While you’re standing at the pump…
Let this headline tickle your brain:
Exxon’s Record Profit Humbles Analysts
Exxon’s fourth-quarter net income of $8.4 billion widely is considered the biggest quarterly profit ever for a U.S. public company. It exceeded Wall Street’s prediction by 21%, according to Thomson Financial. That amounted to a striking flub for analysts who follow the company.
These analysts said that they underestimated how Exxon’s efficiency and size would exploit the specific characteristics of today’s commodity market and send profit soaring. </i>
Ok, I have no problem with people making a profit. Free market, and all that. But perhaps my math is wrong, but this scenario strikes me as wrong. We’ve watched the price of a barrel of oil climb higher and higher, and common sense tells you that increased cost to the producer means increased cost to the consumer. But how much padding and frankly, “war time” profiteering is contained in the phrase exploit the specific characteristics of today’s commodity market…? Makes you wonder, don’t it?
