If profits tripled. And the amt per gallon stayed the same, Then the demand would have to approx. triple. You cannot believe efficiency shows and up and down trend mirroring the price or can possibly explain the gaudy profits.
http://www.beardbooks.com/the_failure_of_the_franklin_national_bank.html We need tough serious regulation.
http://www.erisk.com/Learning/CaseStudies/USSavingsLoanCrisis.asp more. They nees to be watched. They bare part of our government. It is our job to chase after them.
Why would the amount per gallon stay the same? If sales “increase” (in quotes because the sales increase is largely an increase in dollars, not in gallons) because the commodity prices are up, then the profit per unit will increase. If a farmer can grow wheat at a cost of $2.50/bu, and the price rises from $3.00/bu to $4.00/bu, then his sales “increase” by 33% and his profit increases by 200%. Of course that’s overly simplistic, especially in the case of oil and gas, because increases in the cost of oil result in increases in the cost of producing oil (because you need to burn some to pump it out of the ground and move it around, etc), but the point remains. All commodity prices float up and down. Does the fluctuating cost of soybeans give us evidence of a vast conspiracy of Midwestern farmers manipulating the price of cooking oil? Frankly you’re just being silly.
http://www.citizenworks.org/corp/tax/corp_tax_dodgers.php I am not anti corp… I think watching them is our job.
Have you read the responses I have gotten. These people believe gas corps make 10 cents per gallon. It is not my line. The oil companies say so. They lie.
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/ls421.htm they do not play nice.
Whatever figure they give per gallon is an average over some specified period of time. If you start talking about different periods of time where commodity prices have significant differences, the profit per unit isn’t going to be the same. I dunno, maybe it’s just having grown up on a farm and having seen firsthand how profit margins can vary wildly from year to year when prices are at the mercy of skittish commodity traders in Chicago and New York, but in all seriousness your rantings on this topic are downright amusing.
Gorsnak can you read. I NEVER said they make a set price per gallon. I joke at those who do. The oilmen got up in frt of congress and said that.
Just wondering, but is posting links with little comment a common “Great Debates” debating technique?
Frame of reference. People have accused me of being ati corp. I am not sure they are aware of the transgressions. I provide the links. If they read it the debate will slightly morph again. But they might better understand what I see as corporate misadventures ,And why I do not believe or trust the oil corps.
Hmmm. Post numbers 122, 123, 125 and 127 are links with, at best, one line addendums that are as meaningful as the overall message. This looks vaguely familiar. :dubious:
Thank you duffer your powers of observation are impressive. Twas explained one response up. Thanks for your help.
No one is claiming that the amount of profit per gallon remained the same. I freely acknowledge that oil companies now have higher profit margins than they had in the past. However, I also recognize that their profit margins are only slightly above average when compared to other industries.
If you want to dispute that their profit margins are average or you want to dispute that oil companies make roughly ten cents per gallon profit, then please produce evidence of this. All you have done so far is say that oil companies lie. Sorry, but just because you think that oil companies lie does not mean you are free to ignore all the evidence produced here that tears apart your conspiracy theories. People here have presented a variety of evidence to dispute your claims that oil companies are making record profits, that a GOP/oil company cabal manipulates prices around election times, and that oil companies raise prices at a whim. The only evidence you have produced is press releases of opportunistic politicians calling for investigations (and you forget to actually post news of the numerous FTC investigations that show no manipulation) or news stories mentioning Enron and banking scandals (completely unrelated to our discussion).
Face it, you have no facts on your side.
I provide sites .You say ten cents. You sure are compelling. No they are relevant. The corporations are controllimg . They have eliminated regulations with this administration. They have creative book keeping which I mistakenly thought no body could buy. You are a good little capitalist and I am sure they appreciate your blind loyalty.
Again, gonzo, if you have proof that the ten-cent figure is wrong or that oil company profit margins are setting records, then please provide it.
Did you read the sites I sent. The California sitre showing 48 58 cents per gallon in refining alone. You wont get it. You have presented no proof. I told you your case could be made at the Conoco site. That should worry you. That is not where I seek fair and balanced truth. Of course there is Fox News.
If it helps, my father is saying that T. Boone Pickens, through some arbitrage scheme, is why the price is inflated. I dunno.
Actually, gonzo, as I pointed out, your refining link is meaningless since cost and profit are counted in the same category. And, as someone else pointed out, profit margins are matters of public record. It’s not as if companies simply make up numbers. They have to give an accurate accounting. Of course, you’ll tell me that companies lie without providing any proof that oil companies have lied about their profits.
The burden is on you. You continually contend oil companies lie about their profits and that they make much more money in profits than reported. Please provide your proof.
They make profit off every step. The refining profit is called profit. They could claiim 10 cents in profit from refining and say 68 cents in profit per gallon. People might notice that.
Tyhe black and white profit and loss was the same color used by Enron and Arthur Anderson. Ever hear of creative book keeeping. Corporations hide profits and losses with the complicity of the auditors and government regulators.