Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Oil prices are mainly determined by futures oil trading - world wide.
Originally posted by: blackangst1
An "investigation" would be a fruitless endeavor. Study up on futures trading and how OPEC works and you will understand. It's not oil companies that set prices
Originally posted by: bctbct
Originally posted by: blackangst1
An "investigation" would be a fruitless endeavor. Study up on futures trading and how OPEC works and you will understand. It's not oil companies that set prices
I was wondering if it would have the same effect of a stock securities investigation on stock
Originally posted by: Steeplerot
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Oil prices are mainly determined by futures oil trading - world wide.
But of course investigating into the fact that this may not be totally true would help nothing, accountability, feh.
*reaches for that load of cash from oil exec*
Originally posted by: jackschmittusa
The net profits made by the oil companys in recent quarters suggest that they do have a significant influence on gas prices. And the average guy doesn't really care about oil prices, just the retail price of gas.
Originally posted by: jackschmittusa
The net profits made by the oil companys in recent quarters suggest that they do have a significant influence on gas prices. And the average guy doesn't really care about oil prices, just the retail price of gas.
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Originally posted by: jackschmittusa
The net profits made by the oil companys in recent quarters suggest that they do have a significant influence on gas prices. And the average guy doesn't really care about oil prices, just the retail price of gas.
This is what pisses me off about America. Everybody is willing to just swallow a number and cry foul.
Let me ask you. If you one year made $100 and only $10 of that was profit, and then the next year you made $200 and only $20 was profit, do you suddenly say you are more profitable? In absolute dollar terms, yes, but that doesn't mean crap when it comes down to making money.
Ratios, %, makes the difference, not absolute dollars. Whether the stock market goes up or down by 200 points means nothing unless you put it in relativity to another number, whether that is 10,000 or 100,000.
The oil companies get charged more for oil and they pass that on. Of course it's not going to be a 1:1 ratio, since operating costs and other costs are not linear with their product, that is just given. It is logical.
However, given the fact that the general American populace only want to blame others for their stupidity (ie SUVs) they are willing to pass the buck to the oil companies.
Ignorance to this fact is common. People would rather go into hysteria than study the problem (nuclear power, finance...etc) and come to a logical conclusion once all data is presented.
Personally, I hope oil hits $150/barrel, gas hits $6, and this country gets a rude awakening into reality. I hope exxon's profits go even higher, at least the pension, 401k, and other funds can benefit from it then.
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
I never disputed that "NET PROFIT" or (Total Revenue - Total Profit) or "bottom line", was a record breaking event. However, the significance of that event is worthless. It has absolutely no sigificance. It makes jackschnitt difference whether you double your absolute "net profit" if your expenses go up by just as much. Which is the point people miss, it doesn't matter if you make $20 off of $200 or $10 off of $100, you are still making only 10%. Now, if they were making $50 off of $200, or 25% profit, it would matter, but they aren't.
People grab onto the absolute number and treat it as some type of major number. *IT DOESN'T MATTER* as long as they are making the same (or near the same) %. Relative numbers are all that matter.
Why the hell do finance people, statisticians, and anybody else that uses quantitative analysis use relative numbers? Because it's the only way to put numbers in perspective.
EPS, profit, ROE, ROA, P/E, they are what matters, not just some stupid dollar figure that knuckle dragging morons attach themselves to.
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Then you are buying stock for the wrong reason. Being in the investment community, having studied it ad nauseum, I can tell you that absolute numbers, in the way many people interpret them (including Jack), mean jack squat.
If somebody were to tell you that they could double your profit within a year, you would wonder how. If they were to tell you that the only way for you to do that would be to invest double the amount, then you really haven't gone anywhere have you? Sure, you have made $20 instead of $10, but you have $200 invested rather than $100.