Original post:
The stock is down 14% at $36.87 in early pre-market trade. In London the ordinary shares are down 15%
There are so many ways to lose money in the markets that there is no reason to go looking for new ones. From last Thursday's "Trading on the ‘Top Kill’: Analyst Thoughts" (BP; RIG):
The stock is up $2.75 at $45.16 and I wouldn't touch it with your money. Fiduciary blah blah, Prudent Man, raw terror etc.Two from MarketWatch:
Personally we're partial to the play in "Website Offers Betting on Spill-Related Extinctions of Gulf Species "....
BP shares plunge 14% on 'top-kill' failure
About $19 billion knocked off market cap Tuesday
BP's failed attempt at pouring thousands of barrels of mud to plug the worst oil spill in U.S. waters sent shares of the London-listed oil giant down by 14% in London trade Tuesday.Tuesday's decline alone wipes 13.1 billion pounds ($19 billion) off BP's market capitalization, and the stock has lost over a third of its value since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. See related London Markets report.
"BP's share price disappointment this morning indicates the significant market disappointment with this latest setback," said David Hart, an analyst at Westhouse Securities in London who lowered his rating to neutral from buy following the failure of the "top-kill" operation over the weekend.
The stock price drop was particularly severe because early indications from the company were that the operation was succeeding....MORE
And:
BP cut to sell, target withdrawn by Arbutnot
BP (BP 36.92, -6.03, -14.04%) (UK:BP. 421.05, -73.75, -14.91%) was cut to sell from buy at Arbuthnot, which also withdrew its price target on the oil giant. Analyst Dougie Youngson said he's not confident the new plan to replace the damaged riser pipeline and said the key question now is whether BP, and not just BP CEO Tony Hayward, can survive.
"What worries us the most is the emotive language coming from the Obama administration and the reputational damage done so far. It is difficult to see how the company can recover and it remains unclear what punitive measures will be put in place in terms of its operations in the Gulf of Mexico," he said. "Given the collapse in the share price and the potential for it to fall further we expect that it could become a takeover target - particularly if its operating position in the U.S. becomes untenable."
