BP cancels Dividend For First Three Quarters of This Year

[Lucky Luciano]

Source: Bloomberg headline

No text. Full article will be out soon. Feel free to edit this and add the article later.

No link yet.

[Statistical]

1. For 3 qtrs but not FIRST 3 qtrs.

Q1 dividend will be paid 21 June 2010.
Q2, Q3, Q4 dividend will be cut.

On edit: nope a different articles say they are rescinding Q1 dividend also.
The news stories seem to be conflicted. So it could be all 4 dividends for 2010.

[Cha]

5. Yes, I was just going to post from your link..

"GULF COAST, U.S. (TheStreet) -- BP(BP) Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg announced shortly after his meeting with President Obama that BP will pay no more dividends this year. The recently announced BP dividend payment due next week on June 21 will also be canceled."

Thanks for the link.

[Statistical]

7. Yeah here is another source.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- BP PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 32.69, +1.29, +4.11%) Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said Wednesday the company's board of directors decided it would suspend dividend payments in the second and third quarters, and cancel the first-quarter payment that was due on June 21, in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon accident. In brief comments to reporters at the White House, Svanberg said the meeting with Barack Obama was constructive. "He's frustrated because he cares about the small people....We care about the small people," Svanberg said. "The board remains strongly committed to the payment of future dividends and delivering long term value to shareholders," BP said in a separate statement. "The board will consider resumption of dividend payments in 2011 at the time of issuance of the fourth quarter 2010 results, by which time it expects to have a clearer picture of the longer term impact of the Deepwater Horizon incident."

--------------------------------------------------------

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bp-suspends-dividend-after-deepwater-horizon-spill-2010-06-16

The strange thing is that the stock is rallying hard on the news?

[Cha]

13. Thank you! From a "small" person. :)

Glad it's rallying!

[Statistical]

16. but it doesn't make any sense?

Does it make sense to you?

BP says no money for investors and $20B going out the door = stock goes up?

I guess less uncertainty? Not as bad as some were thinking?

[Cha]

18. Sorry, I have no idea..talkin' to a non

stock person here but it is quite curious. Interesting to watch.

[Spazito]

23. It makes sense to me....

for the reason you stated: Less uncertainty about the survival of the company. The decision re the 20 billion AND the non-payment of the dividends came AFTER the meeting with President Obama which those who are buying the BP stock read as meaning less chance of forced bankruptcy of BP, among other things, imo.

[louis-t]

24. Because 'infinite' is now 'finite'.

They can afford $20 billion. The stockholders will get over not getting a dividend for awhile.

[Spazito]

34. Yep, there is now a 'framework', in the minds of those investing/invested....

a better sense of 'known' versus the 'unknown' tends to create a greater chance of stability in the long term prospects of the company, ergo the company's stock looks like a better investment than before the announcements today,imo. I am not a fan of BP, would not invest in them but I 'get' why their stock is rising now.

[louis-t]

36. Well, it did drop something like 20% in the last few weeks.

[cbdo2007]

37. Stocks rarely react to news as it happens which is why all of the stock greats

tell you to ignore the news when deciding on what stocks to get. Your question is exactly the reason why this is the case. The common assumption would be that investors would be unhappy with this decision and the stock would go down but it didn't. It'll probably be up through the end of this week...because it is just taking natural small market fluctuations at this point.

I know you probably know a lot more about stocks than I do, and you certainly have more invested than the puny amount I'm playing with...but it's been funny seeing you play this BP stock over the past month and some of the assumptions you've had and continue to have.

This isn't a dig on you, as everyone has their own strategy, and I want you to be successful as I hold out hope that all investors are. It's just interesting to watch. Where did you get back into BP at $32 or $34? Seems like a good sticking point but at this point I'd try to avoid any BP news for the next 6 months so you don't make any more rash decisions (like I tend to do when I watch the news too much about a stock I'm all excited about).

[LaurenG]

2. I'm sorry for those who were depending on the dividends

to live on.

[Newsjock]

3. I'm not

Manage your investments. Know what your money is supporting. And be thankful that you actually have money to invest at all. Many of us don't.

[LaurenG]

8. Think about what you're saying,

As an example, my mom is 86 years old and she has had several strokes, she has stock in oil (Canadian, but still oil) she depends on the monthly dividends to get by. Had she invested in BP she would have to figure out what to cut in order to make it.
Stop blaming the victims and assuming all investors are rich and good at managing investments.

[JuniperLea]

14. This is horrible...

Your mother, and many others just like her, have been convinced that investments are the way to go... it was wrong to do that to people.

Too bad King Solomon isn't alive... which half of the child would you like your mother to get? And which half should the hard working people of the Gulf get?

[LaurenG]

17. Exactly - shes fucking 86 years old

That is what people did when they were up and coming 40-50 year olds back in the olden days. You have taken this to a level that is infuriating to me.

Try this and maybe read it slowly this time. One can feel pity on the old timers who won't get their checks and still feel it's a good thing for BP to be held accountable all at the same time.

