Seattle, WA-Based Microsoft's Dec 2017 Quarter Pretax Income Increased By 14% or By $1.147 Bil Over the Dec 2016 Quarter ....................................................................................... Microsoft's Dec 2017 Quarter Reported Net Income Deteriorated By a Massive $12.569 Bil From the Dec 2016 Quarter ....................................................................................... Why the Huge Difference Between Pretax and After-Tax Differences? Predominately, It's Because Microsoft Had a Net $13.8 Bil Dec 2017 Quarter Income Tax Expense Charge To Reflect the Impact of the Trump Tax Bill ....................................................................................... If This $13.800 Bil Dec 2017 Quarter Earnings Charge Is Excluded, Then Microsoft's Dec 2017 Quarter's Net Income of $7.498 Bil Would Be 20% Above Dec 2016 Quarter Net Income of $6.267 Bil: But I Would Focus on the Much More Reliable 14% Pretax Income Growth Than This Highly Unreliable 20% Growth ....................................................................................... When A Company Has Roughly $151 Bil of Unremitted Foreign Earnings in late Dec 2017 Like Microsoft Has, the Whole Ball Game is How Cheap Is the Related US Income Tax Rate on this $151 Bil of Mandatory Foreign Earnings To Be Repatriated? Microsoft Reflected a Net Income Tax Expense of $13.800 Bil: If the $13.800 Bil Was Gross, Then the Income Tax Rate is Incredibly Cheap at Under 10% and Frankly a Steal ....................................................................................... I Can't See the Offsetting Income Tax Benefit(s) Being Very Large and Thus My Hunch Is That the Related Tax Cost of Repatriation Will Still Be Pretty Cheap ....................................................................................... To Illustrate Just How Cheap It Is For Microsoft To Repatriate All of Its Unremitted Foreign Earnings At an Income Tax Rate of Roughly 10% or Slightly Above It, in Its June 2017 Annual Report Income Tax Footnote, Microsoft Stated That at June, 30, 2017, It Had $142 Bil of Unremitted Foreign Earnings and That the Income Tax That It Would Have To Pay Then To Repatriate All of These Unremitted Foreign Earnings Was $45 Bil Which Results in an Income Tax Rate of 31.7% ....................................................................................... Suffice It To Say That Microsoft Is Cleaning Up Due To the Trump Tax Bill

All of Facebook's 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Amounts are Still Great ....................................................................................... 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 47% Over the 4Q 2016, the Same Revenue Growth of 47% For the Entire Year 2017 Over Annual 2016 ....................................................................................... 4Q 2017 Operating Income Was Up 61%, Very Little Growth Deceleration From the 63% Growth For Annual 2017 Over Annual 2016 ....................................................................................... The 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Growth of 65% is the Same as the 65% Pretax Income Growth For Annual 2017 Over Annual 2016 ....................................................................................... But The Huge Problem Facebook Has in Its 4Q 2017 Earnings Release Is Its Pretty Much Complete Lack of Transparency on Its Income Taxes ....................................................................................... In Its 4Q 2017 Earnings Release, Facebook Mentions Three Items Making Up Its 4Q 2017 Total Income Tax Expense Charge Due To the Trump Tax Bill of $2.270 Bil: (1) The Tax Cost of Mandatory Foreign Earnings Repatriation, (2) The Impact of the Remeasurement of Net Deferred Income Tax Liabilities or Assets Due To the 40% Drop in the US Federal Income Tax Rate From 35% to 21% and (3) The Change in the Deferred Income Tax Valuation Allowances For Their Realizability Because of the Trump Tax Bill ....................................................................................... But What Astute Investors Want is an Individual Breakdown of Those Three Item Amounts: (For Instance, They Would Much Rather See a Large Tax Benefit Amount Due To Net Deferred Income Tax Liabilities Because That Is a Real Economic Gain From Tax Debt Forgiveness and They Hate To See Any Income Tax Expense From Decrease in Value of a Deferred Income Tax Asset Because of a Decline in Tax Rates Because That Is a Real Economic Loss ....................................................................................... What Astute Investors Also Want To See is a Cheap Income Tax Rate on the Mandatory Foreign Earnings Repatriated (They Even Like a Higher Total Cost of Foreign Earnings Repatriation If It Still Yields a Related Really Cheap Income Tax Rate) ....................................................................................... The Worst Thing You Can Do Is To Tell Them Nothing On This Critical Issue, Which is What Facebook Elected To Do ....................................................................................... When I Review the 2016 Income Tax Footnote, at Dec 31, 2016, I See Only $2.87 Bil of Cumulative Unremitted Earnings Which Have Been Permanently Reinvested and I Also See $357 mil of Deferred Income Tax Liabilities on Unremitted Foreign Earning That Are Not Permanently Invested ....................................................................................... The Best Outcome Is If Those Two Amounts Increased Substantially in 2017 ....................................................................................... And Lastly, It Would Be Wise To Emphasize the Increase in 4Q 2017 Net Income If the $2.270 Bil Income Tax Expense Charge Related To the Trump Tax Bill Were Removed: If My Quick Math is Right, 4Q 2017 Net Income Would Increase By an Extremely Impressive 83% If the Impact of the $2.270 Bil Trump Tax Bill Earnings Charge Were Removed

Indianapolis, IN-Based Drug Co Eli Lilly's 4Q 2017 Revenues Were Up 7% From the 4Q 2016 and Pretax Income Was Down 68% or Down $608 Mil, But Excluding Asset Impairments, Restructuring Charges and Other Special Charges in Both Periods, Pretax Income Would Be Up By 24% or Up By $247 Mil Rather Than Down the Reported $608 Mil ....................................................................................... Reported Net Loss in the 4Q 2017 Was $1,657 Mil, An Earnings Deterioration of $2,429 Mil From the Reported Net Income of $772 Mil in the 4Q 2016 ....................................................................................... The Main Reason For the Reported Net Income Decline Was the Income Tax Expense Charges of $1.914 Bil Caused By the US Trump Tax Bill, Including $3.6 Bil Related To the Tax Cost of Foreign Earnings Repatriation (Lilly Did Not Say What the Other $1.686 Bil of Tax Benefits Related To)

Ireland HQed Johnson Controls 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Was Up 40% or Up By $153 Mil, But 4Q 2017 Net Income Was Down 34% or Down By $141 Mil ....................................................................................... This Unusual Result Was Caused Mainly By a Net $200 Mil Income Tax Expense Charge in the 4Q 2017 Due to the Trump Tax Bill (Tax Cost of Foreign Earnings Repatriation of $300 Mil Less the Tax Debt Forgiveness of $100 Mil)

Atlanta, GA-Based Invesco Ltd 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Up Only $2 Mil Over the 4Q 2016, But Net Income Up a Much Higher $148 Mil, Mainly Due to the $131 Mil Reduction in Income Tax Expense in the 4Q 2017 Due To the Trump Tax Bill, Primarily the Tax Debt Forgiveness Feature In It

Arlington, TX Homebuilder D.R. Hortons Had Its 4Q 2017 Earnings Punished By a $109 Mil Income Tax Expense Charge Due To the Trump Tax Bill

Seattle, WA-Based Boeing's 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 9% From the 4Q 2016, Operating Income Up 39%, Pretax Income Up 41% and Net Income Up a Much Higher 92% ....................................................................................... That 92% Net Income Growth Was Buoyed By a Reduction in 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense of $1.051 Bil Due To the Trump Tax Bill, Primarily the Tax Debt Forgiveness Feature in It ...................................................................................... Absent the Effect of the Trump Tax Bill, Boeing's 4Q 2017 Net Income Would Have Increased By 28% Rather Than the Reported 92% Increase

Glendale, CA-Based Avery Dennison 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 12% Over the 4Q 2016, Pretax Income Up 25%, But With Net Income Down By 196% or Down By $122 Mil, But the Latter is Due to the Trump Tax Bill Increasing Avery Dennison's 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense By $122 Mil

Indianapolis, IN-Based Health Insurer Anthem 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 4%, But Pretax Income Was Down 81% or Down By $535 Mil, $282 Mil of Which is a Loss on Debt Extinquishment, And For Another But, Net Income Was Up a Blistering 235%, or Up By $863 Mil ....................................................................................... So, How Can You Get Such a Ridiculous Situation Like This? Well, Leave It To the Trump Administration and the Republican-Controlled US Congress ....................................................................................... The Trump Tax Bill Increased Anthem's 4Q 2017 Earnings By $1.108 Bil By Granting a Like Amount of Tax Debt Forgiveness to Anthem, Funded Completely By US Taxpayers

Chicago, IL Area-Based Packaging Corp of America had a Strong 4Q 2017 With Net Sales Up 14%, Pretax Income Up 33% and Net Income Up a Much Higher 143%, With the Latter Buoyed By an Income Tax Expense Reduction of $122 Mil in the 4Q 2017 Due to the Trump Tax Bill, Mostly From the Tax Debt Forgiveness Feature In It

Phoenix, AZ-Based Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings 4Q 2017 Operating Income Up 314% Over the 4Q 2016, Pretax Income Up 294% and Net Income Up an Off-the-Charts 19 TIMES or Up $425 Mil, With the Latter Buoyed By an Income Tax Expense Reduction of $364 Mil in the 4Q 2017, Mostly Related To Tax Debt Forgiveness in the Trump Bill

Sunnyvale, CA-Based Juniper Networks Had Its 4Q 2017 Earnings Punished By a $290 Mil Income Tax Expense Charge Due To the Trump Tax Bill

San Diego, CA-Based Illumina Had a Blowout 4Q 2017 With Revenues Up 26% Over the 4Q 2016, Gross Profit Up 29%, Operating Income Up 61%, Pretax Income Up 67%, But With Net Income Down By 46% or Down By $50 Mil, But the Latter is Due to the Trump Tax Bill Increasing Illumina's 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense By $150 Mil

New York-Based Computer Software Co CA Inc Had Its Dec 2017 Quarter Earnings Punished By a $318 Mil Income Tax Expense Charge Due To the Trump Tax Bill

Redwood City, CA-Based Electronic Arts Had Its Dec 2017 Quarter Earnings Punished By a $176 Mil Income Tax Expense Charge Due To the Trump Tax Bill

Swiss HQed Chubb Ltd 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Was $1.151 Bil Down 38% or Down $0.718 Bil From the 4Q 2016 Pretax Income of $1.869 Bil ....................................................................................... Net Income Declined By Only 5% Or By Only $0.077 Bil Due Mainly To a Reduction in 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense of $.450 Bil Due To the US Trump Tax Bill

San Jose, CA-Based Align Technology Had a Blowout 4Q 2017 With Revenues and Gross Profit Both Up 44% over the 4Q 2016, Operating Income Up 60%, Pretax Income Up 84% But With Net Income Down By 78% or By Down By $37 Mil, But the Latter is Due to the Trump Tax Bill Increasing Align Technology's 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense By $87 Mil

Warsaw, IN-Based Co Zimmer Biomet 4Q 2017 Net Sales Up 3%, Operating Profit Down 112%, Pretax Income (Loss) Down 450% (From 4Q 2016 Pretax Income of $31 Mil to a 4Q 2017 Pretax Loss of $109 Mil), But Net Income Up 17 TIMES, or Up By $1.187 Bil ....................................................................................... So, How Can You Get Such a Ridiculous Situation Like This? Well, Enter the Trump Administration and the Republican-Controlled US Congress ....................................................................................... The Trump Tax Bill Increased Zimmer Biomet's 4Q 2017 Earnings By $1.306 Bil With Much More Than $1.306 Bil Being Due To the Tax Debt Forgiveness Bestowed on Zimmer Biomet and Funded Completely By US Taxpayers: The Exact Amount of Tax Debt Forgiveness Wasn't Disclosed By Zimmer Biomet, Only That It Is Much Higher Than $1.306 Bil

