By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – It's Friday, so "It's Only Money," a review of the big and not-so-big stories of the week. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
Same story, different month: Unemployment rose two-tenths of a percent in April, to 6 percent. But payrolls were cut by only 48,000. When you consider in February employers cut 353,000 jobs, we have cause to rejoice. So what's the direction of the economy? It changes as each new piece of data is revealed. It's akin to the scarecrow on the road to Oz: "This way. No, this way. No, this way." Anyway, Greenspan thinks we are on a little better footing now that the war is over. But if we don't see any progress, another interest rate cut is in the cards. And one week after President Bush said he would like Greenspan to stay as Fed Chair, Alan flexed his autonomous muscle, reiterating to Capitol Hill he is not in favor of the proposed tax cuts. You gotta love this guy.
In earnings, I think we all expected the oil companies to post higher profits last quarter. But these earnings weren't just high, they were enormous. Exxon Mobil made seven billion dollars. Same time last year, two billion dollars. That's more than triple the profit. It's also one of the largest quarterly profits in US corporate history. Shell just about doubled its profit, and Chevron almost tripled theirs. And they can all thank higher oil prices. But the profit of one is the downfall of another. Just ask the airlines.
One thing the oil companies will have to do is pay more taxes on these profits. That's how the tax system works. So what do Enron, WorldCom and Qwest Communications have in common, besides all being under investigation for fraud for inflating profits? They want a refund back from the IRS for taxes paid on the fraudulent profits. They get one penny back, I'm on the next flight to DC.
For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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