Seeing that Countrywide is being purchased by Bank of America, doesn't that mean Bank of America gets a bye into the Final Four?

Man, I think the health insurers got off easy.

Unsurprising...Exxon is on here because they are a business who makes money...fuckin' capitalism.

funny how BoA is competing against itself (Countrywide).

Exxon isn't just a business that makes money, they're a business that makes a shitload of money and then cries to the public saying they aren't making enough, so they raise prices.

@chucklebuck: I agree. Dang, I was hoping at least one of them would get in there.

In fact, no one that's caused any deaths/physical harm in the last year either directly or indirectly is up there.

@tinder:
and no matter who wins, we all lose.

Nice photoshop job...NOT!

I think it's interesting how there are companies that make a ton of money (Exxon, WalMart) and are vilified for it and there are companies that have lost a lot of money (Countrywide, American Airlines) and are vilified for that as well.
Heads you lose, tails you lose.

@Rectilinear Propagation: well...that's not entirely a factual statement. diebold skewed the 2000 election results to put dubya in office. dubya then did his thing and committed our troops to a war in iraq. of which, 3000+ have died and numerous more have received physical harm.

that said, i'm bummed that ticketmaster and paypay/ebay are both off the list. at least comcast and AA are still there. it's funny...as much as AA does in fact deserve to be there, i bet right now they are representing every US-based airline as far as voter angst goes.

@Rectilinear Propagation:

Maybe its because health insurance STILL isn't available to everyone. Even my insurance rate sucks banana nut crunch.

Still, I'm making a killing off of Comcast. Side bets at work and I'm at 180 dollars now. Sucks that once i win I'll just have to give it up to Comcast to pay for On Demand movies that never come through but we get charge for anyways because all customer service people think we're a bunch of liars (I'm truly and really not that pressed to watch "P.S. I love you". Damn

@chucklebuck: Only because of who they were matched up against. Case in point: WalMart vs. WellPoint. The outcome was so obvious.

@notallcompaniesareevil In the case of Countrywide, it's not an issue that they've lost money, it's that they've caused so many of their customers to lose money, too.

BoA vs. Countrywide: No matter who wins, we lose.

@Belabras: I've got to remember to hit F5 before posting.

I can't believe comcast beat ticketmaster (and this is coming from someone who couldn't access the internet last night because her comcast service was down)

If anyone on this list had a chance of knocking out Comcast, it would be Exxon.

@Toof_75_75: Yeah when will they learn that no one should make money (except Democrats)

@bostonhockey: Oh please. Give it a rest and buy some more Reynolds Wrap, you need a new hat.

Wal*Mart or Exxon will "win" this thing because people hate companies that are successful.

@bostonhockey: Get your liberal conspiracy theories right! Diebold stole the 2004 election, not the 2000 election! Florida was still using paper punchcards in 2000.

Why wasn't Cargill in the running at all?

@Toof_75_75: no because they rape our land and make record profits on an item that we've come to depend on ..

It would be like the local utilities company tomorrow charging you 1 dollar a gallon; would you like that?

So no capitalism has nothing to do with it. At some point you have to become responsible for your actions and they've yet to do that. I hope the next oil spill is in your back yard so you can see how responsible and non evil Exxon Mobile is.

@byrdclaw: But you're not upset that the State and Federal governments make more per gallon than Exxon does? Think about that one a minute. I'll wait.

another thing.. isn't Country Wide Owned by BOA?

shouldn't that be disqualified?

@AaronZ: If Exxon beats Comcast, it will be sickening. Exxon has as much control over the price of gas as KMart has over the overall cost of clothes.

"But they made record profits!" ...at a minimal margin. They're not gouging at 100% markup, 50% markup, or even 10% markup from what I've heard.

Everyone who thinks Exxon should win this should be starting the lynch mob for an Apple windfall profits tax - they're marking up the new 3G iPhone 100% for just the base model (8GB costs ~ $100 and they are selling it for $199) and everyone needs a cell phone these days, right?

@Skankingmike: How do they "rape our land"? For one, almost no drilling is allowed in the US. If you're talking globally, then things such as rock quarries, sand pits, coal mines, hell even building basements in ommunities "rape" more from the ground then the oil companies. Unless you think the earth needs the oil in the ground for some Gaian reason...

Your comment about $1 a gallon shows you have no knowledge of even simple economics. Thanks for the well wishes with the oil spill, which happen oh so frequently. And I hope the next mercury contamination from a broken CFL happens to you.

@Counterpoint: your argument is really not based in fact.

They are making a sicking amount of money, 11 billion. after all their costs.... (which includes i don't' know paying the overinflated salaries and the fat dividends checks share holders get). they made 116 billion dollars before costs. 116 BILLION!

and FYI KMart does regulate how much they charge for clothing. They pay a really cheap price to buy clothes in bulk then mark up the price based on whatever, and thus make profit. There is a suggested price for some items but they generally ignore that.