Kalamazoo, MI-Based Stryker's 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 10%, Operating Income Up 8%, Pretax Income Up 10% But Net Income Down 149% Going From Net Income of $510 Mil in the 4Q 2016 to a Net Loss of $249 Mil in the 4Q 2017 .................................................................................... Stryker Said That Various Tax Matters Totalling $833 Mil Caused the Higher Income Tax Expense in the 4Q 2017 Including the Impact of the Trump Tax Bill, But Unfortunately No Individual Tax Amounts Were Disclosed

German Software Co SAP 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 1%, Operating Income Up 1%, Pretax Income Up 5% and Net Income Up a Much Higher 22%, With the Latter Due to, Quoting From Their Earnings Release, "one-time tax benefits from an intra group transfer of intellectual property rights to SAP SE and the U.S. Tax Reform" ....................................................................................... I Like the Way SAP Also Discloses in Its 4Q 2017 Earnings Release For Each of Its Most Recent Eight Quarters the Following: (1) Number of Employees, (2) Employee Retention in %s, (3) Number of Women in Management and (4) Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Atlanta, GA-Based Homebuilder PulteGroup's 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 12%, Pretax Income Down 1% and Net Income Down By a Much Higher 85%, With the Latter Due to a 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense Increase of $181 Mil Resulting From the Trump Tax Bill, Primarily a Loss in Value of Its Deferred Income Tax Assets

Pfizer 4Q 2017 Revenues Were Up 1%, Pretax Income Up 23% and Net Income Up 15 TIMES, or up By $11.5 Bil (No, That's Not a Misprint) .................................................................................... At Dec 31, 2016, Pfizer Had a Net Deferred Income Tax Liability of $30.1 Bil, With $23.1 Bil of It Being For the Tax Cost of Unremitted Foreign Earnings Repatriation: Yeah, Pfizer Had Been Extremely Conservative In Its Accounting For Its Unremitted Foreign Earnings (Apple Has a Somewhat Similar Sutuation) .................................................................................... Since With the US Trump Tax Bill, Pfizer Will Be Paying as a Tax Cost of Foreign Earnings Repatriated Only $15 Bil, It Gets a Huge 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense Reduction Earnings Benefit of Roughly $8 Bil For That .................................................................................... And Pfizer Gets Another Large Tax Benefit in 4Q 2017 Earnings For the Other Net Deferred Income Tax Liabilities on the Books Which Must Be Written Down From 35% to 21% Due To the Trump Tax Bill .................................................................................... When You Put It Altogether, Pfizer Is Saying That It Is Getting a 4Q 2017 Total Income Tax Expense Reduction of $11.3 Bil Due To the Trump Tax Bill ...................................................................................... I View a Huge Portion of That $11.3 Bil Income Tax Expense Reduction From the Trump Tax Bill as Tax Debt Forgiveness Since the Trump Tax Bill Requires This Net Deferred Federal Income Tax Liability To Be Reduced Down To 21% And Thus This Is All Being Funded By US Taxpayers .................................................................................... What US Taxpayers Should Be Asking Themselves Is Just What Are They Getting For Funding Not Just Tax Debt Forgiveness of $11.3 Bil Granted To Pfizer But the Tax Debt Forgiveness Totalling Roughly $800 Bil Being Granted To All US Corporations Combined Including to Ones Which Are Subsidiaries of Foreign Corps: This Is the Moral Outrage of the Trump Tax Bill Stealing $800 Bil of US Taxpayer Funds and Pocketing It Into the 4Q 2017 Bottom Line Earnings of the Largest US Corps and Nearly Every Republican in the US Congress Is Proud of This Achievement

UK HQed Pentair 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 6%, Operating Income Down 15%, Pretax Income Down 1% and Net Income Up 85%, With the Latter Due to a 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense Reduction of $85 Mil Resulting From the Trump Tax Bill Comprised of Tax Debt Forgiveness of $148 Mil Less the Tax Cost of Foreign Earnings Repatriation of $63 Mil

Bellevue, WA-Based Large Truck Co Paccar's 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 34%, Pretax Income Up 26% and Net Income Up a Much Higher 126%, With the Latter Due to a 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense Reduction of $173 Mil Resulting From the Trump Tax Bill

Charlotte, NC-Based Steel Co Nucor's 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 29%, Pretax Income Up 26% and Net Income Up a Much Higher 126%, With the Latter Due To a 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense Reduction of $175 Mil Due To the US Trump Tax Bill

Chicago, IL Area-Based McDonald's Corp Had a Strong 4Q 2017 With Global Sales Comparables of +5.5%, Operating Income Up 9% and Pretax Income Also Up 9% .................................................................................... 4Q 2017 Net Income Was $699 Mil, Down 41% or Down $494 Mil, From the 4Q 2016 Net Income of $1,193 Mil .................................................................................... The 4Q 2017 Top Line Income Tax Expense and Net Income Numbers Look Bad Superficially, But When You Look Under the Surface, McDonald's Cleans Up On the Income Tax Front Under the Trump Tax Bill .................................................................................... McDonald's Clearly Understands How Complex and Subjective the Computation is of the Trump Tax Bill Effect on 4Q 2017 Earnings, Especially For a Multi-National Company With Operations All Over the Globe and With a High Percentage of Its Earnings Overseas (70% in 2016) ....................................................................................... McDonald's Says There Are Two Hugely Material Effects on Its 4Q 2017 Earnings: The Clearly Rounded $1.2 Bil Tax Cost of Foreign Earnings Repatriation and the Also Clearly Rounded $0.5 Bil Tax Windfall From Net Deferred Income Tax Liability Revaluation From 35% to 21% (I Call That the Tax Debt Forgiveness) and These Two Components Net To Only $0.7 Bil Income Tax Expense On the Total Unremitted Foreign Earnings Which Were $16 Bil at Dec 31, 2016: Yeah, That Effective Tax Rate Is a Steal ....................................................................................... The Tax Numbers McDonald's Discloses All Make Sense: It Says Its Effective Tax Rate is 27.4% If You Exclude the Trump Tax Bill Effect and 27.4% X Pretax Income of $1.885 Bil = $516 Mil as Compared To the Reported 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense of $1.186 Bil and the Difference Is $0.670 Bil ($1.186 Bil - $0.516 Bil = $0.670 Bil), Which Is Consistent With the Rounded Net Effect It Disclosed of $0.7 Bil ....................................................................................... Also McDonald's 4Q 2017 Net Income Does Increase By 15% and EPS By 19% If You Exclude the Trump Tax Bill Effect and From What I've Seen So Far, There Are Only a Handful of Very Large Stock Market Cap US Companies Which Can Say That (Facebook, UnitedHealth and Alphabet To Name 3 and There Are a Few Others)

