Now, normally I'm pretty much of a joker when I post on the Board but today I heard from a friend who is an Executive of Shell Oil Company in Des Plains, IL and was advised that there WILL be a shortage of gasoline in the Southeast this fall and winter. I did NOT get any information about Diesel...should I get that I will pass it on.Most of you who know me should feel confident that I don't start rumors or add to Urban Legends. I only offer what I've stated as food for thought.NCbob
Wasn't it Chesty Puller who said that being surrounded makes the shooting easier?So, a little math on Exxon: Their SEC filing at the end of 2007 states that there are 8 trillion shares of common stock (plus a million or so)...has been for the last three years. If they returned $35.6 Billion to their investors, that "excessive" profit was less than $3 per share. Now, according to their current stock reporting, 52% of their stock is held by institutional and mutual funds. That's grandma's pension fund and Uncle Joe's retirement. All of the insiders (officers of the company), and all of the individual major holders COMBINED hold less than 1% of the stock. The largest individual holder holds less that 1 million shares. So, when we talk about taxing that "excessive" profit, for the most part, we are talking about that $3/share for the 100 shares of Exxon my grandma has in her pension fund. And that is on top of whatever income tax she would normally pay on that as well. Since when is my grandma boosting her pension fund by $300 "excessive"