If they wanted to act in the public interest, they could have managed their prices so that their total gross margin dollars would have been the same before/after the oil shock. Instead, what they did was take the same gross margin percentage on the higher selling price, giving them a windfall profit at the expense of their customers.
I'm no expert on commodities, so was Exxon's actions out of line? Do steel, iron, copper, cocoa, coffee, lumber and other commodity firms hold gross margin dollars constant in times of rising prices, or do all of them maximize their profits? I would imagine the latter.
And, if you think they have some unfair advantage, I also don't understand why one can't just buy Exxon stock and benefit from the supposed "gouging".
And its hard for me to understand how Exxon is viewed as more of a "gouger" than the great monopoly MSFT. Why does Office, which costs MSFT a few bucks per copy, cost consumers ~$250? That's gouging! |
