GREG ALAN, CUB REPORTER

Once again it has apparently fallen upon me to inform you. I really "don't get" the news media. They're either purposely lying or leaving out information because they have an agenda, or they're using the news to pump the ratings for one of their argue shows later in the evening.

Big Oil is at it again. And again the news media leaves out a very easy to find, but very important fact.

DISCLAIMER: I am not paid by any oil company. I couldn't tell you individually if I had any oil company stock, but I probably have less than most people. I don't know anyone in the oil companies, nor do I plan on using my radio show to profit from the oil companies. I know no more about the oil companies than I do about women. In fact, probably less. I pump my own gas and constantly search for the lowest price in town just like you do. So again...I have no stake whatsoever in making a big deal out of this other than to make sure some journalists get their heads out of their arses and do their jobs...because frankly, this is getting silly to have to do this over and over and over again.

I'm going to do something that is probably illegal. I'm going to re-publish the entire article from the Yahoo (reprinted in the Quad Cities Times among others)...but encourage you to do like I did. Check it out for yourself. My comments are included in the text of the story...

Exxon Mobil posts record 4Q profit of $10.71 billion
The Associated Press

(this same story is running all over the wires...Yahoo, Google News, AP, CNN, etc...I just picked the easiest one to re-publish)

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. posted a record quarterly profit for a U.S. company on Monday — $10.71 billion in the fourth quarter — as the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from high oil and gas prices and demand for refined products.

(This should be good news, right? but note the entire basis of the article is about the AMOUNT of money they made...not their profit percentage. I'm sure they'll put that amount in here, don't you?)

The company’s earnings amounted to $1.71 per share, up from $8.42 billion, or $1.30 per share, in the year ago quarter. The result topped the then-record quarterly profit of $9.92 billion Exxon posted in the 2005 third quarter.

The recent quarter included a $390 million gain related to a litigation settlement. Excluding special items, earnings were $10.32 billion, or $1.65 per share. The result topped Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predicted earnings of $1.44 per share. Exxon shares rose $1.46, or 2.4 percent, to $62.75 in premarket activity.

Quarterly revenue ballooned to $99.66 billion from $83.37 billion a year ago but came in shy of the $100.72 billion Exxon posted in the third quarter, which was the first time a U.S. public company generated more than $100 billion in sales in a single quarter.

("balooned" is a rather interesting word choice, don't you think? Of course, if I were the "hate corporate America" type, I'd probably be pretty steamed by now that they're making so darn much money. I wonder though...how much that represents in a percentage? I'm sure they'll tell us in a bit. Let's keep reading.)

By segment, exploration and production earnings rose sharply to $7.04 billion, up $2.15 billion from the 2004 quarter, reflecting higher crude oil and natural gas prices. Production decreased by 1 percent due to the lingering effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which battered the Gulf Coast in August and September.

("Rose sharply" is another interesting phrase. Makes me think something fishy is going on here. Still wondering what the profit percentage is for the year, though...hmmm. Maybe the company didn't put that on their press release.)

The company’s refining and marketing segment reported $2.39 billion in earnings, as higher refining and marketing margins helped offset the residual effects of the hurricanes.

Exxon’s chemicals business saw earnings, excluding special items, decline by $413 million to $835 million, as higher materials costs squeezed margins. For the full year, net income surged 43 percent to $36.13 billion, or $5.71 per share, from $25.33 billion, or $3.89 per share, in 2004. Annual revenue grew to $371 billion from $298.04 billion.

That's it. The story is over. No mention of what percentage profit the amount of 10-billion represents. Neat trick, huh?

Let me tell you why this is important: Because the American people have been trained with years and years of sloppy journalism. That the number is more important than the percentage. When we talk of taxes...especially tax cuts for "the rich"...we talk of the AMOUNT of a cut a person making 2-million a year is getting. We don't do much math on our own in our own heads...so we practically keel over when we hear 50-thousand dollar tax cut...instead of the percentage that that represents (.025 percent). Believe me, I've heard people say it..."Jeez, that's one hell of a tax cut...I only got a 1-percent cut and he got a tax cut as big as my entire salary."

So what does 10-billion dollars in profit represent? 11-percent...for the industry as a whole, they saw profit margins of 9.5-percent.

If you find time and want to surf around a bit, you can find percentage of profit margin reports on virtually any company...and a whole lot of them are a lot more than 11-percent.

And to think I could do that without a degree in journalism. I dunno...maybe they're jealous because their profit margins are averaging...WHOA!!!...11-percent. That's funny. Maybe I should have said Newspaper Publishing profits BALOONED 11-percent...