[Rhodes22-list] Political- media bias in reporting exposed... afailure to think things thru

Michael D. Weisner mweisner at ebsmed.com
Thu Jun 26 15:41:00 EDT 2008


Brad,

They may not need to hoard as much cash now that the ExVz verdict has been 
reduced to $500M ( 
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=ACBJ&date=20080626&id=8830945 ) 
.  Now, where did they hide my $$$?

Mike
s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
Nissequogue River, NY

From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 2:41 
PM>
> Mike,
>
> If you're smart enough to have bought XOM and hold it long term (wish I 
> had
> been so smart but some of my mutual funds do hold XOM) then you're smart
> enough to know that they are expected to pay dividends through 'thick and
> thin'.  I'd be glad to go through their accounting statements and point 
> out
> where your expected dividends are but (1) I hate accounting because I have 
> a
> degree in accounting, and (2) I'm lazy.
>
> Exxon/Mobile is enjoying record profits and ballyhoo! for them profiting 
> off
> their investments they made when oil was at $11 per barrel.  As the 14th
> largest producer of oil in the world and holding only 3% or the reserves,
> they don't exactly control the market.  You better hope they hoard some 
> cash
> and invest some cash into new reserves so you can collect a dividend check
> five years from now.  Of course, you could always vote with your feet and
> buy something else.
>
> Brad
>
> On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 12:01 PM, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Ed,
>>
>> Without commenting directly on the politics of your post, I wish to set 
>> the
>> record straight as far as the dividend situation with Exxon Mobil
>> Corporation.  As an XOM stockholder I find the following to be wholly
>> untrue:
>>
>>    > Now understand what those obscene profits are used for.  Yes, they 
>> pay
>> the
>>    > head fellow an obscene salary.  But then they pay all employees 
>> wages.
>> And
>>    > they pay something called dividends.  What are those dividends? 
>> They
>> are
>>    > payments to the shareholders of Exxon Mobile.
>>
>> I bought XOM shares in October 2005 for $55/shr with a quarterly dividend
>> of
>> $0.29.  The price of gas was about $2.50/gal
>> (http://www.longislandgasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx) here on LI.
>> Today, XOM trades for $87/shr (158% of '05) and pays a dividend of $0.40
>> (138% of '05)  (it was $0.32 until '07 when it rose to $0.35 and only 
>> last
>> month did it reach $0.40) while the price of gas is $4.399 (176% of '05)!
>> The 1Q08 profits were up 17% over '07, $10.9B
>> (http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_9121523).  While the stock price
>> has
>> done well, the huge profits have NOT been distributed to the 
>> shareholders.
>> Where's my cut?
>>
>> Mike
>> s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
>> Nissequogue River, NY
>>
>> From: "Tootle" <ekroposki at charter.net>Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 7:53 
>> AM
>> >
>> > The author of Brad's Power Line Blog said, "I think it's fair to say 
>> > that
>> > the
>> > mainstream media's interest in Iraq has always been driven largely by 
>> > the
>> > opportunity to spin events there in a way that advances a political
>> > agenda.
>> >
>> > It is important to understand what that unstated political agenda is. 
>> > In
>> > my
>> > own words I summarize it as the destruction of America.  And those on
>> > still
>> > on this forum say I am overstating or exaggerating the truth.
>> >
>> > Let us understand what Obama has said about oil companies.  He has said
>> > several times that an obscene or windfall profits tax is in order.  So
>> > what
>> > is the result of such a tax?
>> >
>> > Before you begin to assert that there are a real obscene profits made 
>> > by
>> > oil
>> > companies, that is for example Exxon Mobile, compare their profits with
>> > other businesses.  Let us compare their profits with say, Microsoft. 
>> > As
>> I
>> > read the numbers, Exxon Mobil is about one third ( 1/3rd ) as much.
>> >
>> > Now understand what those obscene profits are used for.  Yes, they pay
>> the
>> > head fellow an obscene salary.  But then they pay all employees wages.
>> > And
>> > they pay something called dividends.  What are those dividends?  They 
>> > are
>> > payments to the shareholders of Exxon Mobile.
>> >
>> > What are shareholders?  Those are holders of pieces of paper who say 
>> > that
>> > they are owners, stakeholders in that obscene company.  And who are 
>> > those
>> > noxious owners of shares of Exxon Mobile?
>> > Well, some are people, individuals, and members of this forum.  Others
>> are
>> > mutual funds, retirement funds and other companies.
>> >
>> > And who are these salubrious mutual funds and retirement funds?  Well
>> both
>> > are groups of individuals, people like on this forum who have gotten
>> > together and put their earnings from working into a collective fund 
>> > that
>> > purchases equities (aka stocks) for building a supply of money that can
>> be
>> > used later to pay for retirement.
>> >
>> > Simply put the obscene earnings that Obama wants nationalized are 
>> > savings
>> > by
>> > working people like most on this list.
>> >
>> > And what will be the result of such action by Obama and his cohorts? 
>> > It
>> > will be the weakening of companies so penalized.  It could even destroy
>> > those companies.  What would destruction of those companies mean?
>> >
>> > It would wipe out parts of mutual funds and retirement accounts.  All
>> that
>> > those people (you people) have worked for and saved for wiped out!
>> >
>> > And are there others who own stock in these companies?  Yes, foreign
>> > investors own stock in American companies.  And they do so because 
>> > those