The Netherlands Co Royal Philips 4Q 2017 Sales Were Precisely Flat, Operating Income Up 4%, Pretax Income Up 14% and Net Income Up a Lower 2%, With the Latter Due to an Income Tax Expense Earnings Charge of EUR 72 Mil Resulting From the US Trump Tax Bill

Nashville, TN-Based Hospital Co HCA Healthcare's 4Q 2017 Revenues Up 9%, Pretax Income Down 12% and Net Income Down a Much Higher 41%, With the Latter Due To an Earnings Charge of $301 Mil Resulting From the Trump Tax Bill

Melbourne, FL Technology Co Harris Corp's Dec 2017 Quarter Revenues Up 6%, Operating Income Down 2%, Pretax Income Down 3% and Net Income Down By a Higher 15% Due to an Earnings Charge of $52 Mil Resulting From the Trump Tax Bill

Milwaukee, WI-Based Mototcycle Co Harley Davidson's 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Was Up 51% Over the 4Q 2016, But Its Net Income Declined Due to a $53 Mil Earnings Charge Due To the Trump Tax Bill

San Mateo, CA-Based Investment Advisory Firm Franklin Resources Dec 2017 Quarter Pretax Income Was Up 5% Over the 4Q 2016 ....................................................................................... Dec 2017 Quarter Net Income Declined By $991 Mil, But That Was Due to the Tax Cost From Repatriating Foreign Earnings Exceeding By an Estimated $1.1 Bil the Tax Debt Forgiveness Granted to Franklin Resources By the US Trump Tax Bill ....................................................................................... Surprisingly, Franklin Resources Decided To Not Break Out For Investors the Two Material Tax Components of Impact of the Trump Tax Bill on Its Dec 2017 Quarter Earnings

Washington,DC-Based Danaher Had a Fabulous 4Q 2017 With Sales Up 11%, Gross Profit Up 14%, Operating Profit Up 30% and Pretax Income Up 41% ....................................................................................... 4Q 2017 Net Income Was Up a Lower 15%, But That Was Because of Several One-Time Tax Gains in the 4Q 2016 ....................................................................................... I Particularly Liked Danaher's First Class Transparent Disclosure of Two Offsetting Items That Netted To Only $1 Thousand Dollars But Informatively Were Still Shown Separately as Follows: "Transition tax on deemed repatriation of foreign earnings as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 $(1.218) Bil" and "Remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 $1.219 Bil" ....................................................................................... It Doesn't Get Much Better For Danaher Than When Its Tax Cost To Repatriate Its Foreign Earnings is Effectively Being Funded By US Taxpayers Who Are Funding Danaher's Tax Debt Forgiveness Due to the Trump Tax Bill

New York-Based Glass & Ceramic Materials Co Corning: I Read the First Part of Corning's 4Q 2017 Earnings Release and I Think Things Are Fantastic For Corning ....................................................................................... Then I Focus on the Detailed Numbers Actually Reported and I Get Just the Opposite Feeling Including a Headache ....................................................................................... Corning's 4Q 2017 Sales Were Up 7%, Gross Margin Up 4%, Operating Income Down 14% or Down By $60 Mil, Pretax Income Down 76% or Down By an Amazingly High $1,838 Mil and Net Income (Loss) Deteriorated By an Off-the-Charts $2,984 Mil, Going From a Net Income of $1,572 Mil in the 4Q 2016 to a Net Loss of $1,412 Mil in the 4Q 2017 (Whoa!) ....................................................................................... The Biggest Reason For the Pretax Income Reduction was Related To Translated Earnings Hedging Contract Gains of $1,847 Mil in the 4Q 2016 and of a Much Lower $72 Mil in the 4Q 2017 (It Appears That Something Went Askew With Corning's Hedging Program of Many Foreign Currencies) ....................................................................................... The Biggest After Tax Earnings Deterioration Was Related To the $1,755 Mil Increase in Income Tax Expense in the 4Q 2017 Due To the Total Negative Impact of the US Trump Tax Bill on Corning's 4Q 2017 Earnings ....................................................................................... Corning States the Four Items Comprising This $1,755 Mil Income Tax Charge "a provisional amount related to the one-time mandatory tax on unrepatriated foreign earnings, a provisional amount related to the remeasurement of U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in valuation allowances as a result of the 2017 Tax Act, and adjustments for the elimination of foreign tax credits", But Unfortunately Corning Does Not Disclose the Amounts of Each Item

UK HQed Capital Goods Co CNH Industrial 4Q 2017 Total Revenues Were Up 16%, Pretax Income Up 4%, But With Net Income Down Due Primarily To a $123 Mil Income Tax Expense Earnings Charge Mostly From the Trump Tax Bill

Detroit, MI-Based Auto Lender/Lessor Ally Financial 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Up 8% But With Net Income Down Due To $119 Mil Earnings Charge From Reflecting the Value Decline in Its Deferred Income Tax Assets Resulting From the Trump Tax Bill

Swedish Air Bag Co Autoliv's 4Q 2017 Total Revenues Up 5% But Pretax Income Down By $239 Mil Due Predominately To a Goodwill Impairment Charge of $234 Mil ....................................................................................... Autoliv Gave No Quantification of the Impact of the Trump Tax Bill on Its 4Q 2017 Earnings

Health Insurer Aetna, Which is Being Acquired By CVS Health, Reported 4Q 2017 Total Revenues Down 6%, Pretax Income Up 91% and Net Income Up 98% ....................................................................................... Aetna Says the Moderate Medical Cost Trend (Washington DC Should Listen) Helped Its Operating Results ....................................................................................... The Trump Tax Bill Only Increased Aetna's Income Tax Expense By $99 Mil in the 4Q 2017

Data Storage Co Seagate Technology, With Operational HQs in Cupertino, CA, Posted a Dec 2017 Quarter Increase in Pretax Income of a Robust 20% ....................................................................................... Its Dec 2017 Quarter Net Income Decline Was All Due To a $208 Mil Tax Earnings Charge Related To Reflecting the Decline in the Value of Its Deferred Income Tax Assets Required By the Trump Tax Bill

St Louis-MO Area Reinsurance Group of America Increases Its 4Q 2017 Earnings By 540%, or By $1.027 Bil, Due Almost Entirely To a $1.0 Bil Reduction of Its Income Tax Expense, Primarily Related to the Tax Debt Forgiveness Included in the Trump Tax Bill

Des Moines, IA-Based Insurance Co Principal Financial 4Q 2017 Earnings Benefit From a $625 Mil Tax Expense Reduction Due to Tax Debt Forgiveness Included in the Trump Tax Bill

Bethesda, MD-Based US Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin 4Q 2017 Pretax Income Up a Very Robust 35% ....................................................................................... 4Q 2017 Net Income Declined, But It Was All Due To a $1.8 Bil Tax Earnings Charge Related To Reflecting the Decline in the Value of Its Deferred Income Tax Assets Required By the Trump Tax Bill

Richmond,VA-Based Dominion Resources Generated 4Q 2017 Net Income of $1.470 Bil, Up 199%, or Up $0.979 Bil From Their 4Q 2016 Net Income of $1.017 Bil ....................................................................................... Excluded in Their 4Q 2017 Earnings Was a Huge Amount of Tax Debt Forgiveness Granted By the Trump Tax Bill, and Completely Funded By US Taxpayers, To the Regulated Activities of Dominion Resources. Non-Utility Companies Have Properly Included Their Tax Debt Forgiveness Granted To Them as an Increase To Their 4Q 2017 Earnings. ....................................................................................... Logically and Fairly, Regulated Utilities Should Be Passing on all of Their Tax Debt Forgiveness To Their Utility Customers and Not in the Future But Currently, Just Like Large US Non-Utility Corps Are Getting This Same Tax Benefit Reflected in Their Earnings Currently. This Economic Gain to Utility Customers Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With Future Utility Customers and Everything To Do With the Regulated Utility Getting the Tax Benefit of These Past Huge Tax Writeoffs and Sharing None of Them With Past Utility Customers. With The Tax Debt Forgiveness, the Regulated Utility Should Do Its Best To Refund These Overpaid Utility Bills Paid By Past Utility Customers. Especially With the Financial Pressure of Their High Monthly Utility Bills on Their Personal Budgets, If They Don’t Get This Tax Benefit Passed On To Them Currently, Utility Customers Will Get Very Upset. Especially the Very Sick and Very Elderly Who Will Be Dying in Several Years Get Absolutely Shafted Here ........................................................................................ In Its 4Q 2017 Earnings Release, Dominion Resources Made This Comment ….. “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, effective 1/1/2018. Deferred taxes are required to be measured at the enacted rate in effect when they are expected to reverse. As a result, deferred taxes were re-measured to the 21% rate. For regulated entities, where the reduction in deferred taxes is expected to be recovered or refunded in future rates, the adjustment was recorded to a regulatory asset or liability instead of income tax expense.” There are two big problems with this comment from a fairness to Utility customer’s perspective. First, the Utility should be paying the past Utility customers for their past overpayment of utility bills, not future ones. And second, the fact that it is asserted that this Tax Debt Forgiveness Windfall will be recovered or refunded in future utility rates is pure fantasy. The Utility Rate Approval Process is very politicized and has many subjective aspects to it. And there are so many computations in it that this Tax Windfall could easily get lost in the rounding.

Columbus, OH-Based American Electric Power (AEP) Reported 4Q 2017 Net Income of $401 Million, Up 8% From Their 4Q 2016 Net Income of $373 Mil. ....................................................................................... Excluded From Their 4Q 2017 Earnings Was a Huge Amount of Tax Debt Forgiveness Granted By the Trump Tax Bill, and Completely Funded By US Taxpayers, To AEP. US Non-Utility Corps and Non-Regulated Utility Corps Have Properly Included Their Tax Debt Forgiveness Granted To Them as an Increase In Their 4Q 2017 Earnings. ....................................................................................... Logically and Fairly, Regulated Utilities Like AEP Should Be Passing on all of Their Tax Debt Forgiveness To Their Utility Customers and Not in the Future But Currently, Just Like Large US Non-Utility Corps Are Getting This Same Tax Benefit Reflected in Their Earnings Currently. This Economic Gain to Utility Customers Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With Future Utility Customers and Everything To Do With the Regulated Utility Getting the Tax Benefit of These Past Huge Tax Writeoffs and Sharing None of Them With Past Utility Customers. With the Tax Windfall From The Tax Debt Forgiveness, the Regulated Utility Should Do Its Best To Refund These Overpaid Utility Bills Paid By Past Utility Customers. ....................................................................................... Especially With the Financial Pressure of Their High Monthly Utility Bills on Their Personal Budgets, If They Don’t Get This Tax Benefit Passed On To Them Currently, Utility Customers Will Get Very Upset. Especially the Very Sick and Very Elderly Who Will Be Dying in Several Years Get Absolutely Shafted Here.

Juno Beach, FL-Based NextEra Energy Generated 4Q 2017 Preliminary Net Income of $2.068 Bil, Up 103%, or Up $1.051 Bil From Their 4Q 2016 Preliminary Net Income of $1.017 Bil ....................................................................................... Not Included in Their 4Q 2017 Earnings is a Huge Amount of Tax Debt Forgiveness Granted By the Trump Tax Bill, and Completely Funded By US Taxpayers, To Florida Light & Power Co, a Subsidiary of NextEra Energy. Non-Utility Companies Have Properly Included Their Tax Debt Forgiveness Granted To Them as an Increase To Their 4Q 2017 Earnings. ....................................................................................... Logically and Fairly, Regulated Utilities like Florida Power & Light Should Be Passing on all of Their Tax Debt Forgiveness To Their Utility Customers and Not in the Future But Currently, Just Like Large US Non-Utility Corps Are Getting This Same Tax Benefit Reflected in Their Earnings Currently. This Economic Gain to Utility Customers Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With Future Utility Customers and Everything To Do With the Regulated Utility Getting the Tax Benefit of These Past Huge Tax Writeoffs and Sharing None of Them With Past Utility Customers. With The Tax Debt Forgiveness, the Regulated Utility Should Do Its Best To Refund These Overpaid Utility Bills Paid By Past Utility Customers. ....................................................................................... Especially With the Financial Pressure of Their High Monthly Utility Bills on Their Personal Budgets, If They Don’t Get This Tax Benefit Passed On To Them Currently, Utility Customers Will Get Very Upset. Especially the Very Sick and Very Elderly Who Will Be Dying in Several Years Get Absolutely Shafted Here.

Large US Corps Total Real US GAAP Pretax Earnings Decline Unexpectedly and Precipitously By 9.9% So Far For the Quarter Ending in December 2017 ..................................................................................... In Comparison, These Same Large Corps Generated Total Real US GAAP Pretax Earnings Which Increased By a Very Robust 10.5% For the Quarter Ending in September 2017: That's What a Call a Massive, Very Quick Deterioration in Pretax Income From Up 10.5% in the Sept 2017 Quarter To a Decline of 9.9% in the Current Dec 2017 Quarter (Whew!) ..................................................................................... The 114 US Corps With Stock Market Caps Above $10 Bil Which Have Released Their December 2017 Quarter Earnings By Friday, January 26, 2018 Registered Total US GAAP Pretax Income of $105.0 Bil in the December 2017 Quarter, Down 9.9% From Their December 2016 Quarter Total US GAAP Pretax Income of $116.5 Bil ..................................................................................... These Same 114 US Corps Registered Total US GAAP Pretax Income of $137.8 Bil in Their September 2017 Quarter, Up a Very Robust 10.5% Over Their September 2016 Quarter Total US GAAP Pretax Income of $124.7 Bil ....................................................................................... I Used US GAAP Pretax Income Amounts Because They Are the Most Reliable 4Q 2017 Earnings Data Available Since the 4Q 2017 Income Tax Expense Amounts Being Reported Are Not Even Close To Being Sufficiently Reliable

From reviewing daily Morningstar Earnings Calendars and Company Financial Statements filed with the SEC, below here are the 114 US Corps with Stock Market Caps Above $10 Bil which have released their  Earnings For the Quarter Ended December 2017 and which have disclosed Pretax Income From Continuing Operations Amounts through Friday, January 26, 2018.  This is the best 4Q 2017 Earnings data available since the Income Tax Expense amounts being reported are not even close to being sufficiently reliable.

