more difficult and expensive to bring it to market. 10% is a very moderate profit margin. Umpteen billion dollars sounds obscene, but when it comprises a 10% or 10.5% profit margin, you should understand that you beef does not lie with the oil companies. Better yet, you should understand that we have it pretty good here and do not have a birthright to cheap gas. Plenty of countries pay twice as much and that's with a lower per-capita income and much higher marginal tax rates. We have it very good here.

Let's see where we pay taxes....

Federal Income tax.
State , income tax,
excise tax on car,
gas taxes,
water taxes,
utility taxes,
real estate taxes,
phone taxes,
capital gains taxes,
sales taxes,
(did i miss anything?)


on pretty much everything, we pay taxes on, in most cases, we get DOUBLE taxed...

and other countries have it better? how?

I don't know of one country that has it better than we do. And I've been to a lot of them.

voters are so confused they don't know who to blame for higher fuel prices.