simple farmer

stop dreaming of that oil and get busy. any nation depending on extractive industries to rescue it is doomed from the start

CNN Money: Profits at the largest U.S. oil company crashed by 59% during the second quarter to just $1.7 billion. That may sound like a lot, but it’s actually the tiniest bottom line for Exxon (XOM) since 1999, just before the company merged with Mobil.

The scale of Exxon’s latest profit slump caught Wall Street off guard. Analysts had predicted the oil company’s profits bottomed out in the first quarter, when profits also hit a 17-year low.

Exxon stock slumped 3% on Friday following the earnings miss. All of a sudden, Exxon may soon get passed in market value by both Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and Facebook (FB, Tech30). Exxon’s market cap has shrunk to $363 billion. That’s barely above the $360 billion market value sported by Amazon, and the $357 billion of Facebook.