US Big Insurance Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 37%, and It's Your Company

I found 35 US Big Insurance Corps, other than Health Insurance Corps, with Pretax Income or Pretax Loss of more than $100 mil each in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010.

How did they do?

Well, these 35 US Big Insurance Corps, had a Total Pretax Income in the 4Q 2011 of $11.8 bil, or an increase of $3.2 bil, or 37% above the 4Q 2010 amount of $8.6 bil.

But on the downside, this increase was not widespread throughout the Big Insurance Corp community, with 18 of the 35, or more than half, registering Pretax Income declines in the 4Q 2011, as compared with the 4Q 2010.

So how could that be?

Well, it's basically all due to your AIG, which the US Government owns a huge chunk of, and thus you also own it.

AIG's Pretax Income increased by a monster $5.0 bil in the 4Q 2011, going from a Pretax Loss of $3.2 bil in the 4Q 2010 to a Pretax Profit of $1.8 bil in the 4Q 2011.

But the real problem with this monster earnings increase is that AIG's operating performance was just horrible in the 4Q 2010. At least it's now going in the right direction.

And to a somewhat lesser extent, Allstate also contributed to this huge total earnings increase. I was especially glad to see this, since Allstate did such a superb job on the devastating tornado that hit our home property. Whew! Now if only the IRS could follow Allstate's lead in both properly and fairly handling casualty losses. From first-hand experience, the IRS handles casualty losses similar to how FEMA reacted during and after Katrina.

Below here is the US Big Insurance Corp Sub-Sector breakdown for these 35 US Big Insurance Corps, and shows their 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s quarter amounts.

..............................................................................Increase
...............................................PTI(L)....PTI(L)......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q..........4Q..................
...............................................2011.......2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

Insurance Conglomerate
AIG(1)....................................1,846.....(3,153)....4,999....259%

Property/Casualty Insurance
Allstate..................................1,052.........363........689....190%
ACE Ltd....................................872.......1,134.......(262)...-23%
Travelers..................................778......1,197.......(419)...-35%
Chubb.......................................614.........699.........(85)...-12%
Progressive Corp......................375.........427.........(52)...-12%
American Financial...................241.........176..........65.....37%
CNA Financial...........................239.........476.......(237)..-50%
Assurance................................208.........150...........58.....39%
Cincinnati Financial..................186.........174...........12.......7%
WR Berkley...............................150.........176..........(26)...-15%
Arch Capital Group...................138..........231.........(93)...-40%
Hartford Fincl Svcs(2)...............122.........759.......(637)...-84%
HCC Insurance..........................112.........135..........(23)...-17%
Mercury General.......................111.........(50).........161....422%
Markel........................................75.........112..........(37)...-33%
XL Group(3)..............................(23)........181........(204)..-113%
Everest Re Group......................(42)........236........(278)..-118%
Transatlantic.............................(92)........159........(251)..-158%
Total all 18..............................5,116.....6,735.....(1,619)....-24%

Life Insurance
MetLife(4).................................930......1,523.......(593)...-39%
Prudential Financial..................788.........179........609...340%
Lincoln National(5)...................295.........252..........43.....17%
Genworth Financial(6)..............217........(255).......472..-185%
Torchmark................................192..........193...........(1).....-1%
Protective Life...........................129..........116..........13.....11%
Symetra Financial.....................107...........90...........17.....19%
Total all 7...............................2,658......2,098........560.....27%

Accident and Health Insurance
AFLAC.......................................834.........667........167.....25%
Principal Financial(7)................275.........287.........(12).....-4%
Assurant(8)...............................253.........184...........69.....38%
Reinsurance Group....................221.........275.........(54)...-20%
CNO Financial............................116..........111.............5.......5%
Unum Group(9)........................(704).......336.....(1,040)..-310%
Total all 6...................................995......1,860.......(865)...-47%

Insurance Agents/Brokers
AON..........................................384.........360..........24........7%
Marsh & McLennan...................344..........298..........46......15%
Total all 2.................................728..........658..........70......11%

Specialty Insurance
Erie Indemnity.........................425..........417............8........2%

Total all 35 Corps.................11,768.......8,615......3,153......37%

(1) AIG 2011 PTI excludes large Gain on Change in Fair Value of AIA Securities. Its 2010 PTI excludes massive Gain on Sale of Properties, mostly sale of AIA.
(2) Hartford Financial Services 2011 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.
(3) XL Group 2011 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.
(4) MetLife PTI(L) excludes Derivative Gains and Losses in both years.
(5) Lincoln National 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Charge.
(6) Genworth Financial 2011 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.
(7) Principal Financial PTI is Operating Earnings Before Tax, and excludes Realized Capital Gains.
(8) Assurant 2010 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.
(9) Unum Group 2011 PTI includes both Increase in Policy Reserve Charge and Impairment of Deferred Acquisition Costs Charge.

There was one thing that happened in the 4Q 2011 in the US Big Insurance Industry which was fantastic news. This gets a bit complicated, but let me explain. It all relates to what has been going on with your company AIG.

Let me lay out AIG's Pretax Income (PTI) or Pretax Loss (PTL) in the past decade. First, here they are in its go-go years:

..........................US.........Foreign.....Worldwide
..........................PTI...........PTI..............PTI
.............................(million of dollars).............

.....2002..........3,489.......4,493...........7,982
.....2003..........4,326.......7,329.........11,655
.....2004..........6,069.......8,776........14,845
.....2005..........6,103.......9,110.........15,213
.....2006..........9,862.....11,825.........21,687

Yeah, these above earnings numbers are just incredibly robust.....almost too good to be true. In fact, I think they weren't actually all real profits, because it doesn't appear that AIG was properly accounting for the unregulated irresponsible risk it was taking while generating these reported earnings.

Now let me focus on the next 5 years from 2006 to 2011.

............................US.........Foreign.......Worldwide
..........................PTI(L).......PTI(L)............PTI(L)
...............................(million of dollars).............

.....2006............9,862.......11,825...........21,687
.....2007..........(3,957)......12,091.............8,134
.....2008.......(105,179)......(1,349)......(106,528)
.....2009.........(17,122)........2,815.........(14,307)
.....2010..........13,208.........4,728...........17,936
.....2011...........(1,942)...........877...........(1,065)

It looks like in 2007, AIG and its outsider auditors, got somewhat of a feel for the upcoming financial meltdown, as you can see from AIG's substantial drop in earnings from $21.7 bil in 2006 to $8.1 bil in 2007. And this substantial drop in earnings was all in the US.

Then the financial disaster occurred in 2008, and AIG recorded an almost unbelievable Pretax Loss of $106.5 bil, nearly all of it in the US.

Then the Obama Administration went to work on AIG and the rest of the financial industry.

I think it would be wise to recast the above AIG PTI(L) numbers to better reflect the economic realty of what was going on with AIG after the Obama Administration got involved in attempting to fix this just horrendous financial disaster at AIG.


.........................................2008...........2009........2010.......2011
............................................(millions of dollars)

Reported PTI(L)............(106,528)....(14,307).....17,936....(1,065)

Loss on Debt
...Extinguishment.....................................................104.....2,908
(Gain) Loss on Sale of
...Properties and
...Divested Businesses...........................1,271....(17,767).........74

= Core Pretax Income...(106,528)....(13,036)..........273......1,917

You can rightfully quibble with which items to exclude to convert Reported Pretax Earnings to Core Pretax Earnings.

If I expand the definition of Core Pretax Income to also exclude Aircraft Impairment Losses, and Changes in Fair Value of AIA Securities, Maiden Lane II and MetLife Securities before Sale, then the Core Pretax Income for 2011 is $2,268 mil and for 2010 is $54 mil.

And AIG, in its 4Q 2011 earnings release, disclosed its Pretax Operating Income as $2,178 mil in 2011 and $1,660 mil in 2010.

The key point is that these Operating Losses have dramatically improved since the Obama Administration got involved with AIG.

And here's the real kicker. These are all Pretax Income and Loss numbers.

In the 4Q 2011, AIG, with the blessing of its external auditors, recorded a massive $17.7 bil of Income Tax Benefit, and yes that's $17.7 bil of additional after-tax earnings. And this isn't included in the above Pretax Earnings amount.

So what's with this $17.7 bil of additional after-tax earnings?

Well, it's all about whether AIG can book the income tax benefit on the massive amounts of Losses it generated in 2008 and 2009 and which haven't been realized yet, for US federal income tax purposes.

US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles only permit the booking of this tax benefit if it is more likely than not that these Operating Losses Carried Forward can be realized in the future.....and AIG is only able to carry forward these massive Operating Losses for 20 years, and then they would expire.

Until the 4Q 2011, AIG, along with its external auditors, determined that it couldn't make that positive assessment. It's all about the assessment of future earnings.

Then in the 4Q 2011, AIG, with the blessing of its external auditors, reversed course and determined that now these Operating Losses will be able to be realized.

To quote AIG's 4Q 2011 earnings release.....

"AIG concluded that it is more likely than not that a substantial portion of the deferred tax assets of the U.S. consolidated income tax group will be realized, and therefore released the valuation allowance equal to that portion ($17.7 bil) in the fourth quarter 2011.

In 2011, we began to prosper once again,” Mr. Benmosche (AIG CEO) concluded. “We have a high degree of confidence in our future earnings prospects, which is a critical element in our assessment supporting the release of the deferred tax asset valuation allowance. As we look to 2012 and beyond, we anticipate we’ll continue to be competitive in all areas of our core insurance businesses."

If someone told me back in 2008 after the financial meltdown hit that the US would eventually get its money back from its massive bailout of AIG, I would have told them that they were completely nuts.

But you know what? I think it's going to happen.

And it's really too bad that the Republicans in the US Congress are preventing the Obama Administration from cleaning up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The 99%, and particularly all of those whose homes have underwater mortgages, should be outraged.

Just think what the Obama Administration could accomplish in fixing the US economy if the Republicans in the US Congress would work with them, instead of nearly always working against them.

Minimum Tax on Foreign Earnings…..A Stroke of Genius (Part One)

One of the key provisions in President Obama’s Framework for Business Tax Reform is a Minimum Tax on Foreign Earnings.

What this accomplishes is to make it much less attractive for multinational corps to shift income, and the related jobs, overseas to foreign income tax havens.

Just how significant is the shifting of income overseas to foreign tax havens? It’s just huge. And it is done in a myriad of creative ways.

These self-serving people that keep pushing for a global territorial tax system are way off target.

A territorial system would result in even more gaming of income shifts from the US to foreign income tax havens, along with the loss of even more US jobs. What pure craziness.

This is why the 99%, and particularly the Occupy Movement, is so furious with a US Government which continually legislates for the 1%.

There is nothing more 1% than a global territorial tax system.

If a global territorial system of taxation were instituted, I think you would see a grass roots explosion like you have never seen before. These Occupy Movement people are very bright and you can't snow them.

US Public companies with February 2011 through November 2011 fiscal year ends have already filed their 2011 annual report 10-Ks with the SEC.

My data below deals with just the most profitable of these companies. I have included the 61 of them which have Worldwide Consolidated Pretax Income of more than $1 bil in either fiscal year ended 2011 or in 2010.

When the December 2011 and January 2012 10-K's are all filed with the SEC, I'll make an updated post to include the numerous US Big Corps with these December and January year ends.

Below here is the percentage of Worldwide Pretax Income (PTI) which was generated overseas.

