Soooo....

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by MouseWife

Well sure, athletes and celebrities make a lot of money and I haven't heard of them not ever being paid.

It doesn't make it right. If things were put into a more realistic amount, perhaps certain things would balance out. I am not saying they are the reason for the cost of gas, the two have nothing to do with one another. Just two thoughts that I had.

I didn't say the two were associated (athlete's pay and the price of gas) - I addressed them separately. Athlete's et. al. are paid as much as they are because they are worth it. (In theory at least: as a Dodgers's fan, I would say that Andruw Jones is not worth what he is paid, but that is a topic for another thread). They help teams win and/or are exciting to watch, so it makes the team more entertaining.

Originally Posted by MouseWife

What companies are you talking about that make similar profit? Other companies that gouge us?

Like I said, all the info was lost, but I do remember that Disney and Apple were two companies that made a HIGHER profit margin than the oil company I compared to (which I believe was Mobil as their announced profits shocked people at the time).

[RStar]

It's Saturday.

And I have to go to work today.

Bummer.......

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I didn't say the two were associated (athlete's pay and the price of gas) - I addressed them separately. Athlete's et. al. are paid as much as they are because they are worth it. (In theory at least: as a Dodgers's fan, I would say that Andruw Jones is not worth what he is paid, but that is a topic for another thread). They help teams win and/or are exciting to watch, so it makes the team more entertaining.


Like I said, all the info was lost, but I do remember that Disney and Apple were two companies that made a HIGHER profit margin than the oil company I compared to (which I believe was Mobil as their announced profits shocked people at the time).

Here's a good article about this.

Exxon nation. If Exxon Mobil were a country, its 2007 profit would exceed the gross domestic product of nearly two thirds of the 183 nations in the World Bank's economic rankings. It would be right in there behind the likes of Angola and Qatar—two oil-producing nations, incidentally, where Exxon has major operations.

<snip>

Ahead of the pack. Exxon Mobil's profits are 80 percent higher than those of General Electric, which used to be the largest U.S. company by market capitalization before Exxon left it in the dust in 2005. The new economy? Microsoft earns about a third as much money. And next to Exxon, the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, looks like a quaint boutique, with annual profits of about $11 billion.

<snip>

On the margin. The oil industry urges people to look beyond its profits to its profit margin: about 7.6 percent of revenues late last year. That's not much higher than the 5.8 percent profit margin for all U.S. manufacturing, and if you exclude the financially troubled auto industry from that analysis, the oil industry actually appears less profitable than most manufacturers, which were earning 9.2 cents on every dollar of sales.

But unrivaled returns on equity. However, profit margins across industries vary greatly based not on how well each business is doing but how capital- or labor-intensive it is. Oil is among the most capital-intensive. But look at the oil industry's profits compared with shareholder equity it has available for investment. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's most recent analysis of the oil industry's performance, released just last month, showed oil industry return on equity of 27 percent—about 10 points higher than that of other manufacturers. And it has been higher throughout this recent era of high world oil prices, just as it was back during the oil shock that hit in 1980.

Profit margins aren't the whole story.

[Not Afraid]

Sportin' a 'Stashe - for GD

[lindyhop]

I almost put this on the Vent thread but since it has a happyish ending...

Yesterday I drove from work in Costa Mesa to an employee luncheon at Five Crowns Restaurant in Corona Del Mar. Close to the restaurant my car started running rough and nearly stalling out every time I had to stop. This has happened before and the last time, three months ago, the mechanic said it was intermittant and I should bring it back if it happened again. Right. I got to the restaurant but I wasn't enjoying myself because I was worried about being far from home in rush hour traffic with a car that wasn't going far. I recently upgraded my AAA membership so I'm entitled to a 100-mile tow but there was a complication. I had intended to go back to work to change clothes and then head over to Disneyland to see Christmas finery so I'd left a bunch of stuff at work, including my house key.

Then my knight in shining armor arrived. He didn't even blink when I asked him to take me by work on the way to a repair shop 25 miles away. After we'd taken care of my car he drove me home. No Disneyland this time but a happy ending after all.

This time they're going to replace the part instead of just cleaning it. It should be ready in a couple of hours. And I'll get back to planning for the new car in my future. No more automotive adventures please.

[Disneyphile]

So, today's been productive so far. Halloween stuff is just about down, and we'll pull a few Yule items to start the transition for winter decor.

Tonight, I'm going to finish a sewing project, and we'll probably play some games too.

It's a good weekend so far!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Sportin' a 'Stashe - for GD

Check out Schweitzer Falls and his adorable kitty!

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Here's a good article about this.

Profit margins aren't the whole story.

I'll post one part of the article that you didn't as it is the basis of my post:

On the margin. The oil industry urges people to look beyond its profits to its profit margin: about 7.6 percent of revenues late last year. That's not much higher than the 5.8 percent profit margin for all U.S. manufacturing, and if you exclude the financially troubled auto industry from that analysis, the oil industry actually appears less profitable than most manufacturers, which were earning 9.2 cents on every dollar of sales.

In re-doing my research, using Income Statement data for each of these companies found on Yahoo Finance, I see the following data for each of these companies for their last complete fiscal year (typically 2007)

(all figures in billions of dollars)

• Exxon Mobil: $40.61 profit on $404.552 revenue: 10.0% margin
• General Electric: $22.208 profit on $172.738 revenue: 12.9% margin
• Wal-Mart: $12.731 profit on $378.799 revenue: 3.4% margin
• Disney: $4.687 profit on $35.51 revenue: 13.2% margin
• Apple: $4.834 profit on $32.479 revenue: 14.9% margin
• Altria $9.789 profit on $73.801 revenue: 13.3% margin (Altria is the parent corp of Phillip Morris)
• Hewlett-Packard $7.264 profit on $104.286 revenue: 7.0% margin
• IBM: $10.418 profit on $98.786 revenue: 10.5% margin

As you can see, EM's profit IS in line with many other companies. They just happen to be the largest US manufacturing company in terms of revenue, so their margin dollar figures will be also be the largest.

Or to put it in other terms, if each one of the companies listed about had the same revenue figures as Exxon Mobil, their comparative 2007 annual profit dollar figures would be:

1. Apple: $60.211 Billion
2. Altria: $56.660 Billion
3. Disney: $53.397 Billion
4. General Electric: $52.011 Billion
5. IBM: $42.664 Billion
6. Exxon-Mobil: $40.610 Billion
7. Hewlett-Packard: $28.179 Billion
8. Wal-Mart: $13.597 Billion

So, if you think that Exxon Mobil is making too much money, then you really should be going after Apple, Altria, Disney, GE, and IBM FIRST before criticizing Exxon Mobil.

FYI:

• GE was included in this comparison because they were in the story and because they are the largest US manufacturer that isn't an oil company or an auto manufacturer
• Wal-Mart was included in this comparison because they were listed in the linked US News story
• Disney and Apple were included because I referenced them in my previous post
• Altria, HP, and IBM were included because they are the rest of the non oil or auto listings in the top 10 largest manufacturing companies according to Industry Week.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Check out Schweitzer Falls and his adorable kitty!

I can haz tribulashuns?

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Check out Schweitzer Falls and his adorable kitty!

For those too lazy to look:




This guy looks (to me) a little like Harvey Korman:


UNITED STATES—A friendship club, 1951.


Nothing like sportin' a bad 'stache to go with the bad toup: