"Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known ... corporate profits are up."

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out!

According to BEA,
corporate profits -- officially known as "corporate profits with
inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments" -- were as
follows:



2007: $1.511 trillion

2008: $1.263 trillion

2009: $1.258 trillion



Unfortunately, since we’re only 25 days into 2011, BEA has yet not
calculated the figure for 2010, so we’re left to use annualized
estimates based on the quarterly figures.



The most recent quarterly estimate, based on the third quarter of 2010,
produced annualized corporate profits of $1.659 trillion. Even the
lowest annualized estimate for corporate profits, based on the first
quarter of 2010, pegged them at $1.567 trillion -- still well above
either of the full-year amounts for 2008 and 2009.



So, the only thing that could make Obama’s statement incorrect would be
a woeful under performance in the fourth quarter of 2010, but that
seems unlikely based on current expert estimates.



Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about $1.8 billion at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney, told Bloomberg Businessweek in mid-January
that "the earnings recovery in the U.S. has been exceptional
post-crisis. It seems the recovery in the U.S. economy is starting to
broaden, which will support revenue and earnings growth. China’s economy
is robust, but it’ll take at least six months of strong data to silence
those calling a policy-induced hard landing."



Indeed, if the third-quarter rate holds, corporate profits for 2010 would set a record. The current record was set in 2006 -- the last full year before the onset of the recent recession. That year, corporate profits hit $1.608 trillion.