....................................2011......2011.........2011..........2010
....................................Intl...Worldwide...Intl PTI......Intl PTI
....................................PTI.........PTI..........% Mix.........% Mix
……………………………..(millions of dollars)

Estee Lauder..............1,189......1,026.........116%.........140%
Tyco Intl....................2,119......1,893.........112%..........119%
Carnival.....................1,912......1,912.........100%.........100%
Agilent Technologies....944......1,032..........91%...........76%
Covidien Ltd..............1,917......2,216..........87%...........48%
Western Digital.............660........780..........85%...........93%
Cisco Systems............6,611......7,825..........84%...........88%
TE Connectivity.........1,361......1,629..........84%...........98%
Seagate Technology.....479.........579..........83%...........96%
Accenture Ltd..........2,793.......3,512..........80%...........82%
Forest Labs..............1,007.......1,338..........75%...........59%
Apple.....................24,000....34,205..........70%...........70%
Adobe Systems............716......1,035..........69%...........70%
Microsoft................19,209....28,071..........68%...........62%
Hewlett Packard........5,943......8,982..........66%...........63%
Analog Devices............706......1,062..........66%...........68%
Johnson Controls......1,324.......2,111..........63%...........62%
Nike..........................1,760......2,844..........62%...........72%
Medtronic.................2,276......3,723..........61%...........61%
HJ Heinz.......................808......1,375..........59%...........61%
Air Products&Chem......881......1,507..........58%...........63%
Mosaic......................1,794......3,271..........55%...........50%
Parker Hannifin...........732.......1,414..........52%...........53%
Emerson Electric......1,740......3,631..........48%...........55%
Qualcomm................2,703......5,687..........48%...........51%
Applied Materials......1,121......2,378..........47%...........43%
Becton Dickinson(1).....808......1,716..........47%...........46%
Micron Technology......257........551..........47%...........72%
Oracle.......................5,033.....11,411..........44%...........48%
Procter & Gamble......6,206....15,189..........41%...........44%
CSC...............................386........968..........40%...........56%
Franklin Resources....1,028......2,624..........39%...........44%
Deere.........................1,605......4,223..........38%...........32%
CA................................458......1,209..........38%...........39%
Costco(1)......................857......2,383..........36%...........31%
ArcherDanMidland.......980......3,015..........33%...........44%
KLA Tencor..................358.......1,110..........32%...........58%
Monsanto.....................734......2,374..........31%...........17%
McKesson.....................474......1,635..........29%...........28%
Coach...........................317......1,301..........24%...........14%
NewsCorp.....................918......4,177..........22%...........13%
Best Buy.......................449......2,078..........22%...........15%
FedEx..........................472......2,265..........21%...........29%
Campbell Soup.............224......1,168..........19%...........15%
Visa..........................1,006......5,656..........18%...........14%
Starbucks.....................288......1,811..........16%............9%
Viacom........................496......3,245..........15%...........13%
Cardinal Health.............219......1,518..........14%...........19%
Automatic Data Proc....258......1,933..........13%...........12%
General Mills................283......2,428..........12%............7%
Precision Castparts.......159......1,494..........11%...........12%
Disney..........................713......8,043...........9%............8%
ConAgra Foods...............75......1,251...........6%............6%
Discover Fincl Svcs(2)......0......3,511...........0%............0%
Toyota Motor Credit(2)....0......3,003...........0%............0%
TD Ameritrade(2).............0......1,016...........0%............0%
Walgreens........................0......4,294...........0%............0%
AmeriSourceBergen(2).....0......1,131...........0%............0%
Autozone.........................0......1,324...........0%............0%
Bed Bath & Beyond...........0......1,293...........0%............0%
Apollo Group..............(259).......954.........-27%..........-23%

Total all 61............111,507...228,340.........49%...........49%

(1) International Income excludes Puerto Rico.
(2) There was no disclosure of foreign earnings, but the foreign income tax disclosed was minor and thus I assumed all of the Worldwide Income was earned in the US.

Of these 61 US Big Corps, 54 of them disclosed their Foreign Pretax Income. Below here is the Current Foreign Income Tax Paid or Payable in 2011 and the related Foreign Pretax Income in 2011 for these 54 US Big Corps.

.....................................2011.......................2011
...................................Current......2011.....Foreign
...................................Foreign....Foreign..Effective
................................Income Tax....PTI.....Tax Rate
.................................(millions of dollars)

Coach..............................(3)...........317.......-0.9%
Agilent Technologies.......(6)...........944.......-0.6%
Apollo Group....................1...........(259)......-0.4%
Carnival............................0..........1,912........0.0%
Western Digital................12............660........1.8%
Apple............................769......24,000........3.2%
Forest Labs.....................57........1,007........5.7%
Seagate Technology........28............479........5.8%
Adobe Systems...............42............716........5.9%
Qualcomm....................170........2,703........6.3%
Cardinal Health...............17............219........7.8%
Cisco Systems...............529..........6,611........8.0%
Medtronic.....................189.........2,276........8.3%
Microsoft...................1,602.......19,209........8.3%
KLA Tencor....................32............358........8.9%
Covidien Ltd.................187.........1,917........9.8%
Tyco Intl......................229..........2,119......10.8%
McKesson.......................54............474......11.4%
Franklin Resources.......123.........1,028......12.0%
Starbucks.......................37............288......12.8%
TE Connectivity............197.........1,361......14.5%
Analog Devices.............105...........706.......14.9%
ConAgra Foods...............12..............75......16.0%
Visa..............................168.........1,006......16.7%
Applied Materials.........206..........1,121......18.4%
Estee Lauder.................220.........1,189......18.5%
Procter & Gamble........1,188........6,206......19.1%
CA...................................88............458......19.2%
Hewlett Packard..........1,177........5,943......19.8%
HJ Heinz.........................161...........808......19.9%
Best Buy...........................92...........449......20.5%
Oracle.........................1,037........5,033......20.6%
Mosaic...........................380........1,794......21.2%
Air Products&Chem.......188............881......21.3%
ArcherDanMidland........222...........980......22.7%
General Mills...................69...........283.......24.4%
Nike...............................441........1,760......25.1%
CSC................................101...........386.......26.2%
NewsCorp......................242...........918.......26.4%
Parker Hannifin..............193...........732......26.4%
Accenture Ltd................748........2,793......26.8%
Becton Dickinson............220...........808......27.2%
Emerson Electric............477........1,740......27.4%
Precision Castparts...........44............159......27.7%
Costco............................270...........857......31.5%
Deere..............................520........1,605......32.4%
Johnson Controls...........458.........1,324......34.6%
Micron Technology..........89............257......34.6%
Campbell Soup.................78............224......34.8%
Viacom...........................180............496......36.3%
Monsanto.......................271............734......36.9%
Automatic Data Proc........97............258......37.6%
FedEx.............................198............472......41.9%
Disney............................521............713......73.1%

Total all 54.................14,727.....111,507.......13.2%

Clearly, this 13.2% overall foreign effective tax rate paid or payable in 2011 is unacceptable. It tells you why there is such a huge motivation to shift income to foreign income tax havens.

And this downward race to the bottom in effective tax rates is getting worse. Qualcomm had an unusual catchup switch between US and Foreign Income Tax Paid in 2010. When you exclude Qualcomm, the remaining 53 US Big Corps had their Total Foreign Income Tax Rate Paid or Payable drop from 14.0% in 2010 to 13.2% in 2011.

OK, so there clearly is a major problem that the Obama Administration has identified and proposed a framework for correcting. But specifically what should be done?

Well, the overriding principle has to be what best maximizes US job creation and fairness to all companies, not just to huge Multinational Corps, but also to small businesses, and also to all domestic companies.

To best accomplish this goal, I would focus like a laser on reducing the US federal income statutory tax rate on the lower amounts of all business income, both that of C Corps, but also on all business income that passes through at the individual level. That is where the bulk of the US job creation comes from.

Thus, the higher the minimum tax rate on foreign earnings, the more money that can be spent on reducing the tax rates on lower amounts of all business income.

Also, the higher the minimum tax rate on foreign earnings, the more insourcing will occur of foreign jobs being shipped back to the US.

And the higher the minimum tax rate on foreign earnings, the better the incentive to house new plants and other new facilities in the US.

There are many in the US Government who are a lot keener on this key issue than I am, but after reviewing the above foreign effective tax rates paid by US Big Corps, I'll stick my neck out and propose a very simple, progressive minimum tax rate on Foreign US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) Pretax Book Income, something like the following for each year:

First $100 mil.....................0.0%
Next $100 mil-$200 mil.....2.5%
Next $200 mil-$500 mil....5.0%
Next $500 mil-$1 bil..........7.5%
Next $1 bil-$2 bil..............10.0%
Next $2 bil-$3 bil..............12.5%
Next $3 bil-$5 bil..............15.0%
Next $5 bil-$10 bil............17.5%
Next $10 bil-$20 bil..........20.0%
Next $20 bil-$40 bil..........22.5%
Everything over $40 bil.....25.0%

In making this computation, the only item I would exclude from Foreign US GAAP Pretax Book Income in each year would be any Foreign Intangible Asset Impairment Charges.

And of course, there would be a foreign tax credit subtraction for the foreign income tax paid in each year.

However, you have to be very careful as to what to include as a foreign tax credit to apply here as a subtraction.

This foreign tax credit allowed as a subtraction should only be the foreign income tax paid in each year, and exclude any other kind of foreign tax paid. And any royalties and other non-income tax paid to foreign governments should clearly be excluded from the foreign tax credit subtraction.

President Obama's Framework For Business Tax Reform.....Spot On.

President Obama's recently issued 25-page "The President's Framework For Business Tax Reform" is a stroke of genius.

To be able to take such complicated business tax issues and properly deal with them so comprehensively is such a well-written document is truly a superb job. The country should be very appreciative of everyone who played a role in the generation of this historically outstanding work.....those working in the White House, in the Treasury Dept, and other places, both inside and outside of the US government.

I'll make a prediction......This framework, if properly implemented, and enhanced, by the entire US Congress, will do more to solve the severe long-term US unemployment, US underemployment, US depressed median wage, US debt, and modest US real GDP growth problems than anything that has been done by the US Government in over a decade......and by a huge margin.

As an added benefit, due to the very positive and sustainable earnings impact, I think the stock market will initially spike up dramatically, and continue to increase nicely for many years, if the essence of this business tax reform framework passes.

All members of the US Congress have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to accomplish something really historic here. They will be able to start with this outstanding framework and make substantial enhancements to make it even better.

So many pundits say it can't be done.....that there are way too many obstacles. I think they are wrong. It is just too critical to the country's economy that it be done, and in a reasonably short period of time.

For the US Congress to say that they shouldn't have to deal with this until the Lame Duck Session, due to politics, is gross dereliction of their public duty.

US citizens are closely watching how the US Congress responds here to this critical historic challenge to the country's economic future.

US citizens are keenly aware of the monumental importance of this Business Tax Reform.

If the US Congress fails to act on this Business Tax Reform, their current very low favorable rating will drop further, and precipitously so.

It wouldn't surprise me that many members of the US Congress, who refuse to properly act on this framework, and who are up for reelection in November 2012, will have a lot of difficulty getting reelected. And many of them who attempt to stop this initiative will bite the dust at the polls.

The 99% will see to it.

US Big Telecommunication Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Plummet

There were 10 US Big Telecommunication Corps with Pretax Income or Pretax Loss of at least $100 mil in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010, and which have released their 4Q 2011 earnings so far.

These 10 US Big Telecommunication Corps generated a Total Pretax Income Decline of 11% in the most recent 4Q 2011.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI) or Pretax Loss (PTL), along with a comparison with the prior year’s quarter amounts.

.............................................................................Increase
.............................................PTI(L)....PTI(L).......(Decrease)
................................................4Q.........4Q..................
..............................................2011......2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

Verizon(1)............................3,823.....3,970......(147)......-4%
AT&T(2)................................3,681.....4,068......(387)....-10%
Corning(3)...............................682........804......(122)....-15%
CenturyLink.............................192........359......(167)....-47%
American Tower......................160........137.........23......17%
MetroPCS(4)............................148.........121.........27......22%
NII Holdings..............................56........172......(116)....-67%
Avaya......................................(28)......(158)......130.....-82%
Clearwire Corp(5)...................(442)......(569)......127.....-22%
Sprint Nextel.......................(1,197)......(934).....(263).....28%

Total all 10...........................7,075.....7,970......(895)....-11%

(1) Verizon Communications PTI in both years exclude Special Severance, Pension and Benefit Charges.
(2) AT&T PTI in both years exclude Special Actuarial Losses or Gains on its Benefit Plans. Its 2011 PTI also excludes Termination Charge Related to the attempted T-Mobile Acquisition and Directory Asset Impairment Charge.
(3) Corning 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge. Its 2010 PTI excludes Insurance Settlement Gain and Special Korean Tax Credit.
(4) MetroPCS 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment and Gain on Asset Disposition.
(5) Clearwire Corp PTL in both years exclude Loss on Asset Dispositions.

I think it would be smart for the US Government to give wise, measured incentives, both tax and non-tax, for companies like Verizon Communications and AT&T to break up into a handful of parts each. This not only would be very beneficial for the stockholders of both Verizon and AT&T, but it also would be great for US job creation, and also great to the US consumer. And it would make the businesses of both Verizon and AT&T so much more competitive.

