Big Bucks from Iraqui Conflict

[Happy Monkey]

So do all Hollywood movies.

Here's the most recent brokerage info on Halliburton which I got off the net:

RECOMMENDATION TRENDS

Current Month Last Month Two Months Ago Three Months Ago
Strong Buy 10 8 9 9
Buy 11 9 9 8
Hold 5 7 7 7
Sell 1 1 1 1
Strong Sell 0 0 0 0

Period Period End Mean EPS # of Estimates Year Ago Actual
Q1 Jun 04 0.33 20 0.29
Q2 Sep 04 0.35 19 0.34
Q3 Dec 04 0.36 19 0.32
Q4 Mar 05 0.35 6 0.06
P/E Ratio: 21.34
Consensus Recommendation: Buy
5-Year Growth Rate: 7.04

They don't look like they're hurting to me.

(sorry about the table format, for some reason it won't preserve it when I post this, but you get the general idea.)

[Undertoad]

That's just people trying to figure out whether their stock price is going to increase. In real life it has pretty much tracked the market and has yet to reach the prices it was at before the market tanked.

[elSicomoro]

Before which market tanked?

[Undertoad]

Just talking about the stock market in general, which I suppose didn't "tank" ala the NASDAQ portion of it, but it did have years of weakness.

But in any case here's a graph of DOW vs HAL for the last five years.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HAL&...z=m&q=l&c=^DJI

Originally posted by Undertoad
That's just people trying to figure out whether their stock price is going to increase. In real life it has pretty much tracked the market and has yet to reach the prices it was at before the market tanked.

I don't know, but somebody must with all those "strong buy" recommendatios. A lot of people must expect great things of them, and for good reason. Stupid market analysts don't keep their jobs very long.

[Pi]

Originally posted by Pi
I read an article in the newspaper Le Monde (ok it's french, but maybe they're not always wrong

(okay I'll try to finish my message before my computer breaks down again). So in this article they say that the whole trade with civilians doing military njobs in the world has been increasing an that there is a very strong lobbying. And that actually Halliburton stopped to give a lot of money to lobbying since Cheney has been VP, but that Halliburton got a lot more contracts since then... strange isn't it?
BTW over here, there are some people thinking that Bush is only a puppet in the hands of men like Cheney and that he (Cheney) is the real boss. Nobody really knows him or knows what he's doing. As if Bush wasn't smart enough to imagine all this shit himself and that Cheney "leads" the country...

Originally posted by Pi

(okay I'll try to finish my message before my computer breaks down again). So in this article they say that the whole trade with civilians doing military njobs in the world has been increasing an that there is a very strong lobbying. And that actually Halliburton stopped to give a lot of money to lobbying since Cheney has been VP, but that Halliburton got a lot more contracts since then... strange isn't it?
BTW over here, there are some people thinking that Bush is only a puppet in the hands of men like Cheney and that he (Cheney) is the real boss. Nobody really knows him or knows what he's doing. As if Bush wasn't smart enough to imagine all this shit himself and that Cheney "leads" the country...

Now THERE'S a really interesting thought which would explain a lot of things. Hmmmmm.....

[jaguar]

Bush is only a puppet in the hands of men like Cheney and that he (Cheney) is the real boss. Nobody really knows him or knows what he's doing. As if Bush wasn't smart enough to imagine all this shit himself and that Cheney "leads" the country...

I thought everyone worked on that basis.

[tw]

Originally posted by Undertoad
All this buying of politicians must be expensive for Halliburton because they show a net loss through 2003. And the three years previous.

Which Halliburton? IOW which part of Halliburton is really important. The corporate bottom line or the executive compensations?

Welcome to big business. Commodore enriched its top executives all the while fleecing customers, stock holders, and suppliers. Then when the stockholders sued, executives simply moved Commodore to the Bahamas - ending the lawsuit and a stockholders revolt.

Where did George Jr get all his money? He never ran a successful company but got so rich as to even buy his ranch, etc.

If Halliburton is really so unprofitable, then why is their cash flow so strong? A large cash flow can also coverup fraud - especially when the SEC is so understaffed as to only prosecute what is politically expedient. Large cashflows were the trick in hiding massive fraud at Enron. Fraud so profitable that even Ken Lay is not prosecuted.

In short, marichiko has properly identified the classic "enrich your friends" tactic. Nothing new here. CBS 60 Minutes was asking the same questions of Halliburton over one year ago. With no bid contracts, then enriching your friends for peronsal gain is quite legal. Just like it is legal to violate the Geneva Convention in Guantanamo (at same time) and no one, even in the Cellar, questioned it.

Lets not forget all the companies that fleeced America and were not being prosecuted. 26 November 2002 in a principles meeting, the prosecution of illegal corporate activities was discouraged at the highest levels - by George Jr himself. Exact quotes from that meeting:

Karen Hughes: But there is uncertainty in the economy. Real uncertainty that this won't solve [refering to the tax cut and no taxes on stock dividends].

George Jr: The real uncertainty is because of SEC overreach. Until we get rid of Saddam Hussein, we won't get rid of uncertainty.

Don't prosecute crooked corporate leaders. Instead attack Saddam. That will fix the economy? Since then he attacked Saddam and corporate fraud continued completely unprosecuted except where Congress demanded action. Harvey Pitts of the SEC (and obviously because it is what George Jr wanted) even refused to have the SEC budget doubled by Congress. With rich friends, why would the president want corporate fraud investigated. This is why the lowest paid lawyers in government are still in the SEC and why the average life expectancy of an SEC lawyer is only three years. Don't prosecute companies that can enrich the politican and his 'legalized bribery' fund.

Since a Republican dominated Congress has not demanded all Halliburton contracts be reviewed, then economic mismanagement in the executive branch (no-bid contracts) is situation normal. Halliburton is only one example.

BTW the Boeing deal (ariel tanker rentals that will protect Boeing from free market competition) will be reviewed and decided in November - after the elections. It was just announced by the George Jr administration. Therefore rewards to corporate campaign contributors and top executives will be obvious only after the elections - when such questionable deals cannot hurt those rewarded or a reelected George Jr.

We are still not prosecuting massive corporate fraud except where Congress made demands or where even the states started the prosecution. (Or where the corporate fraud was by someone who did not make campaign contributions to the Republicans - ie Martha Stewart). The no-bid Halliburton contracts are but the tip of a very large iceberg that may even include Boeing's 767 tanker deals. Its only illegal if you get caught - a direct quote from one executive branch spokesman.

[TheLorax]

I'm still getting e-mails from buddies over there, but they seem a bit jumpy about what they say these days. They've always been monitored, but technically so does my job.

"They" don't control the internet.

If you really want to get riled up, check out some of the backgrounds of companies like oh say WorldCom that are getting contracts. I thought they were going to bring accountability back to the Whitehouse and yet they are using companies that I wouldn't invest in because of unethical business practices. Then there is the wicked huge contract that Acenture is about to nail. (aka Anderson Consulting - remeber Enron - yea them) They are one of those companies dodging taxes by having their headquarters in Bermuda. So they're too good to pay taxes, but they'll sure as hell take tax money.

[Undertoad]

Enron's was Andersen Accounting, not Andersen Consulting -- Andersen was one of the earlier consulting firms to separate off its consulting wing. I'm sure Andersen Consulting had its fingers in Enron too, just a different part of the pie.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Different fingers in the same pussy, still smell the same.

BTW-I also assumed everyone thought Cheney was the power behind the throne.

[lumberjim]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
Different fingers in the same.....

ewww! bruce, i'm shocked! that's nasty!

[Catwoman]

Originally posted by jaguar
Invest in america, buy a senator.