exxon

Apple's Tim Cook seeks the 'mother of all opportunities'

In a recent meeting with employees at Apple's headquarters, CEO Tim Cook reportedly addressed the steep drop in the company's stock price that came after Apple posted $54.5 billion in sales last quarter and $13.1 billion in profit -- both records. As reported by 9to5 Mac, Cook took a shot at the highly lucrative oil industry in his cheerleading efforts. "The only companies that report better quarters pump oil," Cook reportedly said. "I do not know about you all, but I do not want to work for those companies."

Predictably, creating and … Read more

Apple no longer the world's 'most valuable company'

Apple has lost its top spot as the world's most valuable company.

Apple shares today are down more than $11 to around $439, pushing its market capitalization below $412 billion. That decline, coupled with a 16-cent gain in Exxon Mobil's stock price that pushed that company's market cap to $417.2 billion, has robbed Apple of its market-cap leadership position.

Market capitalization measures the value of a company, and is calculated by multiplying a company's total shares outstanding by the share price.

Apple and Exxon Mobil had been battling for the top spot in 2011, when … Read more

Apple dances with Exxon for market cap crown

Update, 1:15 p.m. PT: With trading closed, Exxon Mobil ended the day with its top market cap spot, according to Google, Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg's count.

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Following a flurry of trading activity today, Apple and Exxon Mobil traded spots in a dramatic race for the title of being the world's most valuable publicly traded company based on market capitalization.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that the two companies briefly swapped spots, with Apple garnering a larger market cap, at $341.5 billion, compared to Exxon's $341.4 billion. Exxon later regained its … Read more

Anonymous targets Monsanto, oil firms

Military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton today confirmed that it was the victim of an "illegal attack," one day after hackers posted what they said were about 90,000 military e-mail addresses purloined from a server of the consulting firm. Hackers also today said they were targeting Monsanto and oil companies in their protests.

"Booz Allen Hamilton has confirmed today that the posting of certain data files on the Internet yesterday was the result of an illegal attack. We are conducting a full review of the nature and extent of the attack. At this time, we do not … Read more

DOE expands partnerships with energy companies and automakers

Tesla Motors and Electric Power Research Institute join U.S. Department of Energy, automaker research teams and energy companies to accelerate the development of new energy-efficient technologies for cars and light trucks and the infrastructure needed to support them.

According to the DOE, the collaborative effort formerly known as FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, is now U.S. DRIVE--Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability. The goal is to beef up research and development of not only new vehicle technologies, but to also work on a broad range of energy infrastructure technologies.

"Government-industry partnerships like U.… Read more

Exxon Mobil growing its algae biofuels program

Exxon Mobil said Wednesday it opened a greenhouse facility to grow and test algae, the next step for its nascent biofuels program.

Researchers from Exxon and its partner Synthetic Genomics, will use the facility to test whether large-scale quantities of affordable fuel can be produced from algae.

Exxon said last year it will invest $600 million over the next five to six years attempting to develop biofuel from algae.

If research milestones are successfully met, Exxon said it will spend more than the $600 million over the next decade, $300 million of which will be allocated to SGI.

Exxon's … Read more

ExxonMobil to make fuel from algae

Will you be pumping up your car of the future with algae-bred fuel? Possibly, if ExxonMobil's latest venture is successful.

ExxonMobil and biotech firm Synthetic Genomics (SGI) announced on Tuesday a new alliance to produce alternative fuel made from photosynthetic algae. ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million on the project--$300 million internally and another $300 million to SGI if key R&D milestones are met.

Under the partnership, SGI will research and develop systems to grow large amounts of algae and convert them into biofuels. ExxonMobil will provide engineering and scientific talent throughout different phases … Read more