And let me give you another of the many reasons that the US Congress has such an incredibly low favorable rating now, which is headed much lower.

Verizon is predominantly a US operating company. All of its numbers below are from its SEC filings.

There was no first-year US bonus tax depreciation for large corps in either 2006 or in 2007.

Verizon made total capital expenditures of $17.1 bil in 2006 and $17.5 bil in 2007.

In 2006, Verizon paid a very reasonable amount of US federal income tax of $2,364 mil on $7,000 mil of US Pretax Income, for an effective tax rate of 33.8%.....very fair to US taxpayers, and to the US Government.

In 2007, Verizon also paid a very reasonable amount of US federal income tax of $2,568 mil on $8,508 mil of US Pretax Income, for an effective tax rate of 30.2%.....again very fair to US taxpayers, and to the US Government.

In 2008, the US Congress enacted a 50% first-year bonus tax depreciation on large corps. Along with subsequent extensions, this 50% first-year bonus tax depreciation applied to all of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. In late 2010, the US Congress stepped up this 50% first-year bonus tax depreciation to 100% for qualified capital expenditures from September 8, 2010 to December 31, 2011. After 2011, it drops back to 50% first-year bonus depreciation through December 31, 2012.

In 2008, Verizon made total capital expenditures of $17.2 bil, down from the $17.5 bil made in 2007.

In 2008, Verizon paid only $365 mil of US federal income tax on its $14,993 mil of US Pretax Income, for an effective tax rate of a meager 2.4%.....a complete rip off to US taxpayers, and to the US Government.

How many jobs did Verizon add in 2008 after taking advantage of this incredibly robust US tax incentive?

Well, from its SEC filings, instead of adding jobs, it slashed 11,100 jobs in 2008, thus reducing its number of employees from 235,000 at year end 2007 to 223,900 at year end 2008. Go figure!

In 2009, Verizon made total capital expenditures of $16.9 bil, down from the $17.2 bil made in 2008.

In 2009, instead of paying a dime, Verizon instead received $611 mil of US federal income tax refunds on its $12,625 mil of US Pretax Income, for an effective tax rate refund of a negative 4.8%.....a complete rip off to US taxpayers, and to the US Government.

How many jobs did Verizon add in 2009 after taking advantage of this incredibly robust US tax incentive?

Well, again from its SEC filings, instead of adding jobs, it slashed 1,000 jobs in 2009, thus reducing its number of employees from 223,900 at year end 2008 to 222,900 at year end 2009. Go figure again!

In 2010, Verizon made total capital expenditures of $16.5 bil, down from the $16.9 bil made in 2009.

In 2010, instead of paying a dime, Verizon instead received $705 mil of of US federal income tax refunds on its $11,921 mil of US Pretax Income, for an effective tax rate refund of a negative 5.9%.....a complete rip off to US taxpayers, and to the US Government.

How many jobs did Verizon add in 2010 after taking advantage of this incredibly robust US tax incentive, and some of it even a 100% first-year bonus tax depreciation?

Well, again from its SEC filings, instead of adding jobs, it slashed 28,500 jobs in 2010, thus reducing its number of employees from 222,900 at year end 2009 to 194,400 at year end 2010. Go figure again!

In 2011, Verizon made total capital expenditures of $16.2 bil, down from the $16.5 bil made in 2010.

In 2011, Verizon paid a very meager $193 mil on its $9,724 mil of US Pretax Income, for an effective tax rate of an extremely low 2.0%.....a complete rip off to US taxpayers, and to the US Government.

How many jobs did Verizon add in 2011 after taking advantage of this incredibly robust 100% first-year bonus tax depreciation for all of 2011?

Well, again from its SEC filings, instead of adding jobs, it slashed 500 jobs in 2011, thus reducing its number of employees from 194,400 at year end 2010 to 193,900 at year end 2011. Go figure again!

So let me put together the 4 years (2008 through 2011) of either 50% or 100% first-year bonus tax depreciation. In those 4 years combined, Verizon generated a massive $49.3 bil of US Pretax Income, while at the same time, instead of paying a dime of US federal income tax, received $758 mil in US federal income tax refunds. And also in those 4 years, Verizon shed a total of 41,100 jobs.

Where is the fairness here to the 99%?

But it's not just Verizon.

AT&T is also predominantly a US operating company. All of its numbers below are from its SEC filings.

For 2006 and 2007 combined, when US first-year bonus tax depreciation wasn't applicable, AT&T generated $29.1 bil of Consolidated Pretax Income and paid $9,247 mil of US federal income tax, for an effective tax rate of 31.8%.....clearly, very fair for the US taxpayers and for the US Government.

For 2008 and 2009 combined, when 50% bonus tax depreciation was effective in the US, AT&T generated $38.4 bil of Consolidated Pretax Income and paid $4,023 mil of US federal income tax, for an effective tax rate of only 10.5%, not as low as that of Verizon, but clearly a ripoff to the US taxpayer and to the US Government coffers. And how may jobs did AT&T add in those two years while it was receiving this massive tax largesse? Well, none, in fact it slashed 29,000 jobs, going from 310,000 at the end of 2007 to 281,000 at the end of 2009.

But it gets much worse for the 99% and the US Deficit in 2010 and 2011, much of which was when the 100% first-year bonus tax depreciation was in place.

For 2010 and 2011 combined, AT&T generated $25.0 bil of Consolidated Pretax Income and didn't pay a dime in total of US federal income tax, instead receiving a net total US federal income tax refund of $113 mil, clearly a massive ripoff to the US taxpayer and to the US Government coffers. And how may jobs did AT&T add in those two years while it was receiving this incredibly massive tax largesse? Well, none, in fact it slashed 25,000 jobs, going from 281,000 at the end of 2009 to 256,000 at the end of 2011.

When you put together these numbers for Verizon and AT&T, they are just massive......not just the incredibly high US federal income tax largesse received, but also the huge slashing of jobs. And that's just for 2 US Big Corps. You add all US Big Corps together, you can see why the US Deficit is so huge. And also why unemployment is also so high, since the vast majority of US Big Corps aren't hiring even though they received all of this tax largesse.

And what did the Republican controlled US House pass in late 2011? A no strings attached step up of first-year bonus tax depreciation in 2012 from 50% to 100%. I'm not kidding.

Thankfully, the Democratically-controlled US Senate at least had the sense to not pass this same step up.

And citizens wonder why the US Deficit is so huge?

And members of the US Congress wonder why the Occupy Movement is so incensed with their consistently unfair actions of legislating just on behalf of the 1% Big Corps?

And the Republicans in both the US Senate and the US House, and even some Democrats, expect US citizens to buy into a dramatic cut in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Benefits in order to substantially reduce the US Deficit, when they have given, and continue to give, these massive no strings attached 50% and 100% first-year bonus tax depreciation breaks to the 1% Big Corps, which have not created US jobs?

The only way the country is going to be great again economically is for there to be a complete remake of the US Congress in the upcoming November 2012 election. The Obama Administration can't do it all by itself. It needs the US Congress to work with them.

US Big Home Product Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Precisely Flat

There were 12 US Big Home Product Corps with Pretax Income of at least $100 mil in the most recent quarter, and which have released their 4Q 2011 earnings so far. Ecolab meets the earnings threshold, but it hasn't released its December 2011 quarter earnings yet, and thus it wasn't included below. It was later shown at the very bottom below.

These 12 Big Home Product Corps' Total Pretax Income in the 4Q 2011 was precisely flat as compared with the 4Q 2010.

Clearly, US Republican Congress obstinance put a strangle hold on the US economy in 4Q 2011, causing a significant downturn in US consumer confidence and much increased US business uncertainty, thereby hampering the performance of these US Big Home Product Corps.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s quarter amounts.

...........................................................................Increase
................................................PTI........PTI.......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q.........4Q..................
...............................................2011......2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

Procter & Gamble(1)..............4,075.....4,090.......(15)......0%
Colgate Palmolive.....................908........889........19........2%
Estee Lauder.............................591........502........89.......18%
Kimberly Clark.........................544........640.......(96).....-15%
Avon Products(2).....................246........334.......(88).....-26%
Energizer Holdings...................208........163........45.......28%
Stanley Black & Decker.............177........169..........8.........5%
Clorox(3).................................155........146..........9.........6%
Church & Dwight.......................118..........71........47.......66%
Tupperware..............................114........110..........4.........4%
Newell Rubbermaid..................102..........93..........9.......10%
Celanese.....................................94........130.......(36).....-28%

Total all 12............................7,332.....7,337.........(5).......0%

(1) Procter & Gamble 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge and Gain on Sale of Business.
(2) Avon Products 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge.
(3) Clorox 2010 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.

I think it would be smart for the US Government to give wise, measured incentives, both tax and non-tax, for companies like Procter & Gamble to break up into a handful of parts. This not only would be very beneficial for the stockholders of Procter & Gamble, but it also would be great for US job creation. And it would make their businesses so much more competitive.

================================

...........................................................................Increase
................................................PTI........PTI.......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q.........4Q..................
...............................................2011......2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

Ecolab.....................................130........189........(59)....-31%

Big US Defense Contractor Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 3%

I found 14 Big US Defense Contractor Corps with Pretax Earnings above $100 mil each in either the 4Q 2011 or in the 4Q 2010, and which have released their 4Q 2011 earnings so far. Not all of the sales of these 14 Big US Defense Contractors are made to the US Government, but a substantial portion of them are.

These 14 Big US Defense Contractors registered a Total Pretax Earnings increase of modest 3% in the 4Q 2011, a significant deceleration from earlier periods.

This earnings growth downturn by these Big US Defense Contractors is really good news for US taxpayers. Let's hope it continues. It is critical for the long-term US deficit to remove as much of these excess profits as possible.

These windfall profits have been generated by these Big US Defense Contractors for the entire 2000s decade, wreaking absolute havoc on the US economy.

When you focus on the last 7 years (2001 through 2008) of the Bush/Cheney Presidency, the Total Core Pretax Income of these above 14 Big US Defense Contractors more than tripled.

Many in the US Congress, primarily Republicans but also many Democrats, have been major facilitators of these excess profits of the Big US Defense Contractors. This is one of the many reasons the favorable approval rating of the US Congress is now so low, and is headed much lower. The Occupy Movement is spot on in calling out these Congress members.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s quarter amounts, of these 14 Big US Defense Contractor Corps.

..............................................................................Increase
.................................................PTI.........PTI.......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q...........4Q..................
...............................................2011.......2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

General Dynamics(1)..............1,022......1,043........(21).....-2%
Lockheed Martin.......................966......1,056........(90).....-9%
Raytheon(2)..............................821........788..........33.......4%
Northrop Grumman(3).............782........639.........143......22%
Precision Castparts...................457........385..........72......19%
L-3 Communications(4)............355........398..........(43)....-11%
Goodrich(5)..............................340........198.........142......72%
Harris Corp...............................201........222..........(21).....-9%
Textron(6)................................197..........45.........152.....338%
Rockwell Collins.......................194.........191.............3........2%
SAIC(7)....................................186.........240.........(54)....-23%
KBR..........................................130.........142.........(12).....-8%
CSC(8)......................................107.........230.......(123)....-53%
Alliant Techsystems...................86.........101.........(15)....-15%

Total all 14............................5,844......5,678.........166.......3%

(1) General Dynamics 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge.
(2) Raytheon 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Retirement.
(3) Northrop Grumman 2010 PTI excludes Debt Redemption Charge.
(4) L-3 Communications 2011 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.
(5) Goodrich 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(6) Textron 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge and Mark-to-Market Finance Receivable Adjustment Charge.
(7) SAIC 2011 PTI excludes City Time Loss Provision.
(8) CSC 2011 PTI excludes both National Health Service Contract Charges and Goodwill Impairment Charge.

US Big Chemical Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 13%

There have been 15 US Big Chemical Corps, with Pretax Earnings above $100 mil each in either the 4Q 2011 or in the 4Q 2010, have released their 4Q 2011 earnings. Valhi has a decent chance to also make this earnings threshold, but it hasn't released its December 2011 quarter earnings yet, and thus it hasn't been included below.

These 15 Big US Chemical Corps, registered a total Pretax Earnings increase of a very nice 13% in the 4Q 2011. On the downside, this is a marked deceleration from the very robust earnings growth of these 15 Big Chemical Corps in the 3Q 2011.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI) of these 15 Big US Chemical Corps, along with a comparison with the prior year's quarter amounts.

