corrente

It sounds like a great plan: You install your CEO as vice-president of the United States, and give him a brainless puppet of a president to command. Then you cook up a war and arrange to cut out any competitors, like the French oil-services giant Schlumberger, who might compete with you or your subsidiaries like KBR for a share of the biggest rakeoff from the US Treasury since Teapot Dome.

And you STILL manage to lose money?

(via Chicago Tribune business section)

HOUSTON -- An unexpected charge on a troublesome project off the coast of Brazil pushed Halliburton Co. to a $663 million net loss in the second quarter, the company announced Friday.

Miscellaneous details on revenue-per-share and analysts expectations, blah blah blah, omitted. For details read the Trib story.

Halliburton said the increase in revenues was "largely attributable" to its KBR subsidiary's government contracts in the Middle East.

Um, yeah, we heard about those. But wait! Is there another hint of a dark cloud on the revenue horizons, currently just a faint blur about the size of a man's hand?

Congress is investigating allegations that Halliburton overcharged the government on contracts related to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the company denies any wrongdoing.

The charge on the Brazil project emerged upon a detailed review that revealed higher cost estimates, schedule delays and other contingencies that Halliburton hadn't anticipated.

Or is it just possible that Halliburton runs its books the way Hollywood studios do, making sure that losses are huge and public while profits are carefully hidden away so that only the insiders get a share of the net?

Just askin'...