This song isn’t really about dead shrimp, but I suppose I wouldn’t be comprehensive if I left it out:
Corporations insist that, when its convenient to them, they be treated like persons. Well, persons can be executed. Just spitballin’, here. Ideas.
BP shareholder here, and I think this is a great time to buy the stock. The hysterical overreaction (IMV) in the price has driven the dividend yield on the U.K. common stock up to almost 8%, a terrific return for a company of BP’s size. Also IMV, it’s very unlikely that this accident will force a dividend cut or the retraction of the first-quarter dividend declared on April 27 and scheduled to be paid on June 21.
BP has lots of financial resources, and as noted above by LonghornDave, the company has insurance in place through its own unit that will soak up a lot of the costs. In any case, there are several companies involved here, and when we finally know what actually happened and who’s responsible, it’s possible that BP won’t be the one who deserves to be first in the firing line. For the moment, though, I’m sure the U.S. powers that be are happy to blame this on a foreign company.
Where are you going to get 8% on a bank account right now? Furthermore, while BP’s dividend is frozen at the moment, I think an eventual return to growth is likely. I’m not buying the stock myself, but that’s only because I already have both BP and Shell in my portfolio and don’t want to get too overweight in oil shares. If anyone asked me, I would not hesitate to advise buying.
Well, I’m getting 8% or better, but I get a deal through work…
Just hope that not too much of BP product comes from consumer sales in the USA/Southeastern United States. Once the shores that up to 2/3rd of the United States population can easily visit are destroyed for generations I’m thinking that they won’t be able to operate stores in the region.
We stopped buying Exxon products in 1989(?) after the Valdez spill and have never returned as customers.
I don’t doubt that it’s an overreaction in the short run, but in the long run time will tell.
Way to put this in the proper perspective here! Obviously, we should be looking at this in positive terms - we can potentially enrich ourselves personally! I mean, that’s what life is all about, right?
With any luck, this spill will also increase the GDP of the United States as well.
It’s win-win!
:rolleyes:
Another poster made a comment that touched on the company’s market value and seemingly advised selling the shares, so I replied. If you think I’m an asshole for suggesting that people capitalize on an oil spill, fine. Obviously I would prefer that the spill hadn’t happened in the first place, but the world is dependent on fossil fuels, and as long as that remains the case, there will be oil production and hence risks of accidents.
You don’t really understand how oil companies make money. They make the majority of their money selling the crude oil and natural gas. Retail gasoline sales don’t really make anything at all.
In fact, many of the retail stores are not even owned by the company that has the name out front. Less than 5% of gas stations in the U.S. are actually owned by the major oil companies. Your protest against Exxon doesn’t really do anything. Individual distributors own those stores and simply use the Exxon or Mobile name for a small fee. Exxon has no desire to be in the retail gasoline sales business.
Those retail gasoline stores make a good portion of their operating cash flow from sales of drinks and candy inside. Further, in many cases, the gas stations are more of a real estate play than anything else.
An excellent idea, sir!
It seems clear that some posters are not getting what this thread is all about.
I posted a link to Hellhound On My Trail upthread. It sounds like gibberish, so here’s the lyrics:
BP is fucked. They cannot un-stick this from themselves.
Here’s a more stablelink.
For these lyrics:
Here it comes: the dead critters.
I see a lot of talk about tons of oil, in this or that place.
How many tons of creatures will die as a result of this misstep?
How big a monster would that make? BP, you’d best have a Medusa’s head ready, because I wanna release the Kraken on yer ass.
Everyone ought to take a look at Klee’s Angelus Novus.
From the wiki:
The straight dope is that quote doesn’t stop there, fools:
Wait a minute… is that a reference to bona-fide hen’s teeth?!?
Yes, yes it is.
I like Klee’s work well enough T2BC, but that description was pushing it pretty hard.
Too bad.
Suck it.
You know, I’ve been looking at those pix of derad critters, and the thing that strikes me is that all the sites have the same pictures of the same dead critters. It’s almost as if the photographers are having to look real hard for dead critters with which to shock and appall us. Heck, some of em don’t even look oil damaged.
Perhaps we should wait until any schlub with a camera can go down to the beaches of Alabama and shoot photos of oil soaked osprey corpses before getting hysterical.
As of this morning, they’re counting tar balls on Alabama beaches, and coming up with terrifying numbers like SIX.