.........................................................................Increase
.............................................PTI........PTI.......(Decrease)
.............................................4Q.........4Q..................
...........................................2011......2010....Amount....%
.............................................(millions of dollars)

Mosaic(1).............................855........621........234.....38%
CF Industries.......................797........385........412...107%
Praxair................................580........477........103.....22%
DuPont(2)............................422........405..........17.......4%
Air Products&Chem(3).........392........401..........(9).....-2%
Dow Chemical.......................354........646......(292)...-45%
LyondellBasell(4).................272........592......(320)...-54%
Monsanto.............................204..........24........180...750%
Sigma Aldrich.......................159........128..........31.....24%
Eastman Chemical(5)............149........136..........13.....10%
FMC......................................131........(17)........148..-871%
Terra Nitrogen LP.................130..........66..........64.....97%
Albemarle.............................127........105..........22.....21%
Westlake Chemical..................39........129.........(90)...-70%
Scotts Miracle-Gro...............(116)......(104).......(12)...-12%

Total all 15.........................4,495......3,994.......501.....13%

(1) Mosaic 2010 PTI excludes Gain on Sale of Equity Investment.
(2) DuPont 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(3) Air Products & Chemicals 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Airgas Transaction.
(4) LyondellBasell 2011 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment and Berre Refinery Closure Costs Charge.
(5) Eastman Chemical 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.

US Big Retail Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 15%

In a previous post, I focused on the US Big Retailers that had 4Q 2011 earnings with either an October or November 2011 quarter end. It showed that there were 29 of them which had either Pretax Earnings or Pretax Losses of more than $100 mil in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010. And it also showed that the Total Pretax Income for the 4Q 2011 was precisely flat with that of the 4Q 2010.

In this post, I am focusing on the US Big Retailers with December 2011 quarter ends. There were 11 of them which had either Pretax Earnings or Pretax Losses of more than $100 mil in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010, and which had already released their December 2011 quarter earnings. Publix Super Markets also reached this earnings threshold, but because it hadn't released its December 2011 earnings yet, it wasn't included below. It has been included as a late addition at the very bottom of this post.

How did these 11 US Big Retailers with December 2011 quarter ends do?

Well, very well, with Total Pretax Income in the 4Q 2011 increasing a robust 15% over the 4Q 2010.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s 4Q 2010 amounts, for these 11 Big US Retailers.

.........................................................................Increase
.............................................PTI........PTI.......(Decrease)
.............................................4Q.........4Q..................
...........................................2011......2010....Amount....%
.............................................(millions of dollars)

McDonalds.........................1,984.....1,734.......250.....14%
Starbucks..............................571.......508.........63.....12%
Yum Brands...........................461.......386.........75.....19%
Safeway.................................310.......337........(27)....-8%
O'Reilly Automotive..............198.......169..........29.....17%
Whole Foods Market..............193.......148..........45.....30%
Fastenal.................................141.......107..........34.....32%
Sherwin Williams...................130.......104..........26.....25%
AutoNation............................113.......109...........4.......4%
Tractor Supply.......................111.........78..........33.....42%
Advance Auto Parts...............107........78..........29.....37%

Total all 11...........................4,319...3,758........561.....15%

=======================================

Late Addition: March 1, 2012
Publix Super Markets............600.......517..........83.....16%

US Big Other Health Care Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 12%

In two recent earlier separate posts, I addressed the 4Q 2011 earnings of the US Big 6 Pharma Sector and the US Big Health Insurance Sector. In all fairness, the US Congress should be bending the US health care cost curve further, and by quite a bit further, by addressing the out-sized profits which both of these health care sectors have been blessed with.

In this post, I am addressing the remainder of the US Health Care Industry. Altogether, there are 44 of these Health Care Corps in Other Health Care sub-sectors, with earnings of at least $100 mil each in either the 4Q 2011 or 4Q 2010, which have already released their 4Q 2011 earnings. There is one additional Health Care Corps, which probably will reach the earnings threshold here (Kinetic Concepts). It hasn't released its December 2011 quarter earnings yet, and thus wasn't included below.

These 44 US Other Health Care Corps registered a Total Pretax Earnings increase of a very nice 12% in the 4Q 2011 over the prior year's quarter.

Clearly, the Affordable Health Care Plan has helped immensely the earnings of the vast majority of the large health care companies. And when more of its provisions later kick in, the earnings of these large health care companies will be helped much more.....by leaps and bounds.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s 4Q 2010 amounts, for these 44 Big US Other Health Care Corps, sorted by Health Care Sub-Sector.

.......................................................................Increase
............................................PTI.......PTI.......(Decrease)
.............................................4Q.........4Q..................
...........................................2011......2010....Amount....%
.............................................(millions of dollars)

Other Large Drug Corps
Celgene...............................402.........222.......180.....81%
Allergan..............................384.........333.........51.....15%
Forest Labs.........................359.........391........(32)....-8%
Vertex Pharma....................211........(180).......391...217%
Watson Pharma(1)...............175.........103.........72.....70%
Endo Pharma(2)..................152.........105.........47.....45%
Mylan Labs(3).....................149..........111.........38.....34%
Perrigo...............................144..........122.........22.....18%
Warner Chilcott..................127...........60.........67....112%
Total all 9........................2,103.......1,267.......836....66%

Hospitals and Health Services
HCA(4)..............................787.........564.......223.....40%
DaVita(5)...........................269.........202.........67.....33%
Universal Health Svcs(5A).163.........120..........43.....36%
Community Health Syst(6).134.........133............1........1%
Total all 4........................1,353......1,019........334.....33%

Retail Drugs & Proprietary Stores
CVS Caremark.................1,810......1,625........185.....11%
Walgreens..........................883.........921........(38)....-4%
Medco Health Solutions.....674.........607.........67.....11%
Express Scripts..................464.........518........(54)...-10%
Total all 4........................3,831......3,671........160......4%

Biological Products
Amgen(7).......................1,051.......1,117........(66)....-6%
Gilead Sciences..................819.........800..........19......2%
Biogen IDEC......................405..........351..........54.....15%
Life Technologies...............184...........77........107...139%
Total all 4........................2,459......2,345........114......5%

Surgical & Medical Instruments
Covidien Ltd.......................593.........515.........78.....15%
Baxter................................548.........467.........81.....17%
Stryker(8)..........................433.........503........(70)...-14%
Becton Dickinson................344........408........(64)...-16%
CR Bard(9)..........................193.........177.........16.......9%
Boston Scientific(10)..........148.........125..........23.....18%
CareFusion.........................126.........102..........24.....24%
Total all 7........................2,385......2,297.........88.......4%

ElectroMedical Apparatus
Medtronic(11).................1,053.......1,031.........22......2%
St Jude Medical(12)............239.........251........(12)....-5%
Varian Medical Systems......129.........137.........(8)....-6%
Total all 3.........................1,421......1,419...........2......0%

Drug Wholesalers
McKesson(13)....................453.........450...........3.......1%
Cardinal Health..................426.........328.........98.....30%
AmerisourceBergen...........262.........259...........3.......1%
Total all 3.........................1,141.....1,037........104.....10%

Orthopedic Prosthetic Appliances
Zimmer Holdings(14).........297.........314........(17)....-5%
Intuitive Surgical...............203.........157.........46.....29%
Total all 2...........................500.........471.........29......6%

Medical Research
Quest Diagnostics...............292.........267.........25......9%
Lab Corp America..............225.........216............9......4%
Total all 2...........................517.........483.........34......7%

Lab Analytical Instruments
Waters Corp.......................159.........145..........14.....10%
Mettler Toledo...................118.........110............8......7%
Total all 2..........................277.........255..........22......9%

Miscellaneous
Henry Schein.....................160.........138.........22.....16%
Cerner...............................140.........104.........36.....35%
Herbalife Ltd......................136.........105.........31.....30%
Weight Watchers................101...........78.........23.....29%
Total all 4..........................537.........425........112.....26%

Total all 44....................16,524....14,689.....1,835.....12%

(1) Watson Pharmaceutical 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge. Its 2010 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge and Special Litigation Settlement Charge.
(2) Endo Pharmaceuticals 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge. Its 2010 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge and Gain on Contingent Consideration related to an Acquisition.
(3) Mylan Labs PTI in both years exclude Special Litigation Settlement Charges.
(4) HCA 2011 PTI excludes Gain on Acquisition of Controlling Interest in an Equity Investment and Gains on Sales of Facilities.
(5) DaVita 2010 PTI excludes Debt Refinance Charges.
(5A) Universal Health Services 2010 PTI excludes Acquisition Transaction Cost Charge.
(6) Community Health Systems 2011 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(7) Amgen 2010 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge.
(8) Stryker 2010 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge.
(9) CR Bard 2011 PTI excludes Special Legal Settlement Charge.
(10) Boston Scientific 2011 PTI excludes Special Litigation Settlement Charge. Its 2010 PTI excludes Special Litigation Settlement Credit.
(11) Medtronic 2010 PTI excludes Special Litigation Charge.
(12) St Jude Medical 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge.
(13) McKesson PTI in both years exclude Special Litigation Charges.
(14) Zimmer Holdings 2011 PTI excludes Durom Claims Charge. Its 2010 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.

US Big Mining Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Plummet

The 8 US Big Mining Corps, which generated at least $100 mil of Pretax Income in the most recent quarter, registered a substantial 28% drop in their Total Pretax Income in the 4Q 2011, as compared with the 4Q 2010.

Below here are the Pretax Incomes (PTI) of these 8 US Big Mining Corps in the 4Q 2011, along with a comparison with the prior year’s 4Q of 2010:

....................................................4Q.........4Q.....Increase...
..................................................2011......2010....(Decrease)...
...................................................PTI.......PTI....Amount.....%
..................................................(in millions of dollars).........

Freeport McMoran(1)...............1,253....2,986...(1,733)...-58%
Newmont Mining(2)..................1,036....1,112........(76)....-7%
Southern Copper..........................851......806.........45.......6%
Peabody Energy(3)......................376......279.........97.....35%
CliffsNaturalResources(4)............353......392........(39)...-10%
CONSOL Energy...........................238......138........100.....72%
MDU Resources...........................111.......134........(23)...-17%
Walter Energy.............................109.......141........(32)...-23%

Total all 8................................4,327....5,988...(1,661)...-28%

(1) Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold 2011 PTI was negatively impacted by Labor and Pipeline Disruptions at its Indonesia Operations.
(2) Newmont Mining 2011 PTI excludes a huge Write Down of Property, Plant and Equipment and Mine Development.
(3) Peabody Energy 2011 PTI excludes Transaction-related Acquisition Costs and Gains on Asset Dispositions.
(4) Cliffs Natural Resources 2011 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.

Clearly, Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold was the main driver of this substantial drop in 4Q 2011 earnings in this industry.

Let me quote from Freeport McMoran's 4Q 2011 earnings release related to its PT Freeport Indonesia labor problems, and their resolution.

"In December 2011, PT Freeport Indonesia reached an agreement with union officials to end the three month strike that commenced on September 15, 2011. Pursuant to the terms, PT Freeport Indonesia agreed to increase base wages by 24 percent in the first year and by 13 percent in the second year (equivalent to a 40 percent increase over two-years on a compounded basis). PT Freeport Indonesia also paid a bonus equivalent to three months of base wages and agreed to provide other benefits, including enhancements to housing allowances, educational assistance and retirement savings plans. The parties also agreed that future wage negotiations would be based on living costs and the competitiveness of wages within Indonesia."

While it's certainly good to see this labor settlement, I think the extent of the increases in employee wages and benefits, show that the 1% economic stranglehold on the 99% isn't just happening in the US.....it's clearly a global problem.

US Big Beverage Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 14%

There were 8 US Big Beverage Corps, with Pretax Earnings (PTI) or Pretax Losses above $100 mil each in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010, which have released their 4Q 2011 earnings so far.

These 8 US Big Beverage Corps had their Total Pretax Earnings increased nicely by 14% in the 4Q 2011, as compared with the 4Q 2010.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s quarter amounts.

.............................................................................Increase
................................................PTI...........PTI.......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q............4Q..................
...............................................2011.........2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

Coca-Cola(1)...........................2,089.......1,843........246....13%
Dr Pepper Snapple(2).................246..........249.........(3)...-1%
Brown Forman...........................239..........229.........10.....4%
Molson Coors Brewing................182..........125.........57....46%
Constellation Brands..................167..........192........(25)..-13%
Coca-Cola Enterprises................158..........124.........34....27%
Beam(3).....................................143...........80.........63....79%
Monster Beverage......................105...........80.........25....31%

Total all 8................................3,329......2,922.......407....14%

(1) Coca-Cola 2011 PTI excludes Gain due to an Equity Investment issuing more common shares. Its 2010 PTI excludes Gain from Remeasurement of an Investment to Fair Value, Gain on Sale of Norwegian and Swedish Bottlers, and various large one-time Charges mostly related to Acquisitions.
(2) Dr Pepper Snapple 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(3) Beam 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge and Loss on Debt Extinguishment.

US Big Tobacco Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 3%

There were 4 Big US Tobacco Corps with Pretax Income of at least $100 mil in the most recent 4Q 2011.

These 4 Big Tobacco Corps generated Total Pretax Income growth of a modest 3% in the 4Q 2011, with this growth held back by Altria Group's down earnings.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s quarter amounts.

...........................................................................Increase
................................................PTI........PTI.......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q.........4Q..................
...............................................2011......2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

Phillip Morris Intl..................2,749.....2,527........222......9%
Altria Group..........................1,183.....1,407.......(224)...-16%
Reynolds American(1).............509........464..........45.....10%
Lorillard..................................496........406..........90.....22%

Total all 4.............................4,937.....4,804.........133......3%

(1) Reynolds American PTI in both years excludes Intangible Asset Charges.

US Big Food Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Down 8%

I found 19 Big Food Corps, with Pretax Earnings (PTI) or Pretax Losses above $100 mil each in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010, which have released their 4Q 2011 earnings so far.

These 19 Big Food Corps had a Total Pretax Earnings decline of 8% in the 4Q 2011 as compared with the 4Q 2010.

Clearly, US Republican Congress obstinance put a strangle hold on the US economy in 4Q 2011, causing a significant downturn in US consumer confidence and much increased US business uncertainty, thereby hampering the performance of these US Big Food Corps.

Below here are these 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings (PTI), along with a comparison with the prior year’s quarter amounts.

.............................................................................Increase
................................................PTI..........PTI.......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q...........4Q..................
...............................................2011........2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

PepsiCo..................................1,999.......1,872........127.....7%
Kraft Foods...............................934..........712........222....31%
General Mills............................630..........741.......(111)..-15%
Archer Daniels Midland(1)........460..........998......(538)..-54%
Campbell Soup..........................388..........414........(26)...-6%
Kellogg......................................341..........260.........81....31%
HJ Heinz...................................293..........347........(54)..-16%
ConAgra Foods..........................251..........298........(47)..-16%
Tysons Foods............................243..........445......(202)..-45%
Bunge Ltd..................................240..........346......(106)..-31%
Hershey....................................208..........200............8......4%
JM Smucker..............................193..........222.........(29)..-13%
Hormel Foods...........................180..........188..........(8)....-4%
Smithfield Foods.......................174..........205.........(31)..-15%
Corn Products...........................147............80..........67....84%
Green Mountain Coffee(2).........142.............13.........129..992%
Mead Johnson Nutrition...........132...........134..........(2)....-1%
Ralcorp.....................................101...........111.........(10)...-9%
Sara Lee(3).................................83...........154.........(71)..-46%

Total all 19.............................7,139.......7,740.......(601)...-8%

(1) Archer Daniels Midland 2011 PTI excludes PHA Asset Impairment Charge.
(2) Green Mountain Coffee Roasters 2011 PTI excludes Gain on Sale of Subsidiary.
(3) Sara Lee 2010 PTI excludes Debt Extinguishment Charge.

==============================

Late Addition: Feb 29, 2012

.............................................................................Increase
................................................PTI..........PTI.......(Decrease)
.................................................4Q...........4Q..................
...............................................2011........2010....Amount....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)

Seaboard...................................97..........128.........(31)....-24%

US Big Motor Vehicle and Parts Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 35%

There were 11 US Big Motor Vehicle and Parts Corps, with Pretax Income or Loss of more than $100 mil in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010, which have released their December 2011 quarterly earnings. There are a couple others that probably will meet this earnings threshold, but they haven't released their 4Q 2011 earnings yet.

How did these US Big Auto Corps do?

Just great, with their Total Pretax Income up a very robust 35% in the 4Q 2011.

Below here are the Pretax Income (PTI) of these 11 Big Motor Vehicle and Parts Corps in the 4Q 2011, along with a comparison with the prior year’s 4Q of 2010:

..............................................4Q............4Q..........Increase...
............................................2011.........2010......(Decrease)...
.............................................PTI.........PTI(L)...Amount.....%
............................................(in millions of dollars).........

Ford(1)...............................1,052........1,173........(121)...-10%
General Motors(2).................993...........830.........163......20%
Paccar...................................473...........239.........234......98%
Chrysler................................275..........(167)........442....265%
Navistar................................275.............56..........219....391%
TRW Automotive...................259...........253.............6.......2%
Autoliv(3)..............................211...........231..........(20)....-9%
Borg Warner..........................185...........146............39.....27%
Lear........................................92............119..........(27)...-23%
Oshkosh..................................50...........143..........(93)...-65%
Goodyear Tire...........................7..........(145).........152....105%

Total all 11..........................3,872........2,878.........994......35%

(1) Ford 2011 PTI excludes Gain on Sale of Russian Operations to a Joint Venture. Its 2010 PTI excludes Debt Reduction Action Charges.
(2) General Motors 2011 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge and Gain on Debt Extinguishment. Its 2010 PTI excludes Gain on Debt Extinguishment.
(3) Autoliv is a Swedish Corp, but with extensive US operations.

I think one of the most significantly positive developments in the critical US auto industry in the 4Q 2011 was Ford's decision to record $12.4 bil of reduced Income Tax Expense, and thus also in increased After-tax Earnings, which isn't even included in its above Pretax Income numbers. Yeah, that's $12.4 bil.

What in the world is with this massive $12.4 bil increase in Ford's after-tax earnings?

Well, this gets technical, but under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, when a company is generating substantial cumulative net operating losses, like Ford had previously, it is not able to record in its after-tax earnings the tax benefit related to these losses unless it is more likely than not that these earnings will ultimately be realized. So, it's all about assessment of Ford's future earnings prospects.

In the 3Q 2006, Ford, with the blessing of its outside auditors, decided to reverse its previous income tax benefits related to its huge cumulative losses. This action only made sense, given the large cumulative losses incurred through the 3Q 2006, coupled with Ford's dismal financial outlook on its future earnings.

In the 4Q 2011, Ford, again with the blessing of its outside auditors, reversed course and reversed this reversal, thereby resulting in $12.4 bil in reduced income tax expense, and thus also in higher after-tax earnings, in the 4Q 2011.

Why this change? To quote Ford's 4Q 2011 Earnings Release ....."Consistent delivery over the past few years of strong improvement in the company’s business results now supports" this $12.4 bil of Income Tax Benefit and resultant increase in After-tax Earnings increase. Whew!

When you look at the above numbers, you just have to ask the following question.....Just how in the world could any rational person vote for a Presidential Candidate who still stubbornly claims that the Obama Administration actions to rescue the Auto Industry, which was clearly going under, was a huge mistake?

=========================================

Late Addition: Feb 29, 2012

..............................................4Q............4Q..........Increase...
............................................2011.........2010......(Decrease)...
.............................................PTI.........PTI(L)...Amount.....%
............................................(in millions of dollars).........

Visteon(1)............................100...........153.........(53)....-35%

(1) Visteon 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge. Its 2010 PTI excludes a large Reorganization Net Credit.

US Big Transportation Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Up 34%

The 15 US Big Transportation Corps, with Pretax Income or Loss of at least $100 mil in either the 4Q 2011 or in the 4Q 2010, reported Total Pretax Income growth of a very robust 34% in the most recent quarter.

And this happened despite very high fuel costs.

I do think it is great for the US economy for the key Transportation Sector to generate 34% total earnings growth in the same 4Q that the 4 Big Oil Corps that dominate have their total earnings growth increase by only 2%.

.............................................4Q.........4Q............Increase
...........................................2011......2010........(Decrease)
..........................................PTI(L).....PTI(L).....Amount....%
.............................................(in millions of dollars)...........

UnitedParcelService(1)......1,889......1,730.........159.......9%
Union Pacific.....................1,530.......1,180........350......30%
Boeing...............................1,444.......1,003........441......44%
FedEx..................................777.........437.........340......78%
Norfolk Southern.................723.........562..........161......29%
CSX......................................712.........701............11.......2%
Delta Air Lines(2).................447..........52..........395....760%
Southwest Airlines...............255.........213............42......20%
CH Robinson........................173.........164..............9.......5%
Expeditors Intl.....................155.........152.............3.......2%
Kansas City So(3)..................122.........105...........17......16%
JB Hunt Transport................116..........89............27......30%
Alaska Air............................101.........104............(3).....-3%
United Continental.............(146).......(324).........178......55%
AMR(4)..............................(192).......(133).........(59)....-44%

Total all 15.......................8,106.......6,035.......2,071......34%

(1) United Parcel Service PTI in both years is before Pension Accounting Mark-to-Market Accounting.
(2) Delta Air Lines PTI in both years is before Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(3) Kansas City Southern in both years is before Debt Retirement Charges.
(4) AMR 2011 PTL is before Reorganizations Costs and Asset Impairment Charges.

US Big Security Broker/Investment Advice Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Down 6%

In addition to the huge Investments Firms I covered in an earlier post, there were 17 US Security Broker/Investment Advice Corps, with Pretax Income of more than $100 mil in either the 4Q 2011 or the 4Q 2010, as you can see in the below chart.

..........................................4Q............4Q.........Increase
........................................2011.........2010.....(Decrease)
.........................................PTI............PTI...Amount......%
........................................(in millions of dollars)......

BlackRock........................815............958......(143)....-15%
Franklin Resources..........695............698..........(3).......0%
Invesco Ltd.....................386............212........174.......82%
CME Group......................370...........427........(57).....-13%
Ameriprise Financial.......352............368........(16)......-4%
T Rowe Price...................298............307.........(9)......-3%
Charles Schwab(1)...........252............353......(101)....-29%
TD Ameritrade................221............223..........(2)......-1%
IntercontlExchange........184............150..........34......23%
Nasdaq OMX(2)...............164............148..........16......11%
Interactive Brokers.........156..............42........114....271%
NYSE Eronext(3).............134............140.........(6)......-4%
Affiliated Managers.........109............146........(37)....-25%
Raymond James Fincl.....105............127........(22)....-17%
Jefferies Group.................71............124........(53)....-43%
Janus Capital...................62.............100........(38)....-38%
Lazard Ltd......................(15)............132......(147)...-111%

Total all 17..................4,359.........4,655......(296).....-6%

(1) Charles Schwab 2010 PTI excludes Class Action Litigation Charge.
(2) Nasdaq OMX Group 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge and Debt Extinguishment Charge.
(3) NYSE Euronext 2011 PTI excludes BlueNext Tax Settlement Charge.

Yeah, 13 of these 17 US Big Security Broker/Investment Advice Corps had down earnings in the 4Q 2011. And their Total Pretax Income was down 6% in the 4Q 2011.

In an earlier post on the US Big 9 Financial Corps which dominate, there are 5 of them which have substantial brokerage and investment operations. Here are their 4Q 2011 Pretax Income, as compared with that in the 4Q 2010.

..........................................4Q............4Q..........Increase
........................................2011.........2010......(Decrease)
.........................................PTI...........PTI.....Amount........%
........................................(in millions of dollars)......

JP Morgan Chase............4,747.......7,012....(2,265).......-32%
Citigroup........................1,364........1,060.........304........29%
Morgan Stanley(1)..........1,285.........1,191...........94..........8%
Goldman Sachs...............1,247........3,474.....(2,227).....-64%
Merrill Lynch(2)...........(2,462)...........111.....(2,573)..-2418%

Total all 5........................6,181......12,848.....(6,667)......-52%

(1) Morgan Stanley 2011 PTI excludes Loss related to MBIA Settlement.
(2) Merrill Lynch is part of Bank of America, but it also files separately with the SEC.

Clearly, US Republican Congress obstinance put a strangle hold on the US economy in 4Q 2011, causing a significant downturn in US consumer confidence and much increased US business uncertainty, thereby hampering the performance of these US Big Security Broker/Investment Advice Corps.

