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There is one of those entertaining ads in todays NY Times by ExxonMobil on the editorial page. It explains that oil companies make only average profit (2Q 2005), pre Katrina. But that is only part of what got my attention. Wanna know who gets the highest profits? You guessed it, Pharmaceuticals at 18.6% profit, right after number one, Banks with 19.6% profits. So there is part of the reason why drugs are so expensive. So don't get sick. Now, rounded, 1/5 profit ain't bad. All US industry has a 7.9% profit. I guess both drugs and energy have a rather inelastic demand ie. a small shortage drives the price up very steeply, which is what we are seeing now in energy. An interesting sidelight is something I heard today on NPR (National Public Radio). The statement was that the oil companies do not control the price of their product, it is the commodity traders. So the oil companies apparently have only limited control of the prices. I have wondered why the oil companies cannot be public minded and cut the prices; apparently they cannot because the traders drive the price up or down depending on the available supplies. So the oil companies now enjoy exorbitant profits because of the shortages. Create a shortage .... K. F. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn