Watch the Numbers

If you haven't heard by now, ExxonMobil has reported its quarterly results, apparently reporting the highest profit ever for a U.S. corporation.
Starbucks, meantime, has reported its first quarterly loss ever.
One could point to the obvious, of course: Wow, no one is shocked that an oil giant reported such profits given the price of oil.
And Starbucks' products are a luxury purchase, and those luxuries are cut by consumers when money is tight.
Although quarterly results are interesting to watch, one must watch consecutive quarters of results to gauge any real insight into a company's performance, so don't let the short-term mass media headlines influence your opinion too greatly.
Also, one must critically analyze the information, and be warned, some information can be frightening.

Just look at this insight from just a few months ago, from Investor's Business Daily:

Shooting Ourselves in the Foot
According to Ernst & Young, from 1992 to 2006 the U.S. oil industry spent $1.25 trillion on long-term investment vs. profits of $900 billion. Truth is, oil industry profits are in line with the rest of American industry. In 2007, a record year, they earned 8.3 cents per dollar of sales. Beverage companies and cigarette makers, by contrast, earned 19.1 cents. Drugmakers, 18.4 cents. Indeed, all manufacturers, 8.9 cents on average, made more than "Big Oil."
Oil companies don't really pay "windfall profit" taxes, anyway. You do. Some 50 million Americans today own oil company stock, either directly or through 401(k)s and mutual funds. Don't be suckered: "Windfall profits" taxes come right out of your retirement account, not out of the oil industry's business. Oil prices aren't high because profits are up; they're high because we don't have enough oil. By clamping down on drilling, refusing to move forward on nuclear energy and hitting producers with punitive taxes, Congress is doing all it can to ensure we don't have enough in the future.
-- Investor's Business Daily