		US GAAP	US GAAP
		Pretax	Pretax
Earnings		Income	Income	Increase	Increase
Release		Dec Qtr	Dec Qtr	(Decrease)	(Decrease)
Date		2017	2016	Amount	%
		mils $	mils $	mils $
1-11-18	Delta Air Lines	1,089	952	137	14%
1-12-18	BlackRock	1,490	1,187	303	26%
1-12-18	JPMorgan Chase	8,254	8,679	(425)	-5%
1-12-18	PNC Financial Services	1,074	1,366	(292)	-21%
1-12-18	Wells Fargo	4,599	7,562	(2,963)	-39%
1-16-18	Citigroup	5,099	5,100	(1)	0%
1-16-18	Comerica	330	226	104	46%
1-16-18	CSX Corp	983	751	232	31%
1-16-18	First Republic Bank	237	229	8	3%
1-16-18	Interactive Brokers Group	364	28	336	1200%
1-16-18	UnitedHealth Group	3,669	2,919	750	26%
1-17-18	Alcoa	216	(123)	339	NM
1-17-18	Bank of America	6,161	5,803	358	6%
1-17-18	Fastenal	201	181	20	11%
1-17-18	Goldman Sachs	3,108	3,397	(289)	-9%
1-17-18	Kinder Morgan	324	388	(64)	-16%
1-17-18	Charles Schwab	953	824	129	16%
1-17-18	US Bancorp	1,311	2,040	(729)	-36%
1-18-18	American Express	1,821	1,161	660	57%
1-18-18	Atlassian Corp	(14)	(1)	(13)	-1300%
1-18-18	Bank of New York Mellon	728	1,152	(424)	-37%
1-18-18	BB&T Corp	876	930	(54)	-6%
1-18-18	JB Hunt Transport Services	140	188	(48)	-26%
1-18-18	International Business Machines	4,469	4,986	(517)	-10%
1-18-18	KeyCorp	447	270	177	66%
1-18-18	M&T Bank Corp	629	510	119	23%
1-18-18	Morgan Stanley	2,471	2,246	225	10%
1-18-18	PPG Industries	376	138	238	172%
1-19-18	Citizens Financial Group	503	414	89	21%
1-19-18	Kansas City Southern	193	166	27	16%
1-19-18	Regions Financial	548	428	120	28%
1-19-18	Schlumberger Ltd	(2,210)	(213)	(1,997)	-938%
1-19-18	SunTrust Banks	668	660	8	1%
1-19-18	Synchrony Financial	875	908	(33)	-4%
1-22-18	Halliburton	244	(175)	419	NM
1-22-18	Netflix	131	90	41	46%
1-22-18	Resmed	142	96	46	48%
1-22-18	Steel Dynamics	161	3	158	5267%
1-22-18	TD Ameritrade	303	339	(36)	-11%
1-22-18	Zions Bancorp	259	207	52	25%
1-23-18	Capital One Financial	1,308	1,135	173	15%
1-23-18	Fifth Third Bancorp	393	509	(116)	-23%
1-23-18	Huntington Bancorp	412	313	99	32%
1-23-18	Johnson & Johnson	2,560	4,324	(1,764)	-41%
1-23-18	Kimberly Clark	743	760	(17)	-2%
1-23-18	Procter & Gamble	4,033	3,256	777	24%
1-23-18	Prologis	351	485	(134)	-28%
1-23-18	State Street Corp	717	345	372	108%
1-23-18	Texas Instruments	1,550	1,497	53	4%
1-23-18	Total Systems Services	146	100	46	46%
1-23-18	Travelers Companies	860	1,302	(442)	-34%
1-23-18	United Continental Holdings	600	884	(284)	-32%
1-23-18	Verizon Communications	2,934	6,949	(4,015)	-58%
1-23-18	Waters Corp	226	203	23	11%
1-24-18	Abbott Labs	574	875	(301)	-34%
1-24-18	Ameriprise Financial	600	469	131	28%
1-24-18	Amphenol	379	324	55	17%
1-24-18	Baker Hughes GE	(135)	265	(400)	NM
1-24-18	Comcast Corp	3,422	3,736	(314)	-8%
1-24-18	Crown Castle	113	129	(16)	-12%
1-24-18	Discover Financial Services	899	883	16	2%
1-24-18	Ford Motor	1,889	(1,117)	3,006	NM
1-24-18	General Dynamics	1,008	745	263	35%
1-24-18	General Electric	(12,603)	2,893	(15,496)	NM
1-24-18	WW Grainger	207	145	62	43%
1-24-18	Illinois Tool Works	796	726	70	10%
1-24-18	Lam Research	734	385	349	91%
1-24-18	Las Vegas Sands	931	659	272	41%
1-24-18	Norfolk Southern	893	641	252	39%
1-24-18	Northern Trust	436	390	46	12%
1-24-18	Progressive Corp	691	538	153	28%
1-24-18	Raymond James Financial	312	208	104	50%
1-24-18	Rockwell Automation	298	258	40	16%
1-24-18	Rollins Inc	69	53	16	30%
1-24-18	Royal Caribbean	288	261	27	10%
1-24-18	Stanley Black & Decker	342	282	60	21%
1-24-18	TE Connectivitity Ltd	561	460	101	22%
1-24-18	United Rentals	336	242	94	39%
1-24-18	United Technologies	1,705	1,273	432	34%
1-24-18	Varian Medical	123	19	104	547%
1-24-18	Whirlpool	209	308	(99)	-32%
1-24-18	Xilinx	195	163	32	20%
1-25-18	3M	1,672	1,610	62	4%
1-25-18	Alliance Data Systems	306	62	244	394%
1-25-18	American Air Lines	425	500	(75)	-15%
1-25-18	Biogen	1,400	838	562	67%
1-25-18	Caterpillar	1,111	(1,348)	2,459	NM
1-25-18	Celanese	265	156	109	70%
1-25-18	Celgene	1,131	499	632	127%
1-25-18	E Trade Group	299	205	94	46%
1-25-18	Freeport McMoran	1,325	492	833	169%
1-25-18	Arthur J Gallagher & Co	155	124	31	25%
1-25-18	Intel	6,035	4,440	1,595	36%
1-25-18	Intuitive Surgical	339	276	63	23%
1-25-18	KLA-Tencor	347	307	40	13%
1-25-18	L3 Technologies	226	241	(15)	-6%
1-25-18	Maxim Integrated Products	198	148	50	34%
1-25-18	Northop Grumman	684	748	(64)	-9%
1-25-18	NVR Inc	261	229	32	14%
1-25-18	Praxair	595	561	34	6%
1-25-18	Raytheon	834	825	9	1%
1-25-18	Sherwin-Williams	285	304	(19)	-6%
1-25-18	Southwest Air	737	809	(72)	-9%
1-25-18	Starbucks	3,006	1,133	1,873	165%
1-25-18	SVB Financial Group	260	158	102	65%
1-25-18	Union Pacific Corp	2,092	1,831	261	14%
1-25-18	Western Digital	774	321	453	141%
1-26-18	AbbVie	1,193	1,998	(805)	-40%
1-26-18	Air Products	455	337	118	35%
1-26-18	Colgate Palmolive	896	934	(38)	-4%
1-26-18	Honeywell	1,617	1,432	185	13%
1-26-18	Lear Corp	367	308	59	19%
1-26-18	Nextera Energy	86	1,521	(1,435)	-94%
1-26-18	Rockwell Collins	257	203	54	27%
				-
	Total all 114	104,960	116,489	(11,529)	-10%

And the Chart below compares the Pretax Income (Loss) of these 114 Corps in both the Dec 2017 Quarter vs the Dec 2016 Quarter and also in the Sept 2017 Quarter vs the Sept 2016 Quarter:

