[nopardons]

Gee, then I guess that grocery stores are a scam. Why don't you buy your food directly from the producers? And what about canneries? They're leeches and scam artists too?

You have NO idea what you're talking about and don't understand this whole topic. Pity that...............

[gore_sux]

Gee, then I guess that grocery stores are a scam

Not quite the same scale of "scam" as the brokerage houses / banks. Below is a small comparison of the operating margins of various entities (a measure of how much you are being over-charged for services provided):

WALLSTREET TYPES
JP Morgan - 39.17%
Goldman Sachs - 33.07%
Merril Lynch - 30.83%

GROCERS
Krogers - 3.18%
Albertsons - 3.08%
Safeway - 3.52%

Not quite on the same scale are they?

How about BIG BOX STORES
Home Depot - 11.53%
Walmart - 5.88%
Target - 8.11%

MANUFACTURING?
Caterpillar - 9.8%
Boeing - 3.15%
Deere - 9.8%

"EVIL" BIG OIL must be bigger right?
Exxon Mobil - 15.38%
BP - 9.15%

SOFTWARE GIANTS
Microsoft - 42.19% (hey we found one!)

Keep in mind that these margins probably already deduct the cost of "bonuses" as they are construed as operating costs.