ACP wrote:

Exxon 3Q 2005 gross profit 9.8%
Citigroup 2004 gross profit 15.7%
Altria Group 2004 gross profit 22%
Merck 2004 gross profit 25.3%

So there are other devils in the wood pile.


Aren't you comparing one quarter's profits for Exxon with a previoius
year's profits for the other companies?

Percentages can be deceiving. For instance, if Joe's Bait Shop and
Outboard Motor Repair made $10,000 in 2004 and managed to increase that
astonishing number to $20,000 in 2005, profits are up "100%". Somehow,
I think Exxon made more than Joe's Bait Shop.

What is more revealing is the total dollar amount of the profit and how
it has changed from previous years. What is more pertinent to a
discussion of how oil company profits influence the price of a gallon
of fuel at the fuel dock is an examination of how much corporate
profit, per gallon, is included in the price. That is currently about
90 cents, all in all done. It was closer to 50 cents in the spring of
2005.

Some of the firms you cite are drug companies. I think that's where the
current crop of oil execs learned their trade. "Oh, you don't want to
spend $400 per pill for your medicine? Well, you do have a choice. You
can die. (and we don't care, either way)."