BloggingStocks
Posted Jul 8th 2009 1:10PM by Beth Gaston Moon
Who said big oil was a dying business? Fortune has released its Global 500, their “annual ranking of the world’s largest corporations,” and topping the charts is Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), which, much like a Mariah Carey song, bumped up into the coveted number-one slot after some time at number three. The Netherlands-based oil company trumped its U.S. rival, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) by $15 billion in sales and saw its revenue spike nearly 29% from 2007.
Speaking of Exxon, the company once again had a tiger in its tank, ranking number two in the world as oil futures bounced around in a nearly $100-dollar range, hitting $146 per barrel at its heights.
But oil isn’t the only big business. Of course there is Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT), which, much like an Usher song, bounced from the top spot to number 3. Revenue grew by a respectable 7% in 2008 as strapped consumers turned to Wal-Mart and other discount chains to stock up on cheap groceries and health and beauty items.
Rounding out the top ten:
4. Yet another petroleum company, BP (NYSE: BP)
5. And … why yep, there we go again with Chevron (NYSE: CVX)
6. Total (NYSE: TOT), which is a French petroleum refining firm
7. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP). No comment.
8. Netherlands-based banking name ING Groep (NYSE: ING).
9. Chinese petroleum refining company Sinopec (NYSE: SHI).
10. And finally, Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM)
Guess J.R. Ewing was right … the big money is in oil.
Beth works for The Options News Network (www.ONN.tv), which provides daily options commentary. The above comments are not intended as trading advice.
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