One of these days, the big business community is going to finally figure out that the Obama Administration has been much better for them than have the economically damaging actions of the US Republicans supposedly acting on their behalf in the US Congress.

US Big Health Insurance Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings: Precisely Flat

There were 9 US Big Health Insurance Corps, which generated Pretax Income of more than $100 mil in either the 4Q 2011 or 4Q 2010.

How did they do?

Well, the Total Pretax Earnings of these 9 US Big Health Insurance Corps for the 4Q 2011 were precisely flat as compared with the 4Q 2010.

Kathleen Sebelius and the Affordable Health Care Plan both flat out rock for the 99%.

Below here are the individual Pretax Income results for the 4Q 2011 for each of these Big 9 Health Insurance Corps, along with a comparison with the prior year’s 4Q amounts.

..............................................PTI........PTI..........Increase
...............................................4Q.........4Q.........(Decrease)
.............................................2011......2010....Amount......%
...............................................(millions of dollars)

UnitedHealth(1)..........MN...1,935.....1,884..........51.........3%
Aetna...........................CT.....607........313........294.......94%
WellPoint.....................IN.....478........752.......(274).....-36%
Cigna............................CT.....455........545........(90).....-17%
Humana.......................KY.....313........174........139.......80%
Coventry Healthcare...MD.....144........236.........(92).....-39%
Wellcare Health(2).......FL......119..........36..........83......231%
Health Net....................CA......90........124.........(34).....-27%
Amerigroup.................VA......51........127.........(76).....-60%

Total all 9...........................4,192......4,191.............1........0%

(1) United Health 2010 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge and Business Line Disposition Charge.
(2) Wellcare Health 2011 excludes Gain on Debt Extinguishment.

Let me explain why it is so important for the country to have much more financially astute members in the US Congress, like Elizabeth Warren, who is running for the US Senate from Massachusetts. The US Senate Finance Committee, the US House Ways and Means, and the US Senate and House Committees handling Health Care all totally missed the following salient scenario when the Affordable Health Care Act was passed.

The Big 3 that dominate the US Health Insurance Industry are United Health, WellPoint and Aetna.....although with its continually and massively growing earnings of the past three years, Kentucky-based Humana, with US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell pushing on its behalf, is getting close to making it the Big 4. Humana's Pretax Income has grown dramatically from $993 mil in 2008 to $2,235 mil in 2011, yeah, that's up 125% in just three years. I wonder how many of its health care insurance customers had their earnings grow like that in the past three years. I'm betting very few.

Back to the Big 3.

..................................................Average........Earnings
............................................Common Shares......Per
.......................Net Income.......Outstanding......Share
.........................mils of $s.......mils of shares

United Health
.....2011...............5,142..............1,087..............4.73
.....2005..............3,083..............1,333...............2.31
.....% Change........+67%...............-18%...........+105%

WellPoint
.....2011...............2,647................365..............7.25
.....2005..............2,464................626...............3.94
.....% Change.........+7%...............-42%............+84%

Aetna
.....2011...............1,986................380...............5.22
.....2005..............1,573................606...............2.60
.....% Change........+26%..............-37%...........+101%

A huge portion of the total compensation of the top executives of these Big Health Insurance Corps is driven by what happens with the Corp's Earnings Per Share, which is what drives the Market Price of the Stock. And frankly, this is also true of how the Board of Directors of these US Big Health Insurance Corps are compensated, who approve these US Big Corp stock buyback programs.

So what's with the massive difference between the growth in Net Income and the growth in Earnings Per Share of these 3 Big Health Insurance Corps?

It's all about massive stock buyback programs, which reduce the number of common shares and thus increase the Earnings Per Share.

Just how much have these Big 3 Health Insurance Corps paid out to buy back their own common stock in their most recent six years? Would you believe $52.8 bil? It's true.

.....................United
.....................Health.....WellPoint.....Aetna.....Total
.........................(billions of dollars)...............

2011...............3.0.............3.0............1.6*.......7.6
2010...............2.5.............4.4............1.6.........8.5
2009...............1.8.............2.6............0.8.........5.2
2008...............2.7.............3.3............1.8.........7.8
2007...............6.6.............6.2............1.7.......14.5
2006...............2.3.............4.6............2.3.........9.2
Total 6 years..18.9...........24.1............9.8.......52.8

* Aetna 2011 amount is 9 months Sept 2011 annualized.

Where did the money come from to buy back this stock?

From Insurance Premiums!

Warren Buffett very perceptively said many years ago that if you wanted to evaluate an insurance company, the best way to do it is to determine how the insurance company invests the insurance premiums it receives before it has to subsequently pay them out later in insurance claims.

These 3 Big Health Insurance giants are buying back their own common stock with the insurance premiums paid to them.

And who's the beneficiary of these insurance premiums being paid and used to buy back Health Insurance Corp common stock? Clearly, the top executives and Board of Directors of these Big 3 Health Insurance Corps, through the resultant gigantic increase in Earnings Per Share, and thus the related increase in the Market Price of the Common Stock. So clearly this financial engineering strategy results in a gigantic transfer of wealth between the insurance premium payers, the 99%, and the 1%.

To do a much better job of bending the long-term health care cost curve, the focus of annual insurance premium rate hikes of Big Health Insurance Corps should be tied to EPS growth, rather than to Pretax Income Growth, to Net Income Growth, or to only setting a percentage of Medical Benefits paid out to Insurance Premium Revenues.

And there clearly should be a maximum amount set for annual Common Stock Buybacks. Any Corp exceeding this annual maximum should be paying a financial fee to the US government for this incredible filthy greed. And this should apply to all Corps, not just to those in the Health Insurance Industry.

It is pretty clear that the vast majority of CEOs, CFOs, and Boards of Directors of these US Big Corps are not going to change their ingrained selfish greed, no matter how devastating it is to the 99%.

Given this, the only way US capitalism can properly work is for the US Government to take steps to quash these highly undesirable economic consequences to the 99%.

The Obama Administration at least attempts to govern for the entire country, both the 1% and the 99%. But the US Congress stops nearly every Obama Administration economic initiative on every front.

This is the main reason the approval rating of the US Congress is already so low, and is headed even much lower. Even though they publicly say otherwise, their legislative actions consistently show their allegiance to the 1% over the 99%.....certainly this is so for all Republicans in the US Congress, but it is also so for many Democrats in the US Congress. And so many well-intentioned Democrats, lacking the requisite financial expertise, frequently legislate for the 1% against the 99% on economic issues without realizing the consequences of their actions.

The only way for the country to get out of this deep unfair economic hole to the 99% is to remove from office in November 2012 so many of those in the US Congress.

And when severe economic problems are what is driving down the country from its historic preeminent position, it is essential to bring into office many new Congressional members who have superb financial expertise. Presently this financial expertise is pretty much devoid in the US Congress, and the 99% is paying the price.

US Big Credit Card Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings Growth: Very Robust

Since Credit Card customers, particularly the 99%ers, including many small businesses, have been suffering so much financially, and thus they have had to increase their credit card balances, with much of it at seemingly extremely high interest rates along with exorbitant other fees charged, I think it would be helpful to see how the US Big Credit Card Corps, clearly some of the 1%ers, have been doing.

There are four large Credit Card Corps that are independent publicly-owned corporations: American Express, Visa, Discover Financial Services, and MasterCard.

In the 4Q 2011, these four Credit Card Corps had Total Pretax Income of $4.9 bil, an increase of a very robust 23% over the 4Q 2010. This 23% earnings increase was just slightly less than the 27% earnings growth in the 3Q 2011, and substantially less than the windfall profit increases of the previous six quarters.

And these robust earnings increases are across the board. The lowest percentage earnings increase in the 4Q 2011 of these four Big Credit Card Corps was 17%, generated by Visa. I wonder how many 99%ers, including small businesses, had their financial earnings increase by 17% in the most recent 4Q 2011. I bet it's less than 10%.

Below here are the 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings of these four US Big Credit Card Corps, along with that earned in the prior year's 4Q.

..........................................4Q............4Q....
........................................2011.........2010......Increase
.........................................PTI............PTI...Amount......%
........................................(in millions of dollars)......

American Express...........1,748........1,477......271......18%
Visa.................................1,617........1,382......235......17%
Discover Fincl Svcs............818...........585......233......40%
MasterCard(1)...................758...........582......176......30%

Total all 4........................4,941.......4,026.......915......23%

(1) MasterCard 2011 PTI excludes Special Litigation Settlement Charge.

So, these US Big Credit Card Corps, along with their supporters in the US Congress (all Republicans and even some Democrats), are constantly whining about how the Obama Administration and Ben Bernanke have just devastated their industry?

Give me a break!

I suggest that the 99%ers are the ones severely damaged, and not as yet even close to being made whole, by the financial meltdown, not the US Big Credit Card Corps.

So how have the Republicans in the US Congress reacted to these windfall earnings and astronomical earnings growth rates of these four Big Credit Card Corps in the past several years, which was nearly all earned on the backs of the 99%, including small businesses?

They refused to permit the Obama Administration to appoint the eminently qualified and impeccable Richard Cordray to head the critical US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

These Congressional Republicans are not working on behalf of the 99% on this key issue, and on so many other critical issues. They are only working for the 1%.

There is a reason the Occupying Protesters are having such a positive impact. They are calling out the economic injustices like this one, and they are expecting the US Government to function properly and correct them.

US Big Corps 4Q 2011 Earnings (Part Three)...Massive Earnings Growth Deceleration

Through Friday, February 10, 2012, there have been 140 US Big Corps, with Pretax Income of more than $500 mil each in any quarter of the most recent two years, which have released their December 2011 quarterly earnings.

I've included with these 140 several foreign-owned Corps, like Royal Dutch Shell and BP, because they have such massive operations in the US.

I decided to use a $500 mil quarterly Pretax Income cutoff for US Big Corps in order to obtain a reasonably high sample to be able to have a good underlying basis to make logical conclusions.

My definition of Core Pretax Income is not nearly as liberal as that of many US Big Corps. I start with Pretax Income under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and exclude just a handful of large unusual items relative to Pretax Income, including:

.....Asset Impairments, mainly related to Goodwill and other Intangible Assets
.....Loss and Gains on Early Extinguishment of Debt
.....Acquired In Process Research & Development Charges
.....Gains and Losses on Sales of Assets and Businesses
.....Special Huge Litigation Charges

Here is the Total Core Pretax Income (PTI) of these 140 US Big Corps for Annual Fiscal Year Ended (FYE) 2010, as well as for each 2011 quarter, along with the related prior year amounts, as well as the Total Increased Amount and the Total Percentage Increase over the prior year or over the prior year's quarter:


.................................................................................Increase....
....................Period......PTI.........Period.....PTI......Amount.....%
...............................mils of $s....................mil of $s.....

Annual FYE..2010...809,960.....2009...553,071..256,889...46%
Calendar 1Q..2011...246,157......2010...194,306.....51,851...27%
Calendar 2Q..2011...257,268......2010...208,087....49,181...24%
Calendar 3Q..2011...253,164......2010...208,295....44,869..22%
Calendar 4Q..2011...231,560......2010...211,465....20,095..10%

Given Apple's incredibly large and very robust earnings growth, particularly in the 4Q 2011, coupled with the fact that 70% of Apple's most recent fiscal year ended earnings were generated overseas, let me also show below the above total numbers for the remaining 139 US Big Corps, with Apple backed out.

.................................................................................Increase....
....................Period......PTI.........Period.....PTI......Amount.....%
...............................mils of $s....................mil of $s.....

Annual FYE..2010...791,420.....2009...541,005...250,415...46%
Calendar 1Q..2011...238,257......2010...190,277....47,980...25%
Calendar 2Q..2011...247,717......2010...203,795....43,922...22%
Calendar 3Q..2011...244,373......2010...202,834....41,539..20%
Calendar 4Q..2011...214,083......2010...203,502....10,581.....5%

When you review the above income trend numbers, how in the world can nearly half of the country objectively assert that the Obama Administration hasn't helped the US economy immensely in all of 2010 and in all of 2011. And when I review the 2009 quarterly income statement numbers of these US Big Corps, the clear conclusion is that the huge upturn in the Total Pretax Income of these US Big Corps started in the 4Q 2009, when the Obama economic stimulus really started kicking into gear.

The stock market has this all figured out. After all, the Dow Industrials Index has nearly doubled in the past three years.

