Does anyone see this as a surprise?

[Independent Harry]

Many Americans are struggling to make ends meet because of $75 and $100 trips to the gas station.

Executives at oil companies are getting rich because of those same trips. And what do those CEOs have to say for themselves?

"It's not our fault" -- or something along those lines.

Big Oil CEOs are pulling down record pay even as their companies tacitly concede they didn't do anything extra to earn it. When anyone asks why gasoline costs $4.50 a gallon, they cite factors beyond their control, such as speculators or global demand.

That doesn't stop these CEOs from cashing in. Their pay hinges largely on two things: profit and stock price. It's no surprise that an oil company's profit would rise with the price of oil, as would its stock price. The CEO doesn't have to be a genius. A pulse will suffice.

"They are getting a gift for being in the right place and being lucky," said Mark Van Clieaf of MVC Associates International, a consulting company that advises boards on pay for performance.

And don't buy the pleas of innocence. These CEOs negotiated pay packages that compensate them with millions of dollars during normal years -- and during times like now, stock awards propel their pay into the stratosphere.

Chief executives at big oil companies such as ExxonMobil (XOM, news, msgs), Chevron (CVX, news, msgs) and ConocoPhillips (COP, news, msgs) earned from $15 million to $21.7 million last year, well above the $9.9 million median for CEOs at S&P 500 ($INX) companies, according to The Corporate Library. Plus, these energy company CEOs are now sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of incentive stock and options grants.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/DidOilExecsLuckIntoRecordPay.aspx

[Moby]

What in Bush's or Cheney's past would make anyone believe that this wouldn't happen. This is a chance for the supporters to offer some facts.

Hog is welcome to tell some fairy tale as I'm starting to enjoy them.

[Binky]

What in Bush's or Cheney's past would make anyone believe that this wouldn't happen. This is a chance for the supporters to offer some facts.

Hog is welcome to tell some fairy tale as I'm starting to enjoy them.


Ok boys, stop pickin' on Hog. He can't help it he's a realist. Nor is it your fault you are both a goofus!

LOL!

[disrupter]

Adults realize that 'fault' is often irrelevant to their lives,
responsibility is what they take on for the benefit of themselves.

If you don't like being yanked by the dog(s)
you detach yourself [as best you can] from the dog(s).

Blaming the dog for being a dog is laughably pointless.
Like calling it the work of Satan or some other bullshit.

Make it so you are as unexposed to the shocks of the marketplace as possible. If you have intelligence, apply it.

[SeedyROM]

"Hog a realist" is like saying George Orwell was a normal man! Orson Welles too!

[Smurf-Herder]

Many Americans are struggling to make ends meet because of $75 and $100 trips to the gas station.

Executives at oil companies are getting rich because of those same trips. And what do those CEOs have to say for themselves?

"It's not our fault" -- or something along those lines.

Big Oil CEOs are pulling down record pay even as their companies tacitly concede they didn't do anything extra to earn it. When anyone asks why gasoline costs $4.50 a gallon, they cite factors beyond their control, such as speculators or global demand.

That doesn't stop these CEOs from cashing in. Their pay hinges largely on two things: profit and stock price. It's no surprise that an oil company's profit would rise with the price of oil, as would its stock price. The CEO doesn't have to be a genius. A pulse will suffice.

"They are getting a gift for being in the right place and being lucky," said Mark Van Clieaf of MVC Associates International, a consulting company that advises boards on pay for performance.

And don't buy the pleas of innocence. These CEOs negotiated pay packages that compensate them with millions of dollars during normal years -- and during times like now, stock awards propel their pay into the stratosphere.

Chief executives at big oil companies such as ExxonMobil (XOM, news, msgs), Chevron (CVX, news, msgs) and ConocoPhillips (COP, news, msgs) earned from $15 million to $21.7 million last year, well above the $9.9 million median for CEOs at S&P 500 ($INX) companies, according to The Corporate Library. Plus, these energy company CEOs are now sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of incentive stock and options grants.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/DidOilExecsLuckIntoRecordPay.aspx


How do you compare CEO pay?

Look at Microsoft and Harpo. You're comparing apples and oranges. How about the money professional sports pays players? You don't think that's excessive?

BTW, a lot of that oil stock is part of millions of people's pension plans. It's not like the CEOs are pocketing all the profits.

[Independent Harry]

How do you compare CEO pay?

Look at Microsoft and Harpo. You're comparing apples and oranges. How about the money professional sports pays players? You don't think that's excessive?

BTW, a lot of that oil stock is part of millions of people's pension plans. It's not like the CEOs are pocketing all the profits.

Come on then Smurf, we all know how that works. Those people own maybe 40% of the cmopany while the executives and board own the rest. So the people making th emoney are the CEO's. I think its ridiculous the cost of producing oil hasn't gone up that much, but there profits have skyrocketed. It's called giving the big dick to the consumers asshole. And they laugh all the way to the bank...

[SeedyROM]

Research Goldman Sach's profit from trading oil. This quarter Goldman news sites did not find how much profit was from oil, but I'm sure they brag about it when bonuses are handed out.

I'll see if I can find a wallstreet bonus article, at Xmas time bonuses can be 2 to 25 times the annual salary. They live high on the hog cause the hog gets a fat$$$

http://seekingalpha.com/article/81876-goldman-sachs-always-finds-a-way-to-profit
The higher price of energy and other commodities pushed that business "to a near record," Viniar said. Goldman does not break out how much its commodities business made.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs
Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (trading in interest rate and credit products, mortgage-backed securities and loans, currencies and commodities, structured and derivative products), Equities (trading in equities, equity-related products, equity derivatives, structured products and executing client trades in equities, options, and Futures contracts on world markets), and Principal Investments (merchant banking investments and funds). This segment consists of the revenues and profit gained from the Bank's trading activities, both on behalf of its clients (known as flow trading) and for its own account (known as proprietary trading).

Around 68 percent of Goldman's revenues and profits are derived from Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities [15] Upon its IPO, Goldman predicted that this segment would not grow as fast as its Investment Banking division and would be responsible for a shrinking proportion of earnings. The opposite has been true, however, and resulted in Lloyd Blankfein's appointment to President and Chief Operating Officer after John Thain's departure to run the NYSE and John L. Thornton's departure for an academic position in China.

[Smurf-Herder]

Come on then Smurf, we all know how that works. Those people own maybe 40% of the cmopany while the executives and board own the rest.

No, I don't know how that works.

Please post a link, with a copy&paste excerpt showing me that the stockholders only own 40% of all oil companies.

BTW, that isn't what I was talking about anyway.

Ownership of stock and CEO salary aren't the same thing.