Others on this blog have taken issue with businesses making an honet profit, and have joined in the chorus to "do something" (translation: pass some dumbass law/tax).
I'm not really going to undertake the thankless task of sticking up for a billion dollar business (they aren't paying me enough), because I don't really need to. One would think the benefits of free-markets and capitalism would be self-evident; but it seems some people always need a refresher. So I'll offer to buy any willing taker a one-way ticket to North Korea as soon as you can pack your bags.
I can, however, correct some glaring factual errors made by the OC boys in the post below and in the comments.
Piccu writes:
Last year at this time, the oil industry made profits of $76.38 billion, notice that is not for the whole year, just up to this point in the year. This year the oil industry has already made a profit of $100.72 billion...Exxon Mobile's third quarter profits were less than $10 billion, not 100. $100 billion is revenue - know the difference. And the numbers released are for the third quarter of 2005, not through. Just to be clear, EM made $10 billion in three months, not $100 billion in 9.
I just thought it irksome that gas and oil prices are rising and the only ones that seem to be paying are the ones who aren't making $100 billion in profit after 9 months.
In the comments, Bratch asks:
If they were raising their prices to offset their extra efforts to continue supplying their product to the public following some natural disasters, why are aren't we seeing their profit margins at or near what they were in previous years before they doubled the price of a gallon of gas?EM's profit margins the last 5 quarters? In reverse order starting with the most recent: 9.5%, 8.6, 9.6, 10.1, and 7.3. Are you kidding? Everyone's calling for these guys' heads, calling them criminals and parasites, and this was only they're third highest PM the last five quarters. See more here.
This information is available online, free for everyone to see with just a quick clickity-click. I suggest you try doing so if you plan on blogging the fourth quarter numbers.
2 comments:
First of all let me start off by saying, if you plan on blogging primarily on our errors, quit your day job, you'll need the extra time.
Second, $10 billion or $100 billion, BILLIONS are being made and the profits are up regardless and while I guess you'd be happy paying top dollar for gas or paying $30,000 for an egg with an electric motor, I'm not.
The point about all of this is the oil companies raised the prices to offset a natural disaster and not only will they absorb the damages but they'll also put a little extra coin in their pocket that they most likely wouldn't have had a chance to wring out of us otherwise.
Screw the numbers, screw the percentages, that's the bottom line. This isn't "blogging the numbers," it's being pissed off at a bunch of old geezers trying to see if they can take just a little more of everyone's money and make it their own.
Regardless of how high the profits have gone and regardless if it's 10 billion or 100 billion, profits are up. They might not be the highest ever, but I would hazard to say that not every quarter the United States has a couple of major cities wiped off the map while they have to shut down a couple of major oil pipelines, but you might check my facts on that.
I'll expect a report by Tuesday or your fired.
And in a free market economy, they have the right. If you continue to have government intervene on the public's behalf, then you'll continue to see more and more problems. Competition in the oil industry has been greatly affected because of environmental regulations.
No one likes paying high gas prices, but the simple facts of increased demand with stable supply have led to the high gas prices. Add in a natural disaster or two, and things go up more.
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