What Happened to The US Car Industry In Detroit???

FREE TRADE: Japan (Toyota, Honda),
Korea (Hyunai, KIA)
Germany ( VW, BENZ)........

"The data is relatively upbeat in the U.S., which contrasts with the situation in Europe," said Omer Esiner, senior market strategist at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington, D.C. "

Another "intellectual" comment by an "elite" Senior market strategist on the beltway. I wonder who he is really working for, or is he just another special interest non-profit group sucking America dry.

Get out of your glass enclosed Wardroom and hit Main Street and see how ridiculous your "relative" comment is.

"Consumers paid less for gas"......yeah, right.....why has a gas station two blocks from my home sitting on $ 3.739/gal for the last two weeks.

Where I live, gas has gone down about 7 cents since early Oct. However, diesel has gone UP nearly 40 cents. It has gone up 18 cents in the last 3 days.

Not to mention that, as I write this, oil has surged to over $101 a barrel. This dip is insignificant and very temporary, as we’ll all see, and very soon.

Still another attempt by MSNBC to put lipstick on a pig.

TJ - Suggest you do a little homework before pointing your fat finger at the oil industry. Case in point: Yesterday, the geniuses at the State Dept decided to stop progress on the Keystone XL pipeline – one of the most important updates to America’s energy infrastructure in decades.

Here’s what happened yesterday: The State Department announced that it wants to explore a new route for the Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. This just happens to push the deadline for final approval of the pipeline beyond the 2012 election.

This disappointing decision comes after energy producers, consumer groups, and organized labor worked with all levels of government for more than three years.

• Since 2008, the government and industry have held more than 100 open houses and public meetings in six states and Washington, D.C.
• The government and industry have also gathered thousands of pages of supplemental information and responded to questions submitted by state and federal agencies.
• In the end, the State Department studied 14 different routes and issued a draft environmental impact statement (EIS), a supplemental draft EIS, and a final EIS that totaled more than 10,000 pages. The entire review process to date has generated more than 300,000 comments from the public.

After all this work, the State Department’s own findings indicated that the pipeline would pose no undue risks to people or the environment – neither by the type of crude it would be carrying, nor by the safety of the pipeline itself.

The decision to delay this project may please some activists, but it will be the American people who will ultimately pay.

Here’s the cost in terms of jobs:

• The construction and manufacturing of the more than 1,600-mile-long pipeline would create an estimated 20,000 new jobs.
• Local businesses along the pipeline route would benefit from an estimated 118,000 spin-off jobs.
• Finally, such analysis does not include the benefits flowing to our economy from the reliable, affordable energy that would be brought from our neighbor to the north.

Keystone XL is important for our economic growth because it would tie us more closely with our No. 1 energy trading partner in Canada. It would help diversify America’s energy sources, giving our economy flexibility as the world’s demand for energy rises.

No one would deny that the U.S. economy faces significant challenges. One of the most important ways we can revive our economy and create more jobs is to update our energy infrastructure to bring reliable, affordable energy to U.S. industry and consumers.

The decision to push back the timeline for the Keystone XL pipeline does nothing to help us achieve this goal, much less the president’s stated goal to look to neighbors like Canada for “stable and steady and reliable sources” of energy.

"The decision to push back the timeline for the Keystone XL pipeline does nothing to help us achieve this goal,....."

Mr. Obama's decision to DELAY Keystone is one simple answer: Environmentalists.

After pressure from this tree hugging group, Mr. Obama "delayed" this initiative. He will continue down his merry path of his "Go Green" technology NO MATTER how much it will cost the American taxpayers.

MSNBC.....time to cut articles like this and do what you do best.....SLAM Mr. Obama's opponents. Why don't you report on his domestic and International failures ?

...the pipeline would pose no undue risks to people or the environment.

That is really odd. The reason I heard for the delay was because of the potential environmental impacts should the pipeline leak.

OilmanMD: I will hold my judgment until I see the response from State. I have seen similar reports in the past from BP and Exxon, and the planet suffered massive environmental disasters not to mention loss of life as a result of trusting them. Let's see what State has to say.

TJ....uh huh...here's what they have to say: hot air.

"Oilman"

You are full of all kinds of factual data, quite prolific. Lotta' global economy and new world order hyp......

Could you enlighten us all, and explain why at a time that OUR economy (not to mention the world economy) is suffering a wide array of economic setbacks and turmoil, that MobilExxon earned roughly 24 billion dollars in profit during the last two quarters ? This should be good. JMJ

JMJ - I would love to put you in your place.

First, a couple corrections for you...it's ExxonMobil (not MobilExxon) and XOM's 2011 earnings as of 3Q11 were $31.6 billion (after tax).