Earnings drive stock prices. And the Earnings Per Share growth of these 140 US Big Corps for 2010 and 2011 is even substantially higher than the above very robust Pretax Income increases for two reasons.

First, these US Big Corps are generating after-tax Net Income growth that far exceeds their Pretax Income growth, due to their continually increasing the portion of their worldwide income generated in low-taxed foreign tax havens, due also to their receiving more and more tax subsidies each year, and as it can be easily seen by reviewing their income tax footnotes, due also to their continually obtaining extremely favorable settlements with the IRS in their income tax audits.

And second, these US Big Corps are taking advantage of the extremely cheap interest rate environment provided by the US Government to take massive advantage of stock buyback programs, which substantially increase their Earnings Per Share.

But this earnings trend isn't just applicable to these 140 US Big Corps that have reported their December 2011 quarterly earnings.

There were another 33 US Big Corps, with October or November 2011 quarter ends, which generated Pretax Income above $500 mil in any quarter of 2011 or 2010. Here is the Total Core Pretax Income (PTI) of these 33 US Big Corps for each 2011 quarter, along with the related prior year amounts, as well as the Total Increased Amount and the Total Percentage Increase over the prior year's quarter:

.................................................................................Increase....
....................Period......PTI.........Period.....PTI......Amount.....%
...............................mils of $s....................mil of $s.....

Calendar 1Q..2011....35,314......2010....29,593.....5,721...19%
Calendar 2Q..2011....34,316......2010....30,258.....4,058...13%
Calendar 3Q..2011....30,618......2010....28,102.....2,516....9%
Calendar 4Q..2011...27,250......2010....27,124.........126....0%

Thus, when you combine the above 140 US Big Corps with December 2011 quarter ends with the above 33 with October or December 2011 quarter ends, below here are the results of these 173:

.................................................................................Increase....
....................Period......PTI.........Period.....PTI......Amount.....%
...............................mils of $s....................mil of $s.....

Calendar 1Q..2011...281,471......2010...223,899....57,572...26%
Calendar 2Q..2011...291,584......2010...238,345....53,239...22%
Calendar 3Q..2011...283,782......2010...236,397...47,385..20%
Calendar 4Q..2011...258,810......2010...238,589....20,221.....8%

And when you back out Apple, here are the combined results of the remaining above 172 US Big Corps:

.................................................................................Increase....
....................Period......PTI.........Period.....PTI......Amount.....%
...............................mils of $s....................mil of $s.....

Calendar 1Q..2011...273,571......2010...219,870....53,701...24%
Calendar 2Q..2011...282,033......2010...234,053....47,890...20%
Calendar 3Q..2011...274,991......2010...230,936...44,055...19%
Calendar 4Q..2011...241,333......2010...230,626....10,707.....5%

It is clear that the country must focus like a laser on the reasons for this massive dismal earnings growth deceleration from the 3Q 2011 to the 4Q 2011, in order to take steps to reverse this horrible trend.

And the reason this focus is even more critical is that this major drop in earnings growth in the 4Q 2011 occurred despite a more robust 2.8% real US GDP growth rate in the 4Q 2011, which was much higher than that of the first three quarters of 2011, and also occurred despite the fact that there was a substantial pulling forward of US equipment purchases by so many US Corps from 2012 to the 4Q 2011, and particularly to the month of December 2011, due to the huge drop in 100% first-year tax expensing on US equipment purchases in 2011 to only 50% bonus tax depreciation in 2012.

If this is what’s happening to the US largest corporations, which have been both dramatically and continually “propped up” by both US Government and Fed actions, I can just imagine how badly many of the neglected US small businesses have done on the earnings front in the most recent 4Q 2011.

Let me give my thoughts on the main reasons for this massive earnings growth drop in the 4Q 2011.

First, and clearly foremost, this significant US earnings growth deceleration stems from irresponsible US Congressional Actions and Inaction, which resulted in the substantial loss in US consumer confidence and the substantial increase in US business uncertainty.

This was the direct result of Republicans in the US Congress irresponsibly breaking off the critical Grand Bargain Talks on huge long-term US deficit reduction with the Obama Administration, coupled with the horrific Debt Ceiling Negotiations, which even resulted in the highly embarrassing US Debt Downgrade by Standard and Poors. And then all US Republicans on the US Debt Super-Committee recalcitrantly refused to budge on any meaningful amount of increased Tax Revenues, thereby resulting in the disgraceful demise of this Super-Committee.

Further, the Republican Congress wreaked havoc on both the US economy and US job creation by recalcitrantly and unpatriotically rejecting on arrival the American Jobs Act, which had some awfully powerful US job creation initiatives, particularly the substantial US infrastructure investments.

I can't believe that the bulk of the US Big Corps are buying into the Republican Congress strategy to stop the US economic recovery. They want, for the most part, Obama to be removed from office, but more importantly, they don't want to see a massive deceleration of their earnings growth. They consider that to be just too high of a cost for them.

Second, and nearly as important as the irresponsible actions and inaction by the Republicans in the US Congress, relates to the key business tax incentive for US equipment purchases.

The very highly-charged 100% tax expensing for US equipment purchases was applicable to every quarter of 2011 and also to the entire 4Q 2010. However, it wasn't applicable to the first two quarters of 2010 nor to the majority of the third quarter of 2010.

Companies that sell equipment have their sales, gross margins, and earnings increase significantly. In addition, this 100% first-year tax expensing highly motivates the purchaser to purchase the US equipment when the 100% first-year tax expensing is in effect.

Thus, in the quarters that 100% first-year expensing is in effect, these US companies selling a lot of this equipment in the US will have their Pretax Income increase dramatically in that quarter.

There was the same 100% first-year tax expensing in the 4Q 2011 and in the 4Q 2010. However, in the first three quarters of 2011, the 100% tax expensing was double the 50% bonus tax depreciation in the first three quarters of 2010. Thus, it only makes economic sense that CFOs and CEOs would decide to purchase this US equipment in the quarters that 100% first-year tax expensing would apply.

Therefore, it also only makes sense that the Pretax Income growth would be substantially higher in the first three quarters of 2011, where 100% tax expensing was in effect, as compared to the comparable first three quarters of 2010, where the much less enticing 50% bonus tax depreciation applied.

So what does this mean? Well, very bad news for 2012 US equipment purchases.

Thus, it would be very wise for the US Congress to legislate to step up the 50% bonus tax depreciation to 100% first-year tax expensing for all of 2012. If not, I think you'll see real US real GDP growth drop markedly in 2012. Likewise, you'll see Pretax Earnings growth drop dramatically in 2012.

Also, I would make this 100% first-year tax expensing incentive substantially more robust in 2012.

How?

Well, I would also give some very substantial first-year tax depreciation deductions for investments in new buildings and in building improvements (especially green building retrofits) for US businesses of all sizes. And I would also step up first-year tax writeoffs for all Research and Development investments, including all computer software costs incurred.

However, to be fair in benefiting both the 1% and the neglected 99%, I would allow these massively lucrative tax incentives to the very large US businesses only if they are accompanied by a fairly-designed minimum full-time job increase requirement. If the US Congress irresponsibly excludes this requirement like it always has in the past, you will see the majority of large US Corps reap billions of dollars of upfront tax benefits, but still unpatriotically refusing to hire US workers on a full-time basis, and in many cases, even continuing to shed thousands of US workers, despite still receiving all of this income tax benefit largesse.

And to minimize the CBO-scored cost of the very effective above tax incentives, I would reduce the tax depreciation allowed on the new buildings and building improvements in years two through ten. And I would also accelerate markedly the remaining tax depreciation starting in year 11.

And to help struggling US businesses, I would give businesses that can't take advantage of the 100% tax expensing on equipment purchases, the much accelerated tax depreciation deductions on buildings and building improvements, or the increased upfront tax writeoffs on R&D and computer software investments, an upfront equivalent tax credit in the first year for these investments made.

Third, and also very importantly and really a great development to both the US economy and US job creation, as well as that around the globe, there was a massive deceleration in 4Q 2011 earnings growth of the Big Oil Corps that dominate.....specifically, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and BP.

Just how substantial was this 4Q 2011 earnings growth deceleration of these Big Oil Corps? Well, it was nearly a complete collapse. The neglected 99%, including small businesses, have spoken.

Here is the Total Core Pretax Income (PTI), with BP's Gulf of Mexico Spill Costs and Credits backed out, of these 4 US Big Oil Corps that dominate for Annual Fiscal Year Ended (FYE) 2010, as well as for each 2011 quarter, along with the related prior year amounts, as well as the Total Increased Amount and the Total Percentage Increase over the prior year or over the prior year's quarter:

.................................................................................Increase....
....................Period......PTI.........Period.....PTI......Amount.....%
...............................mils of $s....................mil of $s.....

Annual FYE..2010...156,468......2009....99,449....57,019...57%
Calendar 1Q..2011.....58,130......2010....39,062.....19,068...49%
Calendar 2Q..2011.....54,848......2010....38,053.....16,795...44%
Calendar 3Q..2011.....52,467......2010....34,400....18,067..53%
Calendar 4Q..2011.....45,834......2010....44,953..........881....2%

When the US Government cannot stop the continuing windfall profits of US Big Oil, due to all Republicans in the US Congress, and even a handful of Democrats, protecting the awesomely powerful Big Oil Industry, then the 99% all around the world must take it in their own hands at the gas pump and boycott, as best they can, the clearly dominating Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and BP.

Here are these 173 US Big Corps and their 4Q 2011 Pretax Income as compared to that of the 4Q 2010:

..........................................4Q............4Q..........Increase
........................................2011.........2010......(Decrease)
.......................................PTI(L).......PTI(L).....Amount......%
........................................(in millions of dollars)......

