Cry me a river: an oil company loses money

Nobody ever likes oil companies, of course.

But do remember, they run on a 9%-10% profit margin. And...how much is that cup of Starbucks again?

It's not their fault the rest of the third world is ditching mules and burros over the past 15 years to increase demand.

Also, if you have a reasonable stock portfolio, you probably do have some oil stocks.

 

Spot on.

To all these folks who wish the oil companies ill, yeah, more hurting companies is exactly what this economy needs. :

 

This one never gets old for me:

 

Well, yes and no...

HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil Corp. today reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33% from a year ago.
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The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world’s largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090130/BUSINESS07/90130024/Exxon+Mobil+shatters+profit+record

 

I don't think anyone wishes oil companies ill, but I don't think anyone feels sorry for them either.

 

So maybe somebody can answer this question: If 9 to 10 percent is an acceptable profit margin to oil companies ...

... WHY THE HELL ISN'T IT GOOD ENOUGH FOR NEWSPAPERS?!?!?!

 

Because we are run by incompetent greedy thugs. The oil companies are run by smart greedy thugs.

 

Should I have used larger type for that? Because I can always edit.

 

no no... that's good.

 

It's fun to rip 'big oil' but...

...after years of thinner newspapers, higher per-copy prices and weaker content, does Congress hold hearings, with grumpy Senators decrying the evils of 'BIG NEWSPAPER'?

 

Fens and I find rare common ground. Maybe incompetent is giving them too much credit. Brain-dead is more like it.

 

Here's what I don't understand about my Exxon stock ... they set a record in 2007 in earnings, broke it in 2008 ... and their stock price went down? Like, by a lot.

Doesn't seem to make much sense to me.