Secondly, since your eyesight seems to only focus on the earnings number, I'll take a few extra minutes to explain this in a fashion so that even the brain dead will be able to understand:

• Like most major oil companies, ExxonMobil is a global company with operations extending across 60 countries. Total 2011 revenues (as of 3Q11) were $364.8 billion. In terms of percentage of sales, an 8.6% profit margin isn't exactly the crime of the century. Additionally, (and to rebuke TJ's blissfully ignorant "Big Oilis very much responsible for the lack of spending in this country" statement), ExxonMobil has spent $26.7 billion on capital and exploration so far in 2011. Lastly, approximately $23.7 billion was paid in income taxes to the US and other countries in which they operate. (these are public figures...look them up.)
• As to why oil companies are remaining healthy despite worldwide economic woes, the answer is really quite simple. Emerging economies have caught up with developed economies and the global thirst for energy is outpacing production capabilities...it's simple supply and demand of a commodity that will soon be gone and prices are determined by the world markets which are HEAVILY influenced by speculation, civil unrest, and economic upturns/downturns. Having said that, nobody was complaining in the years up to 9-11 when crude was selling at $20/bbl and oil companies were barely scraping by. Our costs to pull it ouf the ground was roughly $15-18/bbl then....now it's about $25/bbl. With crude prices now in the $100-$120/bbl range, there-in lies the money that oil producers have been making. Most people seem to think that oil producers making their money at the pump...not so. Oil companies make most of the profit margin selling crude on the open market.

What I find particularly funny is that the profit margin for many companies (Apple as an example) is much higher than 8.9% and nobody says a word!

What I find particularly funny is that, when a company is doing well and has never gone to Uncle Sam to ask for handout like companies that have flopped because of piss poor management, it is vilified for doing well and, at the end of the day, keeping tens of thousands of people employed.

What I find particularly funny is that people seem to think in a free market based economy, these vilified companies are expected to just dole out their profits to the masses like they are some kind of charity. (sidebar note: ExxonMobil donated over $300 million to charity organizations in 2010)

What I find particularly funny is that people seem to think it's the oil companies that are "ripping everyone off" when they are doing nothing more than any other company with regards to tax deductions (sidebar note: This notion of "tax breaks specifically for oil companies" is total rubbish.) You can thank your Republitard contingent in Washington for the tax deduction math as it pertains to US based corporations doing business in the US and abroad.

So JMJ...I'm guessing this is where you start whining that, regardless of above, XOM should just "hand it over?" Um..ya...right. Don't hold your breath on that.

"Oilman", you're not man enough to put anyone in his place, just another corporate profiteer.

You've got some nerve defending these bloodsucking BIG OIL multinationals. The $31 billion figure along is mid boggling. And don't reduce solid dollar figures with your cute percentages. The world economy is in turmoil while your buds rake in every dollar they can, to hell with existing marketing and economic factors.

We, as a Nation have demonstrations in virtually every major city, face untold foreclosures, business closings, high unemployment, an accelerating disparity in wealth, spiraling inflation, and a Corporate America out of control, and can you blame them with the example the oil industry sets. No morals, no ethics, just feed that bottom line. Gas and oil are directly related, and the prices bare NO resemblance to what's called a fair profit.

If we had the government that our founding father had intended, many if not most of your BIG OIL buds would be doing considerable time in the Federal Pen.

Most if not every Middle Class American sees whats going on as we speak. It's the takers that ignore the common good and fill their pockets. Seriously, how the hell do sleep at night "Oilman".....with your portfolio, you'll bend it. JMJ

JMJ -

You are so f*cking jaded and ignorant it is mind boggling and I can see that continuing this exchange is a waste of my time because you have the intelligence of a house plant.

I am a middle class American...I paid over $84,000 in Fed, state, municipal and property tax last year so don't give me this bullsh*t about what middle class America thinks. I sleep quite well at night thank you very little!!

This is a free market economy. If you want to start "regulating" how much money people (and corporations) make then I suggest you pack your sh*t and move to a socialist or communist country where that type of regulation occurs.

I presented SOLID numbers above that have been independently audited and all you can do is spew your whiny sh*t....WHAH WHAH WHAH!

JFS64,

You need to shop around, you will be surprised how big of a difference there is from store to store and week to week. Too many people don't care to do their homework and end up paying way too much. Our only punishment to big business is if we do our homework and shop around for the best price.

I agree Robert. I think these oil companies think we have all become numb to the price of gas. But it really hasn't dropped to be any real significance to people.

"Look at all the unethical activities, if not illegal, that this administration is involved in"

Lets see your list?

declaytor..........Excellent. God Bless, n' keep posting. JMJ