Where the Power Really Lies

If you really want to know where the power (and the truth) is in American, ask yourself how in the middle of the "Great Recession" when mega-millions are unemployed, when 2 million people a year declare personal bankruptcy, when two million people a year have their homes foreclosed on them, when most personal bankruptcies include unaffordable medical expenses,

… when all these things are hammering away at our middle class, … with all this going on, … American's largest corporations are producing record profits, all-time records: Caterpillar, Apple, Microsoft, MacDonald’s ... Read on  

Corporate Profits Were the Highest on Record Last Quarter. By CATHERINE RAMPELL

The nation’s workers may be struggling, but American companies just had their best quarter ever. The New York Times Economix Blog: Visualizing Booming Profits (November 23, 2010)

American businesses earned profits at an annual rate of $1.659 trillion in the third quarter, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or noninflation-adjusted terms.

Top companies: Most profitable

Rank    Company    2010   $ (millions)

1          Exxon Mobil

            30,460.0

2          AT&T

            19,864.0

3          Chevron

            19,024.0

4          Microsoft

            18,760.0

5          J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

            17,370.0

6          Wal-Mart Stores

            16,389.0

7          International Business Machines

            14,833.0

8          Apple

            14,013.0

9          Johnson & Johnson

            13,334.0

10        Berkshire Hathaway

            12,967.0

11        Procter & Gamble

            12,736.0

12        Wells Fargo

            12,362.0

13        Coca-Cola

            11,809.0

14        General Electric

            11,644.0

15        Intel

            11,464.0

16        ConocoPhillips

            11,358.0

17        Citigroup

            10,602.0

18        Hewlett-Packard

            8,761.0

19        Google

            8,505.0

20        Goldman Sachs Group

            8,354.0

21        Pfizer

            8,257.0

22        American International Group

            7,786.0

23        Cisco Systems

            7,767.0

24        Philip Morris International

            7,259.0

25        Ford Motor

            6,561.0

26        PepsiCo

            6,320.0

27        General Motors

            6,172.0

28        Oracle

            6,135.0

29        Eli Lilly

            5,069.5

30        McDonald's

            4,946.3

31        Morgan Stanley

            4,703.0

32        UnitedHealth Group

            4,634.0

33        Amgen

            4,627.0

34        Abbott Laboratories

            4,626.2

35        Devon Energy

            4,550.0

36        Occidental Petroleum

            4,530.0

37        United Technologies

            4,373.0

38        Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold

            4,336.0

39        Kraft Foods

            4,114.0

40        3M

            4,085.0

41        American Express

            4,057.0

42        Walt Disney

            3,963.0

43        Altria Group

            3,905.0

44        Comcast

            3,635.0

45        Corning

            3,558.0

46        United Parcel Service

            3,488.0

47        CVS Caremark

            3,427.0

48        PNC Financial Services Group

            3,412.0

49        Home Depot

            3,338.0

50        U.S. Bancorp

            3,317.0