>> > companies have been shown to be stable and secure investments of 
>> > capital.
>> >
>> > If you harm American companies or as Maxine Waters wants to do,
>> > nationalize
>> > them, what effect will that have on foreign investments?  The value of
>> > "ALL"
>> > American companies will become suspect and foreign investors will go
>> > elsewhere.  This would result in the value destruction of "ALL" mutual
>> > funds
>> > and failure of retirement accounts to pay retirees.
>> >
>> > And why do socialist want to do this?  The failure of the American
>> > economic
>> > system would make you all  wards of the state.  This result would give
>> the
>> > state power over all.  This religion would make them Gods on earth.
>> >
>> > My analylsis shows that Obama and his socialist friends and fellow
>> > travelers
>> > are despots, false gods or simply agents of Satan trying to enslave you
>> > all.
>> >
>> > Ed K
>> > Greenville, SC, USA
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Brad Haslett-2 wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Say it ain't so!  Brad
>> >>
>> >> ---------------
>> >>
>> >> (from PowerLine)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> War Coverage Fades Away
>> >>
>> >> The New York
>> >> Times<
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/business/media/23logan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
>> >confirms
>> >> what we've all observed: as violence in Iraq recedes, our news
>> >> outlets take less interest in events there:
>> >>
>> >> According to data compiled by Andrew Tyndall, a television consultant
>> who
>> >> monitors the three network evening newscasts, coverage of Iraq has 
>> >> been
>> >> "massively scaled back this year." Almost halfway into 2008, the three
>> >> newscasts have shown 181 weekday minutes of Iraq coverage, compared 
>> >> with
>> >> 1,157 minutes for all of 2007. The "CBS Evening News" has devoted the
>> >> fewest
>> >> minutes to Iraq, 51, versus 55 minutes on ABC's "World News" and 74
>> >> minutes
>> >> on "NBC Nightly News." (The average evening newscast is 22 minutes
>> long.)
>> >>
>> >> CBS News no longer stations a single full-time correspondent in Iraq,
>> >> where
>> >> some 150,000 United States troops are deployed.
>> >>
>> >> I suppose it's understandable, in a way, that coverage would be
>> >> "massively
>> >> scaled back" when there is less violence to report on. One wonders,
>> >> though,
>> >> whether the change may be due in part to the fact that network
>> executives
>> >> are more excited about publicizing apparent failure in Iraq than 
>> >> success
>> >> there.
>> >>
>> >> The journalists who complained to the Times about their employers' 
>> >> lack
>> >> of
>> >> interest in Iraq and Afghanistan also noted that interest has flagged
>> >> among
>> >> the American public:
>> >>
>> >> On "The Daily Show," Ms. Logan echoed the comments of other 
>> >> journalists
>> >> when
>> >> she said that many Americans seem uninterested in the wars now. Mr.
>> >> McCarthy
>> >> said that when he is in the United States, bringing up Baghdad at a
>> >> dinner
>> >> party "is like a conversation killer."
>> >>
>> >> I'm afraid that's also true. The conclusion of the Times piece is
>> >> revealing,
>> >> too:
>> >>
>> >> Journalists at all three American television networks with evening
>> >> newscasts
>> >> expressed worries that their news organizations would withdraw from 
>> >> the
>> >> Iraqi capital after the November presidential election. They spoke 
>> >> only
>> >> on
>> >> the condition of anonymity in order to avoid offending their 
>> >> employers.
>> >>
>> >> It's interesting that the journalists themselves link their employers'
>> >> interest in Iraq to the election. I think it's fair to say that the
>> >> mainstream media's interest in Iraq has always been driven largely by
>> the
>> >> opportunity to spin events there in a way that advances a political
>> >> agenda.
>> >> Remember al Qaqaa
>> >> <http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2004/10/008280.php>?
>> >> That story dominated the news for a week before the 2004 Presidential
>> >> election. It was a story of great importance, however, only as long as
>> it
>> >> could be used to help John Kerry's Presidential campaign. Once the
>> >> election
>> >> was over, al Qaqaa was never heard of again. With hindsight, that
>> episode
>> >> might be taken as a paradigm of far too much of the mainstream media's
>> >> coverage of the war.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 11:06 AM, Herb Parsons 
>> >> <hparsons at parsonsys.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> Wasn't there talk on here along the lines of most of the troops are
>> >>> supporting Obama? I know, I know, check the archives. I would, but 
>> >>> it's
>> >>> just not important to me...
>> >>>
>> >>> Tootle wrote:
>> >>> > Recently I received an email about media bias.  I tried to check it
>> >>> > out
>> >>> with
>> >>> > snopes.  They have finally replied:
>> >>> >
>> >>> > http://www.snopes.com:80/politics/war/raddatz.asp
>> >>> >
>> >>> > And when these things are done without any way to check things out,
>> >>> well
>> >>> > that is usually the way it is done by the Liberal Northeast Media
>> >>> types...
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Ed K
>> >>> > Greenville, SC, USA
>> >>> >
>> >>>
>> >>> __________________________________________________
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>> >>>
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>> >>
>> >
>> > --
>> > View this message in context:
>> >
>> http://www.nabble.com/Political---media-bias-in-reporting-exposed...-tp18071979p18089396.html
>> > Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>> >
>> >
>> > __________________________________________________
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>>
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