	US GAAP	US GAAP			US GAAP	US GAAP
	Pretax	Pretax			Pretax	Pretax
	Income	Income	Increase		Income	Income	Increase
	Dec Qtr	Dec Qtr	(Decrease)		Sept Qtr	Sept Qtr	(Decrease)
US Company	2017	2016	Amount		2017	2016	Amount
	mils $	mils $	mils $	%	mils $	mils $	mils $	%
Delta Air Lines	1,089	952	137		1,805	1,900	(95)
BlackRock	1,490	1,187	303		1,404	1,210	194
JPMorgan Chase	8,254	8,679	(425)		9,556	8,939	617
PNC Financial Services	1,074	1,366	(292)		1,539	1,348	191
Wells Fargo	4,599	7,562	(2,963)		6,858	8,255	(1,397)
Citigroup	5,099	5,100	(1)		6,003	5,620	383
Comerica	330	226	104		334	213	121
CSX Corp	983	751	232		750	715	35
First Republic Bank	237	229	8		242	202	40
Interactive Brokers Group	364	28	336		268	183	85
UnitedHealth Group	3,669	2,919	750		3,794	3,311	483
Alcoa	216	(123)	339		288	102	186
Bank of America	6,161	5,803	358		7,866	7,304	562
Fastenal	201	181	20		226	201	25
Goldman Sachs	3,108	3,397	(289)		2,976	2,868	108
Kinder Morgan	324	388	(64)		547	194	353
Charles Schwab	953	824	129		945	794	151
US Bancorp	1,311	2,040	(729)		2,158	2,082	76
American Express	1,821	1,161	660		1,827	1,735	92
Atlassian Corp	(14)	(1)	(13)		(22)	(4)	(18)
Bank of New York Mellon	728	1,152	(424)		1,368	1,317	51
BB&T Corp	876	930	(54)		942	915	27
JB Hunt Transport Services	140	188	(48)		157	176	(19)
International Business Machines	4,469	4,986	(517)		3,065	3,263	(198)
KeyCorp	447	270	177		497	188	309
M&T Bank Corp	629	510	119		581	550	31
Morgan Stanley	2,471	2,246	225		2,482	2,381	101
PPG Industries	376	138	238		521	(426)	947
Citizens Financial Group	503	414	89		513	427	86
Kansas City Southern	193	166	27		212	158	54
Regions Financial	548	428	120		451	471	(20)
Schlumberger Ltd	(2,210)	(213)	(1,997)		677	200	477
SunTrust Banks	668	660	8		765	691	74
Synchrony Financial	875	908	(33)		879	963	(84)
Halliburton	244	(175)	419		496	(52)	548
Netflix	131	90	41		116	79	37
Resmed	142	96	46		108	93	15
Steel Dynamics	161	3	158		234	243	(9)
TD Ameritrade	303	339	(36)		338	270	68
Zions Bancorp	259	207	52		243	192	51
Capital One Financial	1,308	1,135	173		1,585	1,512	73
Fifth Third Bancorp	393	509	(116)		1,489	694	795
Huntington Bancorp	412	313	99		365	152	213
Johnson & Johnson	2,560	4,324	(1,764)		4,790	5,281	(491)
Kimberly Clark	743	760	(17)		779	757	22
Procter & Gamble	4,033	3,256	777		3,751	3,738	13
Prologis	351	485	(134)		931	323	608
State Street Corp	717	345	372		822	636	186
Texas Instruments	1,550	1,497	53		1,789	1,381	408
Total Systems Services	146	100	46		171	125	46
Travelers Companies	860	1,302	(442)		320	947	(627)
United Continental Holdings	600	884	(284)		980	1,510	(530)
Verizon Communications	2,934	6,949	(4,015)		5,511	5,576	(65)
Waters Corp	226	203	23		154	145	9
Abbott Labs	574	875	(301)		626	(179)	805
Ameriprise Financial	600	469	131		628	238	390
Amphenol	379	324	55		358	311	47
Baker Hughes GE	(135)	265	(400)		(167)	161	(328)
Comcast Corp	3,422	3,736	(314)		4,096	3,724	372
Crown Castle	113	129	(16)		118	103	15
Discover Financial Services	899	883	16		903	961	(58)
Ford Motor	1,889	(1,117)	3,006		1,757	1,387	370
General Dynamics	1,008	745	263		1,027	994	33
General Electric	(12,603)	2,893	(15,496)		1,466	2,074	(608)
WW Grainger	207	145	62		250	293	(43)
Illinois Tool Works	796	726	70		906	763	143
Lam Research	734	385	349		688	293	395
Las Vegas Sands	931	659	272		758	675	83
Norfolk Southern	893	641	252		800	705	95
Northern Trust	436	390	46		417	374	43
Progressive Corp	691	538	153		251	259	(8)
Raymond James Financial	312	208	104		282	243	39
Rockwell Automation	298	258	40		274	237	37
Rollins Inc	69	53	16		83	80	3
Royal Caribbean	288	261	27		753	693	60
Stanley Black & Decker	342	282	60		354	328	26
TE Connectivitity Ltd	561	460	101		520	489	31
United Rentals	336	242	94		322	303	19
United Technologies	1,705	1,273	432		1,940	2,026	(86)
Varian Medical Systems	123	19	104		110	143	(33)
Whirlpool	209	308	(99)		268	305	(37)
Xilinx	195	163	32		187	176	11
3M	1,672	1,610	62		1,997	1,862	135
Alliance Data Systems	306	62	244		334	313	21
American Air Lines	425	500	(75)		1,004	1,189	(185)
Biogen	1,400	838	562		1,610	1,367	243
Caterpillar	1,111	(1,348)	2,459		1,523	383	1,140
Celanese	265	156	109		289	281	8
Celgene	1,131	499	632		991	256	735
E Trade Group	299	205	94		223	225	(2)
Freeport McMoran	1,325	492	833		626	177	449
Arthur J Gallagher & Co	155	124	31		97	95	2
Intel	6,035	4,440	1,595		5,930	4,318	1,612
Intuitive Surgical	339	276	63		289	267	22
KLA-Tencor	347	307	40		336	222	114
L3 Technologies	226	241	(15)		26	180	(154)
Maxim Integrated Products	198	148	50		181	165	16
Northop Grumman	684	748	(64)		785	769	16
NVR Inc	261	229	32		245	185	60
Praxair	595	561	34		585	454	131
Raytheon	834	825	9		816	780	36
Sherwin-Williams	285	304	(19)		428	536	(108)
Southwest Air	737	809	(72)		791	618	173
Starbucks	3,006	1,133	1,873		1,152	1,215	(63)
SVB Financial Group	260	158	102		251	193	58
Union Pacific Corp	2,092	1,831	261		1,983	1,805	178
Western Digital	774	321	453		710	(271)	981
AbbVie	1,193	1,998	(805)		2,095	2,014	81
Air Products & Chemicals	455	337	118		479	391	88
Colgate Palmolive	896	934	(38)		900	1,046	(146)
Honeywell	1,617	1,432	185		1,783	1,632	151
Lear Corp	367	308	59		385	310	75
Nextera Energy	86	1,521	(1,435)		1,220	1,207	13
Rockwell Collins	257	203	54		274	296	(22)
			-
Total all 114	104,960	116,489	(11,529)	-9.9%	137,759	124,687	13,072	+10.5%