EXXON Quarterly Profit 5th Highest Ever (3-MONTH PROFIT: $8,400,000,000.00)

AP ^ | Apr 27 06 | STEVE QUINN

[RedCell]

FYI... I didn't start the thread or post the article. I was just replying and putting my comment out there equating to rolling eyes on the "audacity" that a company should make a profit.

[HawaiianGecko]

This whole discussion is so rich and fraught with demagoguing and I've slapped my forehead so many times from reading about every other post, that it hurts.

Any person that offers me a needed product or service for cost plus 9% is doing me a favor and a great service.  Go buy some furniture where it's cost plus about 200%, or jewelery, or a damned filet mignon. That filet came from a tenderloin that cost a rancher the same to produce as did the arm roast, yet it has 8-10 times the markup. But, I don't see these people out to demagogue the cattle industry?

It's appears no less than amazing that $3 gas in the United States is called gouging, yet the Europeans aren't throwing a fit over $6 gasoline.  Clearly something is different. They are either wiser than many in our country or more stupid.  Or maybe it's because they don't have any politicians pulling knots in their tails over the price of gasoline or if they do, maybe it's because they aren't buying the BS.

[festus]

Spoken like a true evil republican ;-)

LOL. I'm right with you in that sentiment.

Go Exxon !

[jec41]

I suffered through the rank stupidity and ignorance at the oil company exec hearings last year. There was no way the execs could talk sense into some of the utter fools on that committee. Lee Raymond did say several times that the industry didn't need incentives to drill or lower taxes or anything else but ACCESS to potential sources of energy. But why allow drilling when the enviro wackos and the anti-capitalists have oil companies to blame for their stonewalling?

He also said that tax incentives or subsidies had no effect on Exxon and most of their production and profit was not from the USA. He also implied that if Exxon was not welcome in the US they could move rather than be a hindrance to congress.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

now I fear she'll be screaming at her Congressman to go after the people responsible for ever larger percentages of energy coming from overseas when in fact the primary culprits are on either end of the conversation /rant off

I can understand you rant, however I hope she IS calling her elected representatives to complain......

In particular I hope she is pointing out that one of the primary reasons we have to import so much of our oil from foreign terrorists is due to the efforts of the environmental wing of the demorat party. Thanks to their combined efforts over the last fifty years, this country is woefully behind in nuclear technology, uses of coal, is behind in going after domestic sources of oil. Thanks to them, the U.S. is trying to make it on 70 and 80 year old refineries.

The bigger problem here is not so much how much profits Exxon makes, but are we going to get serious in this country about doing as MUCH as we can to get energy independent.

[Sonora]

.09 cents is peanuts - I love it when I'm right.

I wish the talking heads would cite this fact every time this thing comes up. It's simply a worldwide issue of supply and demand - big oil would have to be real stupid to gouge us as that fact would get out and all hell would break loose.

It is kind of ironic how the extra tax dollars are not getting that much press and very few talking heads are saying that much about it.

I guess we are all just little people with the government just ripping us off at will - even the Republicans and that fact is really sad.

[cockroach_magoo]

"Why would we push their margins below what they can realize with other investments? The average return in the market is 8-10%, they can make 3% in CD's, etc. If we think 9% profit is to much for Exxon, we better be prepared for them to make different investment choices."

You hit the nail on the head. If Exxon really wanted to make money, they'd convert all their refineries to financial institutions. And with a little extra prodding from Congress, they just might.