Blog Posts by Chris Nichols

Exxon Mobil (XOM) had revenue $115.7 billion for the third quarter, and while that's an extraordinary number, it actually broke a string of five consecutive quarters with a top line above $120 billion -- revenue for the Irving, Texas, oil giant was last lower in the first quarter of 2011.

However, the figure that was getting the most attention probably was production, which declined 7.5% from the same quarter in 2011 to 3.96 million barrels a day and fell short of the FactSet consensus estimate of just under 4.15 million. Excluding the effect of OPEC quotas, divestitures and other impacts, production would have fallen 2.9%.

Here's the trend over the past three years. The latest drop is the second-steepest slide in the graph. (Production also was slightly lower at Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-A), which, along with Exxon, issued its quarterly numbers Thursday.)

What happened here? As explained in The Wall Street Journal, the most recent decline was partly a result of Exxon's decision to move

When you hear the name Clorox (CLX), you might be more likely to think bleach than dividend growth.

If so, it wouldn't be a surprise, considering this is another of those stocks that won't light up the message boards or steer the conversation at a dinner party. But if you like dividends, especially a pattern of higher payouts, Clorox can offer that. And the stock appreciation hasn't been half bad over the past decade, either.

Clorox was in the news Wednesday following its first-quarter report, which showed earnings before items of $1.04 a share and sales of $1.34 billion. On average, analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for an adjusted profit of 96 cents and a top line of $1.35 billion. In the year-earlier period, Clorox had a profit, excluding items, of $1.01 a share and sales of $1.31 billion.

Growth on the revenue and earnings lines hasn't been particularly overwhelming, and that was the case again this quarter. FactSet has a five-year compound annual growth rate for sales at

Ronald Reagan, who hasn't been president for nearly a quarter of a century, had the best economic approach of any of the past five U.S. leaders, respondents to a Yahoo! Finance poll said.

See results of the poll

The Gipper, in fact, was the choice of 52% of the readers who voted in our survey, which ran Friday and had roughly 23,000 responses. Following Reagan, the president for most of the 1980s, was Bill Clinton, whose policies appealed most to 38% of the voters. George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush combined to collect a total of 3% of the vote, while current President Barack Obama was the choice of 7% of the respondents.

Among the other findings, more than half of voters believed that tax rates for U.S. corporations should be cut, while nearly one-third felt that a flat tax should be instituted for individuals of every income bracket.

The survey was the second installment of a three-part economic quiz we're running ahead of the Nov. 6 elections. The results of part one of the survey

If you made a long bet on Expedia (EXPE) this year, you're either very smart or very lucky. And if you believe the media write about outperforming stocks at exactly the wrong time, take heed.

From the start of 2012 through Thursday's close, Expedia was up 72.8%, making it the sixth-best stock on the S&P 500 since Jan. 3. On Friday, it made investors even more money, rising 10.9% to $56.84. The gain came after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter numbers. Adjusted earnings rose to $1.32 a share from $1.28 last year and topped estimates, while revenue was up to $1.20 billion from $1.02 billion in the 2011 quarter.

During the first half of the year, holding Expedia, Priceline.com (PCLN) and TripAdvisor (TRIP) would have given you some nice profits, but Expedia has stood out since and left the others behind. (Travelzoo (TZOO) and Orbitz (OWW) have substantially trailed the performance of other travel stocks for a longer period.) TripAdvisor, which was spun off from

The best way for the federal government to balance the budget is through a combination of spending cuts and increased taxes, more than half of the voters in an informal Yahoo! Finance poll said Thursday.

With 10,283 total responses to the question, 52% said some combination of those two actions would be preferred to the other choices provided. However, 41% of respondents wanted to only cut spending in order to balance the budget, making for a very strong second-place showing. With those two options making up 93% of the total vote, you can see quickly how readers feel about raising taxes alone as the preferred course of action. Our poll ran the same day that a group of corporate CEOs called on Congress to implement tax hikes and lower spending to tackle the nation's budget deficit.

See results from poll

The question was one of seven we asked readers in a bid to get a sense of what they believe the government should do to improve its financial standing. The poll, the first in

This Nov. 6, the most important thing you can do isn't to vote. It's to make like Bilbo Baggins and get to Denny's.

Denny's (DENN), the Spartanburg, S.C.-based restaurant owner, is entreating you to Middle-earth with foods inspired by the upcoming movie "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," and you don't even have to trek to Rivendell.

In one of the more curious, or at least amusing, restaurant and movie tie-ins, the diner chain known for the Lumberjack Slam and Moons Over My Hammy is giving us humans a chance to ostensibly eat in the spirit of those small folk from the Shire. Now you can experience what the locals might cook up for you if you were in the neighborhood. Gollum here could stand to put on a little weight;  take him with you.

Denny's is offering up 11 new items on its breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, with options including the Hobbit Hole Breakfast and Frodo's Pot Roast Skillet. For creative eaters, there's the Build Your Own Hobbit Slam. If you go for the latter, you

The U.S. financial situation is at the center of the 2012 elections, specifically the race for the White House between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. One of the key topics the country is facing is the fact that the federal government spends significantly more money than it takes in.

What should Washington do to close the gap, or should it even do anything? We want to give you a chance to weigh in on spending and the U.S. economy.

For added perspective, government data show that in 2011, spending totaled $3.6 trillion, while receipts came to $2.3 trillion. Of the amount collected, nearly half -- $1.1 trillion -- came by way of individual income taxes. Social Security-related taxes were the next biggest contributor to the government, followed by corporate income taxes. But it wasn't enough to match the money going out. The federal deficit came to roughly $1.3 trillion.

RadioShack (RSH), despite its best efforts to adapt to the wants of today's electronics buyer, continues to see its financial results pay a heavy price for its new model.

The Fort Worth, Texas, retailer, which is becoming increasingly dependent on phones as its business, has no dividend, no profits, no chief executive, declining margins and a stock price that's lost 82% in the past year. So is it a good buy?

Somebody thinks so. In premarket trading, the stock had slumped 15% to under $2, but at least one investor saw value in the stock, even if just for a day, and started giving it a boost. Recently, shares of RadioShack were up 7 cents at $2.46 on double the normal volume. Most Wall Street models don't have it worth that much. The stock is now about 10% above the consensus price target of $2.23, according to FactSet data.

About the Phones

On Tuesday, it reported its third consecutive quarterly loss, 33 cents a share excluding items, and missed expectations. Sales edged down to