What to do about BPs Dividend
It finally happened.
Yesterday, BP (NYSE:BP) announced that it would suspend its dividend for the
remainder of 2010. After that, it will probably depend on how much the oil
spill costs as to whether, and at what rate, the dividend is reinstated.
Cost estimates for the spill
are rising. One analyst was out with a $63 billion estimate. That’s based on
the $7,942 a barrel Exxon paid for clean up and fines for the Valdez spill. To put things in perspective, the Valdez leaked 257,000 barrels of oil. BP’s Gulf of Mexico spill is expected to reach 5.3 million barrels.
BP has annual cash flow
around $30 billion. It will also have to lower spending and sell off some
assets. And it will hit the bond market to raise cash.
BP will be able to foot the
bill for the Gulf mess. But what shape will the company be in afterwards? It
reminds me of the industrial companies that were saddled with asbestos
litigation. Or even the tobacco industry after judgments against them were
handed down.
These companies survived,
but they didn’t really thrive. And many were either acquired or went through
some kind of restructuring. I’d expect these options are in the table for BP.
I can
imagine plenty of investors will be looking for new dividend stocks to
supplement their income. I’ve arranged to offer you one of the “subscriber’s
only” investment reports on dividend stocks from SmallCapInvestor PRO.
This report features two
stocks that pay very nice dividends. And the stocks should also have some
upside on a valuation basis.
There’s no charge, and you
can access that report HERE
Spain sold 3.5 billion euro in bonds yesterday. That was
the maximum allowed in the sale. But interestingly, the 10-year bonds fetched a
4.86% interest rate, which was less than other 10-year Spanish bonds traded for
the day before.
That’s surprisingly good
news, and it shows that investors are not as concerned about Spanish debt
problems as they are about Greece. The news also helped the euro rally.
Bloomberg shows that the
euro is now at 1.23 against the U.S. dollar, up from 1.19. That’s a big move
for a currency.
As you know, I’ve been
looking for a euro rally to help U.S. stocks. And that’s what’s happening.
TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts‘ Jason Cimpl called a bottom
for the euro at 1.20 and got his readers into several upside positions. One of
them put up a 50% gain in two days. And it looks like this stock may move even
higher.
TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts has one of the lowest cancellation rates I’ve ever
seen. And that’s because, when people join, they just don’t quit. Yes, Jason’s
doing a great job leading his readers to consistent short-term gains in the
stock market. For more, click HERE.
Thanks for all your comments
and keep ‘em coming to dailyprofit@wyattresearch.com