Dec 11 Quarters
Apple............................17,477.......7,963........9,514.....119%
Exxon Mobil..................17,041.....15,327........1,714.......11%
Royal Dutch Shell..........11,805......11,261...........544.........5%
Chevron..........................9,965.......8,766........1,199.......14%
Microsoft........................8,239.......8,497.........(258).......-3%
IBM................................7,274.......6,956...........318.........5%
BP(1)..............................7,023........9,599......(2,576).....-27%
Wells Fargo.....................6,057.......5,165...........892.......17%
ConocoPhillips................5,833.......4,292.........1,541.......36%
JP Morgan Chase.............4,747......7,012.......(2,265).....-32%
Intel...............................4,587.......4,163...........424.......10%
GE..................................4,476.......3,540...........936.......26%
Procter & Gamble(2).......4,075.......4,090...........(15).......0%
Verizon(3)......................3,823.......3,970..........(147)......-4%
AT&T(4)..........................3,681.......4,068..........(387)....-10%
JohnsonandJohnson(5)..3,663.......3,451...........212.........6%
Google............................3,489.......3,142...........347.......11%
Bank of America(6).........3,013......(1,595).......4,608.....289%
Phillip Morris.................2,749........2,527..........222.........9%
Pfizer(7).........................2,730.......2,136...........594.......28%
Occidental Petroleum.....2,590.......1,810...........780.......43%
Abbott Labs(8)...............2,354.......2,006...........348.......17%
Walt Disney....................2,241........2,064...........177.........9%
Coca Cola(9)...................2,089........1,843...........246........13%
PepsiCo...........................1,999.......1,872...........127.........7%
McDonalds......................1,984.......1,734...........250.......14%
Caterpillar......................1,978.......1,232............746.......61%
UnitedHealth..................1,935.......1,684............251.......15%
UnitedParcelService(10).1,889......1,730............159.........9%
Schlumberger.................1,886.......1,335............551.......41%
US Bancorp.....................1,855.......1,271............584.......46%
United Technologies.......1,832.......1,686............146.........9%
Merck(11).......................1,824.......1,524............300.......20%
CVS Caremark................1,810.......1,625............185........11%
American Express..........1,748.......1,477...........271.......18%
Qualcomm.....................1,721.......1,470............251.......17%
Visa...............................1,617.......1,382............235........17%
Bristol Myers Squibb......1,594.......1,413............181........13%
Union Pacific.................1,530.......1,180............350.......30%
Boeing...........................1,444.......1,003............441.......44%
News Corp(12)..............1,375......1,033............342........33%
Citigroup.......................1,364.......1,060............304.......29%
Halliburton...................1,354..........910............444........49%
Time Warner(13)...........1,348.......1,187............161........14%
3M................................1,329.......1,262..............67.........5%
Morgan Stanley(14).......1,285.......1,191..............94.........8%
Freeport McMoran(15)..1,253.......2,986........(1,733).....-58%
Goldman Sachs..............1,247.......3,474........(2,227)....-64%
Marathon Oil.................1,218...........841...........377.......45%
Altria Group..................1,183.......1,407..........(224).....-16%
Honeywell(16)...............1,145..........930...........215.......23%
Anadarko Petrol(17).....1,054..........289...........765......265%
Ford(18)........................1,052.......1,173..........(121).....-10%
Allstate.........................1,052..........363...........689......190%
Amgen(19)....................1,051.......1,117............(66)......-6%
EMC..............................1,048..........909...........139.......15%
Eli Lilly.........................1,042.......1,410..........(368).....-26%
General Dynamics(20)..1,022.......1,043.............(21)......-2%
Lockheed Martin.............966.......1,056............(90)......-9%
Bank of NY Mellon...........945..........834............111.......13%
Viacom...........................917..........960............(43)......-4%
Colgate Palmolive...........908..........889.............19.........2%
Ace Ltd...........................872.......1,134..........(262).....-23%
Southern Copper.............851..........806.............45.........6%
Natl Oilwell Varco...........843..........623...........220.......35%
PNC Financial(21)...........838..........961..........(123).....-13%
AFLAC............................834..........667...........167.......25%
Raytheon(22)..................821..........715...........106.......15%
Gilead Sciences...............819..........800.............19.........2%
BlackRock.......................815..........958..........(143).....-15%
SLM................................795..........760.............35.........5%
Prudential Financial.......788..........179............609.....340%
HCA(23).........................787..........564...........223........40%
Baker Hughes(24)............784..........520...........264.......51%
Northrop Grumman(25)..782..........639...........143.......22%
Travelers........................778........1,197.........(419)....-35%
Ebay...............................771..........587...........184.......31%
MasterCard(26)..............758..........582...........176.......30%
Danaher..........................742..........566...........176.......31%
Enterprise Products LP...727..........295...........432.....146%
Norfolk Southern............723..........562...........161.......29%
CSX.................................712..........701.............11........2%
Cummins........................705..........530...........175.......33%
Franklin Resources.........695..........698.............(3).........0%
Corning(27)....................682..........804..........(122).....-15%
Time Warner Cable(28)...678..........593.............85........14%
Chubb.............................614..........699............(85).....-12%
Aetna.............................607..........313............294.......94%
Illinois Tool Works..........601..........441............160........36%
Covidien Ltd...................593...........515.............78........15%
Estee Lauder...................591...........502.............89........18%
Las Vegas Sands..............584...........414...........170........41%
Praxair............................580..........477...........103........22%
Starbucks........................571...........508.............63........12%
Capital One Financial.......571.......1,032..........(461)......-45%
Seagate Technology........558...........175...........383.......219%
Emerson Electric(29)......553...........713..........(160)......-22%
Johnson Controls............549...........498..............51........10%
Facebook(30)..................548...........437............111........25%
Baxter.............................548...........467.............81........17%
Kimberly Clark................544...........640............(96)......-15%
State Street.....................532...........252............280......111%
AutomaticDataProc(31)..514...........485..............29..........6%
Reynolds American(32)..509..........464..............45........10%
Loews.............................481...........945..........(464)......-49%
WellPoint........................478..........752..........(274)......-36%
Murphy Oil(33)...............469...........286............183........64%
Yum Brands....................461...........386..............75........19%
ArcherDanielsMidland...460...........998..........(538).......-54%
Cigna..............................455...........545.............(90)......-17%
McKesson(34)................453...........450................3..........1%
Delta Air Lines(35).........447.............52............395......760%
Stryker(36)....................433...........503.............(70)......-14%
Spectra Energy...............425...........493.............(68)......-14%
DuPont(37).....................422..........405..............17..........4%
Fifth Third Bancorp........418...........417.................1..........0%
International Paper........416...........332..............84.........25%
Tyco Intl........................412...........653............(241)......-37%
Sysco.............................402...........410...............(8)........-2%
Progressive Corp............375...........427............(52)......-12%
CME Group.....................370...........427............(57)......-13%
Dow Chemical.................354...........646..........(292)......-45%
Texas Instruments(38)...349........1,104..........(755)......-68%
Kellogg...........................341...........260.............81.........31%
Hess...............................327..........357............(30)........-8%
Humana.........................313...........174............139.........80%
PPG Industries...............284...........291..............(7)........-2%
Key Corp........................276..........508...........(232)......-46%
Amazon.com..................273..........506...........(233)......-46%
LyondellBasell(39).........272..........592...........(320)......-54%
McGraw-Hill...................224..........248.............(24)......-10%
Hartford Fincl Svcs.........122..........759...........(637)......-84%
Valero Energy..................93...........334...........(241).....-72%
Activision Blizzard...........20............(63).............83.......132%
UnitedContinental.........(146).........(324)...........178........55%
Marathon Petroleum.....(180)..........361...........(541)....-150%
Tesoro...........................(191)............13...........(204)...-1569%
Alcoa............................(239)..........348...........(587).....-169%
Unum Group(40)..........(704)..........336........(1,040)....-310%
Sprint Nextel..............(1,197)........(934)..........(263)......-28%

Total all 140.............231,560....211,465.......20,095........10%
Total all 139
...but Apple.............214,083....203,502........10,581..........5%

Oct & Nov 11 Quarters
Walmart........................5,343.......5,095...........248........5%
Oracle...........................2,960.......2,646...........314.......12%
Hewlett Packard(41).....2,310.......3,214..........(904).....-28%
Cisco Systems...............2,245.......2,425..........(180)......-7%
Home Depot..................1,457.......1,306...........151.......12%
Dell...............................1,072.......1,076.............(4).......0%
Deere............................1,057.........750...........307.......41%
Medtronic(42)..............1,053.......1,031.............22........2%
Accenture.......................993..........845...........148.......18%
Walgreens.......................883..........921...........(38)......-4%
Target.............................857..........773.............84.......11%
Mosaic............................855..........621...........234.......38%
DiscoverFinancialSvcs....818..........585...........233.......40%
FedEx.............................777..........437...........340.......78%
TJX.................................664..........597............67........11%
General Mills...................630..........741..........(111).....-15%
Nike................................618..........609...............9........1%
Costco............................553..........504..............49.......10%
CHS.................................531..........231...........300......130%
Lowes(43).......................352..........651..........(299).....-46%
Applied Materials............344..........703..........(359).....-51%
Kohls..............................340..........277.............63.......23%
Gap.................................325..........502..........(177).....-35%
Kroger............................305..........304..............1..........0%
Carnival..........................209..........255...........(46).....-18%
Best Buy..........................204..........373..........(169).....-45%
Monsanto........................204............24...........180.....750%
Macys..............................183............52...........131......252%
Limited Brands................122..........102............20.......20%
Intuit...............................(98)........(111)............13.......12%
Micron Technology(44).(189).........131..........(320)...-244%
H&R Block.....................(204).......(184)...........(20).....-11%
Sears Holding................(523)........(362).........(161).....-44%

Total all 33.................27,250.....27,124...........126........0%

Grand Total all 173...258,810....238,589......20,221........8%
Grand Total all 172
...but Apple..............241,333....230,626......10,707........5%


(1) BP 2011 PTI excludes Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response Credit. Its 2010 PTI excludes Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response Charge.
(2) Procter & Gamble 2011 PTI excludes both Intangible Asset Impairment Charge and Gain on Sale of Business.
(3) Verizon PTI in both years exclude Severance, Pension, and Benefit Special Charges.
(4) AT&T PTI in both years exclude Actuarial Losses on Benefit Plan. Its 2011 PTI also excludes both Charge related to T-Mobile Acquisition Termination and Directory Asset Impairment Charge.
(5) Johnson and Johnson PTI for both 2011 and 2010 exclude Special Litigation Settlement Charges, Special Product Liability Expense Charges, and DePuy Hip Recall Program Charges. Its 2011 PTI also excludes Currency Option on Planned Acquisition Charge.
(6) Bank of America PTI in both years exclude Goodwill Impairment Charges.
(7) Pfizer PTI for both 2011 and 2010 exclude Special Litigation Charges and Asset Impairment Charges.
(8) Abbott Labs PTI for both 2011 and 2010 exclude Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges.
(9) Coca Cola 2010 PTI excludes Gain on Equity Method Investment Ownership Reduction. Its 2010 PTI exclude Gain from Fair Value Remeasurement of Equity Method Investments, Gain from Sale of Bottlers, and Various Other One-Time Charges, mostly related to Acquisitions.
(10) United Parcel Service PTI in both years are before Pension Accounting Mark-to-Market Adjustments.
(11) Merck PTI for both 2011 and 2010 exclude Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges.
(12) NewsCorp 2011 PTI excludes Gain from Deconsolidation of Fox Pan American Sports. Its 2010 PTI excludes Goodwill Impairment Charge.
(13) Time Warner 2011 PTI excludes Investment Losses.
(14) Morgan Stanley 2011 PTI excludes Loss related to MBIA Settlement.
(15) Freeport McMoran 2011 PTI includes Indonesian Operations Labor and Pipeline Disruption Charges.
(16) Honeywell PTI in both years are before Pension Accounting Mark-to-Market Adjustments.
(17) Anadarko Petroleum 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge.
(18) Ford 2011 PTI excludes FordSollers Gain. Its 2010 PTI excludes Debt Reduction Charges.
(19) Amgen 2010 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge re BI Transaction.
(20) General Dynamics 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge.
(21) PNC Financial PNC Financial 2011 PTI excludes Charge from Redemption of Trust Preferred Securities. Its 2010 PTI excludes Gain on Sale of BlackRock Shares.
(22) Raytheon 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Retirement.
(23) HCA 2011 PTI excludes Gain on Acquisition of Controlling Interest in Equity Investment and Gain on Sale of Facilities.
(24) Baker Hughes 2011 PTI excludes Impairment of Trade Names Charge.
(25) Northrop Grumman 2010 PTI excludes Debt Redemption Charge.
(26) MasterCard 2011 PTI excludes Special Litigation Settlement Charge.
(27) Corning 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge. Its 2010 PTI excludes both Insurance Settlement Gain and Special Korean Tax Credit.
(28) Time Warner Cable 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charges.
(29) Emerson Electric 2011 PTI includes negative impact of Thailand Floods.
(30) Facebook PTI is Pretax Income from Operations.
(31) Automatic Data Processing 2011 PTI excludes Gain on Sale of Assets.
(32) Reynolds American 2011 PTI excludes Intangible Asset Impairment Charge.
(33) Murphy Oil 2011 PTI excludes Republic of Congo Property Impairment Charge.
(34) McKesson 2011 and 2011 PTI both exclude Special Litigation Charges.
(35) Delta Air Lines PTI in both years excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(36) Stryker 2010 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charges.
(37) DuPont 2010 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment.
(38) Texas Instruments 2010 PTI excludes Gain on Sale of Assets.
(39) LyondellBasell 2011 PTI excludes Loss on Debt Extinguishment and Berre Refinery Closure Costs.
(40) Unum Group 2011 includes Impairment of Deferred Acquisition Costs Charge.
(41) Hewlett Packard Hewlett Packard 2011 PTI excludes Asset Impairment Charge, Winding Down Web OS Device Business Charge, and Acquisition Foreign Currency Exchange Risk Charge.
(42) Medtronic 2010 PTI excludes Special Litigation Charge.
(43) Lowes 2011 PTI includes Store Closing Charges.
(44) Micron Technology 2010 PTI excludes both Samsung Patent Cross-license Agreement Gain and Loss on Debt Extinguishment.

Below here are 28 US Big Corps, which generated Pretax Income or Pretax Loss of more than $500 mil each in any quarter of 2011 or 2011, and which have not released their December 2011 earnings yet through Friday, February 10, 2011, and thus weren't included in the above 173 US Big Corps.

Apache
Devon Energy
Chesapeake Energy
MetLife
AIG
Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae
General Motors
Kraft Foods
Newmont Mining
Comcast
DirecTV
Berkshire Hathaway
Holly Frontier
Toyota Motor Credit
Cliff's Natural Resources
Transocean, Ltd
CF Industries
Medco Health Solutions
Express Scripts
Publix Super Markets
Priceline.com
AES
CBS
EOG Resources
DISH Network
AMR
Liberty Media


Much More to Come!