Still struggling: While many hoped the election of Barack Obama would spur greater opportunities for black professionals to get C suite positions at leading companies, a new report from Bloomberg shows just four companies in the S&P 500—American Express Co., Merck & Co., Carnival Corp. and Xerox Corp.—are headed by African Americans, and that will drop to three when Ursula Burns steps down as chief of Xerox in the next few months. In 2007, the year before Obama first won the White House, there were seven. That was the peak. The pipeline into the biggest corner office is also thin. Most executives in posts within striking distance of CEO last year were white, 7.8% were Asian American and 4.2% were Latino. Blacks made up 2.6%, according to statistics compiled by Richard Zweigenhaft, a professor at Guilford College. Read the full story.
The down low: Oil prices fell to their lowest levels since April this morning, with Brent on track for its biggest monthly loss since December 2015, pressured by slowing economic growth that threatened to increase a supply overhang of crude and refined products. Brent crude oil futures were trading at $42.20 as of 8:30 this morning, down 50 cents, after hitting $41.82, their lowest since April. The benchmark was poised for a monthly loss of more than 15.5%, its biggest since December 2015. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 18 cents to $40.96 a barrel, after earlier in the day slipping below $41 for the first time since April. It was also on track for a monthly loss of at least 15%, the biggest in a year. Reuters has the full story.
Cause and effect: Lower oil prices continue to punish ExxonMobil Corp., which reported its weakest quarterly profit in nearly 17 years, The Associated Press reports. Exxon still earned $1.7 billion in the second quarter. It was, however, down 59% from a year ago, and per share income missed Wall Street expectations. The energy giant cited lower prices for oil and gas and weaker margins from its refining operations. Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson says the results “reflect a volatile industry environment.” The company is cutting exploration spending to manage through the lower prices. Exxon shares had climbed nearly 30% since late January as crude prices rallied from a deep slump. But more recently oil prices have fallen back due to high inventories and the continued sluggish global economy. Exxon’s report followed weak second-quarter results from BP and Shell. Read the full story.
