Poor Exxon Mobil -- hey wait a minute!

After reading this article on Bloomberg, I was thinking the shareholders of Exxon Mobil were sharing some of the pain of the other corporate tumblers...

Exxon Mobil Profit Falls 33%

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest company by market value, (...)

Fourth-quarter net income tumbled 33 percent to $7.82 billion, or $1.55 a share, from $11.7 billion, or $2.13, a year earlier, the Irving, Texas-based company said today in a statement. Per-share profit was 8 cents higher than the average of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

but wait... it turns out the news wasn't so bad:

Exxon Mobil sets record with $45.2 billion profit
By JOHN PORRETTO

HOUSTON (AP) - Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) (XOM) on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.

The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.

It all makes you wonder what really is going on in those corporate offices, and who is spinning the PR.

So before we distribute any more bailout $$, here's another vote for wanting to know the true story of the company's economics and just how they are going to use those $$.