Oil spill: BP shares fall 5% after Obama attack

[Jeffersons Ghost]

Oil spill: BP shares fall 5% after Obama attack

Shares in BP fell a further 5% on Tuesday after US President Barack Obama launched his most strident attack yet on the oil giant.

The company - in which most of the UK's pension funds invest - has seen its shares tumble almost 40% since April's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

President Obama said earlier he would have fired BP chief executive Tony Hayward over remarks he made. Some analysts have called for the BP boss to announce plans to step down.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10271012.stm

[Skittles]

1. yes, it's Obama's fault, not BP's

right

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. and suddenly the retirement of the British people comes into play

[dipsydoodle]

3. And USA pensions too

Shareholding in the USA and UK are almost identical @ c. 40% each. In the case of the USA JP Morgan Chase hold 27% of BP's entire stock. The great majority of BP shares worldwide are held in pension funds of some description. So its not just the retirement of UK's it will hurt those in the USA equally.

Having said that the actual drop in their shares is down to the March 2009 level. This affects their overall market value : not their balance sheet on which it has no bearing whatsoever.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. so who gets punished for the spill, as usual? do you mind if I use your info in an OP???

[dipsydoodle]

5. Please yourself - fine with me.

I hadn't been able to get into DU at all for an hour or so. :shrug:

The pensions issue is an unfortunate bi-product of what's occuring. The reason that so much is in those funds is the consistant dividends BP have paid in the past. If you were to search for the 2009 balance sheet and even their P&L a/c which would be in the annual report, and prior years too, you'd see that on a running basis they can cover restoration of Gulf damage and associated items and pay a dividend which will help protect those funds.

Talk of ruining BP achieves nothing as removing their ability to trade would reduce or even substantially remove their ability to restore your situation over there.

Some here seem to think I'm a BP supporter : far from it.....you cannot fathom the immensity of the fuck I do not give about them. I'm just trying to use what to me is common sense so that the USA doesn't cut its nose to spite its face.