Price gouging at it’s FINEST!!!

Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results were well short of Wall Street expectations and its shares fell.

The world’s largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 40 percent to $138.1 billion from $98.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion, or $2.27 per share.

Analysts on average expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.52 a share on revenue of $144 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The record-setting results were largely expected, given that crude prices in the second quarter were nearly double what they were a year ago. Natural gas prices were significant ly higher too.

But investors expected even bigger profits Thursday, especially after Europe’s Royal Dutch Shell reported a 33 percent jump in second-quarter earnings to $11.6 billion, which fell just shy of Exxon’s own record earnings from 2007.

shout out to LiveSteez

Love Lessons in stores on Tuesday

Jay Z covers Vibe Magazine 15th Anniversary Juice Edition. He’s featured on double covers…on stands next week. Good look HOVA! (DID YOU GUESS CORRECTLY?)

Call up all your “Bollywood homies” and “Young Punjabis,” get dressed in your finest Indian fabrics & join Snoop in “Singh Kinng.”

(Image: NY Times)

The movie is about an unlucky “Sikh” who goes to Australia to rescue another troubled “Sikh.” Interesting right? Im sure there will be lots of singing and dancing along the way as with traditionally bollywood movies… The original article felt the need to reiterate Rolling Stone’s claim to Snoop as being “America’s Most Loveable Pimp.” Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Your thoughts?

[ source ]

Dior Homme silver Velcro sneakers, $440 at Jeffrey New York; Creative Recreation snakeskin-embossed silver high-top sneakers, $210 at Barneys New York; Alejandro Ingelmo gold high-tops, $475 at Saks Fifth Avenue; Gucci silver lace-ups, $585 at Gucci. Cotton jeans, $68 at American Apparel.

New York Times: David Colman

Picking up on the silver and gold tones recently trotted out by Supra, Nike, Converse and others, fashion houses like Dior, Lanvin, Pierre Hardy and Gucci have come out with metallic sneakers, slip-ons and even low-heeled jazz shoes.

While the look is not new, it gathered major steam last year, said Bradley Carbone, an editor at Complex magazine, after Jay-Z wore a pair of gold Supra Skytops in the Rihanna video for “Umbrella.” Since then, it has trickled down, if you will, to the high-fashion labels.

Sneakerheads may sniff at the sight of European fashion houses following American sporting-good brands, but if you are going to shell out for sneakers, at least these look as if they’re worth it.

Your thoughts? Will you be coppin some metallic sneaks for your collection???

According to the Hatiwebs, the company founded by the New York businessman known to rappers as “Jacob the Jeweler” has sued Wyclef Jean, claiming he owes money for watches and jewelry he bought.

Jacob & Co. Inc. says in Manhattan court papers filed Tuesday that the hip hop musician bought several items between March 2002 and January 2006 for $765,100. The company says Jean still owes $319,680 despite “repeated demands for payment.”

The company’s founder, Jacob Arabov, was sentenced in June to 2½ years in federal prison for lying to investigators of a multistate drug ring.

Arabov was known as the “king of bling” to customers who included Madonna, Elton John and Kanye West.

Several representatives for Jean did not immediately respond to e-mails requesting comment.

RiRi enjoyed dinner at Da Silvana restaurant in the West Village of New York City yesterday. She rocked a very casual getup…see what a few accessories can do for a look ladies…

She was in town to rehearse her performance for the 4th Annual Fashion Rocks benefit at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

So did anyone get a chance to catch Bravo’s Real Housewives Hoodwives of Atlanta last night? If not, let GG give you a quick review:

Bravo’s cameras turned to the South as the network presented an inside look at the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

This season, these women will handle the personal dramas that affect their affluent lifestyles with a signature Southern brand of style and grace…well I’m not sure if I want to use style and grace but for now I will.

Can youy say DRAMA? DRAMA? DRAMA? DRAMA? Oh it’s going down on this season most definitely. I wonder if Bravo knows what they’ve gotten themselves into. I really could see this show airing on another network in a heartbeat, but it will be interesting to see if Bravo can keep the same ratings and target audience as the other Real Housewives shows….only time will tell.

Based off of the ‘this season’ sneak peak at the end of the 30 minute show last night, there will be plenty of cat fights and a lot of women speaking their minds to one another. From the looks of it, Ne Ne Leaks (the real estate investor and business consultant) and Sheree Whitfield (clothing designer–She by Sheree) will go at it. This should be interesting to watch if nothing else.

The next issue of Vibe. Peep the cover. I think this idea is dope as long as the real picture is CRACK.

They want to keep us guessing… any takers?

I have to give it to the NY Times …
Every once in a while, they do something out of the box.

*Click the picture to view the video as a pop-up.

I enjoyed this. They tried to capture the hustle of wanting to be come a rapper in 3 minutes, as well as the struggle to turn your life around.

I enjoyed the fact that it is raw. The story is good. The imagery is so powerful. The images make the video.

It was dope. I felt it.