Tuesday, June 29, 2010

BP Loses $28 Billion in Market Cap


The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the resultant oil spill that has covered a large portion of the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most horrible industry tragedies in many years. BP, as the primary operator of the Mississippi Canyon 252 block, is largely accountable for the cleanup efforts that are underway. With a disaster of this magnitude, people around the world are talking about the implication and investors have shied away from BP's stock over.

After the initial explosion and even after the dropping of the Deepwater Horizon, BP's stock price held up, dropping only $0.60 (less than 1%) between April 20th and April 23rd. However, as it became clear last week that the Macondo well was leaking a significant quantity of crude oil, the stock market's opinion turned. the uncertainty caused by this event.

With all things considered, a $28 billion decrease in the company's overall value seems like a important overreaction on the side of investors. The recent uptick in the company's stock price seems to point out that others in the market feel likewise

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