Harold Myerson at American Prospect gets it from the horse's mouth:
The subject of the July 11 (“Eye on the Market” report by J.P. Morgan Chase Chief Investment Officer Michael Cembalest) is corporate profits, in particular, the pre-tax profit margins of the S&P 500, the 500 largest publicly-traded companies based in the U.S.
Those profit margins, you’ll be glad to know, are close to record highs, nearing 13 percent of company revenues - their highest levels since the mid-1960s. And since medical costs are far higher today than they were back then, how, you may wonder, have those companies climbed back to the profit margins of those earlier, less costly, more innocent times?