@byrdclaw: Let's not forget that Exxon hasn't paid for the oil spill in Alaska that it caused in addition to the price gouging and record profits. It just can't seem to afford to pay for the damages it caused.

@Counterpoint: here ya go

[en.wikipedia.org]

read a little bit about oil spills mr. doesn't happen that often, I'd say even one a year is too much. but that would be wishful thinking.

oh.. how about the Oil Sand mines in Canada? I know not the US I'm sure the Canadians are all so happy and I'm sure there's no residual effect here right? i mean it's only like what.. 400-500 kilometers away from us.. and what's a Kilometer anyway we're American.. use feet!

how about the Oil drilling in Alaska? or the now freed up Arctic that we are currently debating who has the rights with several other countries.

and how does not having even simple knowledge of economics denote you dismissing the 1 dollar a gallon water? please enlighten me since you've done a bang up job with your other comments.

@Toof_75_75:
because making money is a bad thing, right?

@notallcompaniesareevil: So you're proposing that profitable companies should be excluded for Doing Capitalism Right and unprofitable companies should be excused out of pity? And that would leave...?

@chucklebuck: Only because the banks suck more this year.

Look at the price of gold and the price of oil. Relative to the USD, they have increased dramatically in recent years. I'd love to blame big oil, but the price *seems* high because the USD has lost much of it's value.

It's not production. It's not US demand. It's not refinery capacity. The problem is that we're competing with countries whose currency isn't in a state of free-fall.

My vote for worst company would have to go to Wal-Mart.

@bostonhockey:

Well, that would be an argument, if there were any credible evidence to support it (the Diebold part, not the Iraq part).

Looks like the biggest blowout was the first round Best Buy over Target 13081 to 920.

What was the closest competition so far?

@Skankingmike:

1. That $11BN is BEFORE paying those "fat dividends checks share holders get" - dividends come out of after-tax profits.

2. Their absurd profits are about 10c on the dollar of revenue. Not exactly an absurd margin.

BOO!!! The only one I got right was Countrywide, and I have them losing to Monster.

This is rigged, I tells ya!

@notallcompaniesareevil: Gee... do ya think it MIGHT have something to do with their business practices and their impact on out economic and societal situations??? Naw, not from a corporate shill getting paid to post on a consumer friendly website...

@bostonhockey: And their STILL at it...

[www.theonion.com]

:P

@byrdclaw:

Exxon doesn't raise the prices. Oil prices are set in commodities exchanges, not by any oil company.

So why Exxon or any oil company gets blamed for high oil prices is beyond me. They just bring it to market and the market bids on the price. Period.

Now why is Diebold even on this list. I don't know about you, but I haven't bought, had contact with, or used anything Diebold... Ever.

@JustThatGuy3: my bad. on the dividends i don't get them so i don't' care.

that was quarterly.

in 2007 they made 40 billion profit the next highest was GE with 23 billion profit.

However the difference is GE is inventing technology that will benefit the world with OLED and solar panel technology as well as thousands of others. They are profitable as well as moral.

but na they're fine right?

@GoPadge: When oil companies actually start paying ALL of their taxes, and then start building and maintaining roads and infrastructure, then I'll get in a tizzy about taxes on gas...

@DojiStar: Both Exxon and Diebold are there for political reasons. Nothing else other than an internet lynch mob of people who never passed economics 101 or are more concerned with punishing businesses instead of going out and starting their own.

Carthago Delenda Est

@rellog:

Can you tell us about the taxes the oil companies are legally obliged to pay that they aren't?

Let's not forget that big oil has had significant impacts on policies that has kept us hooked on oil for decades longer than we needed to. But hey, undercutting CAFE standards so they can keep demand high isn't THEIR fault...

BTW, I should have written they're, in a previous post... not their... damn this no edit option...

@rellog: When oil companies start paying all their taxes expect you to be paying all of their taxes.

No business EVER pays ANY taxes. It's cost of doing business and is passed on to the consumer. In other words, raising taxes on the oil companies means even higher prices at the pump.

@JustThatGuy3: You mean like the estimated $18 billion in tax credits for oil companies?

@battra92: Keep beating that republican drum... As is being seen now, if they pass the price on to consumers, we drive less (not a bad thing in my opinion) and reduce their profits.

??! okay this has got to be rigged, how did Microsoft lose to American Airlines... Microsoft has screwed more people than nambla

@battra92:

Yup.

@Skankingmike:

Still 10% margin. If you object to the absolute amount of the profit ($11BN), would it be better if there were 11 oil companies each making $1BN in profit?