The WaPost has the story.
Exxon Mobil is reporting a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for full-year earnings by a U.S. company, but fourth-quarter profits tumbled 33 percent.
The fourth-quarter decline is not a surprise with oil's swift 60 percent plunge in the final three months of the year.
The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which Exxon Mobil set in 2007.
How can they do this during the worst US Economy since the great depression?
So, I'm guessing they won't be announcing massive layoffs.
Maybe they could loan a few bucks to GM or Chrysler?
This is an unbelievable story. How can a company possibly post a record US profit in an economy like this? Go down half an inch from the headline on the WaPost and you see U.S. Economy Goes from Grim to Worse. Over at the New York Times, the annual bonuses at financial firms get front page, as Obama Calls Wall Street Bonuses 'Shameful'.
This isn't accidental.
It's obscene.