[JuniperLea]

19. You need to read your first post...

The way it's worded it appeared you were feeling only for the investors... there's very little sympathy for "the investor class" around here, and rightfully so. Had you made the distinction in that first post, you would have heard nary a peep.

[LaurenG]

22. I'm sorry for those who were depending on the dividends to live on.

Those DEPENDING on the dividend to LIVE on. Rich people are not DEPENDING on the dividend to LIVE on. My bad for assuming it was understood.

edit to add the rest of my first post.

[JuniperLea]

26. I'm sorry people were led to believe it was good practice to live on dividends...

But like watching someone blow an entire paycheck at the races... you put it on a horse to win, and the horse came up lame.

No one should be gambling with their retirement. Any retirement counselor worth their salt would tell you the same. It's a damn foolish thing to do.

[LaurenG]

27. It's too late for them. It is already done. nt

[PassingFair]

56. You know, we have an excellent social security system in this country.

My 86 year old aunt lived quite happily in her
rent-subsidized senior apartment until her ill health
forced her into a nursing home. She had had investments
in Ford Motor, among other things, but she sold them
when things started to look fishy on Wall Street.
She got about $150.00 a month from her "investments".
She got about $1300 a month from social security.
Her rent was about 200 or 300/month.

It is a GOOD time in America to be a retired person.
Inflation is nil.

The stock market is where you put money you can
AFFORD TO LOSE.

Always a good thing to remember that everyone forgets
during the boom periods.

I'm more worried about younger people feeding their
families and keeping a roof over their heads with
NO safety net and no where to go.

[Art_from_Ark]

64. Are you kidding?

Inflation is NOT nil for retired people.
Retired people are less likely to be buying the imported gadgets and gizmos that are helping to bring the inflation rate down. Instead, the things they are most likely to be spending their money on, such as health insurance and health care, car insurance, home insurance, nursing home expenses, and utilities, among other things, are going up, not to mention taxes that they may have to pay on their homes. The official "nil" inflation rate merely means that the government does not have to increase the COLA for Social Security, but the people I know with fixed incomes are watching the buying power of their incomes slowly erode away.

[PassingFair]

66. My aunt has been well served by our social safety net.

She had Medicare with a BlueCross supplemental that she only paid
$84.00 a month for.

If you're still driving at 86, more power to ya, but she stopped
driving at 82, she had a leased car and her payments were under
$200.00 a month. Her utilities were under $40.00 per month in any
given month.

She had not worked since the late 80's and lived a comfortable life.

She is now in a nursing home, the entirety of which is paid for
by Medicare.

[Art_from_Ark]

67. You said "retired people"

which includes people in their 60s and 70s as well. A lot of those people have to continue driving. And their rates go up.
Same with health insurance-- the older you get, the more expensive it gets.

Your aunt might be relatively well off, but I can guarantee you that is not the case for a lot of other retired people.

I don't see how her utilities could be "under $40.00 per month in any given month". Cumulative cost of water/sewer/trash, gas, electric, for less than $40 in any given month? I don't buy it. One cold winter, or hot summer, is going to skew that right away.

And from the official Medicare web site:
"Under certain limited conditions, Medicare will pay some nursing home costs for Medicare beneficiaries who require skilled nursing or rehabilitation services."

http://www.medicare.gov/nursing/Payment.asp

[PassingFair]

68. Oops, I meant Medicaid.....

She converted to Medicaid when it became clear
that she was not going to be "rehabilitated".

Her utilities were low because she was
in a rent subsidized apartment.

Really, her utilities were THAT LOW.

[Art_from_Ark]

69. So your aunt has a special set of circumstances

Most of the retired people I know who want to live at home, do not have such circumstances.

In Arkansas, at least, they do get a break on their property taxes. And it looks like the state has eliminated the state sales tax on some food items, and maybe pharmaceuticals. But the private health insurance and health costs for these retired people keep going up, and a lot of them don't even have dental insurance, but even simple dental work can run $500 or more. And Arkansas can have hot summers, and cold snaps in winter, which can run up the utility bill in a big hurry. People who want to continue living in their homes have to pay utilities out of their own pocket. And that doesn't even count the costs of keeping up their place.

And Medicaid payments for nursing homes depend on the state. Sounds like your aunt got real lucky.

[PassingFair]

70. The "continue living in their homes" part is the part that doesn't work.

At least there are rent subsidized places for them to live in.

Working and unemployed families and people under 62 have no-
where to go. No "safety net".

My aunt, with NOTHING but a pension paying $150 a month
and her social security check was NOT hurting for basic needs.

Her "special set of circumstances" was that she was broke.

[Art_from_Ark]

71. In some places, there are rent-subsidized places for

the elderly.

In other places, there aren't. Or maybe there is a waiting list.

There are plenty of private assisted care places in my home town, but they run anywhere from $1000/mo on up. Just a few apartments that are subsidized. Also, a lot of them don't allow pets.

So your aunt was receiving $1300/mo in SS, plus $150/mo in pension, and she was not hurting for basic needs, but she was broke?

Seems to me that if one is not hurting for basic needs, and pulling in $1450/mo, then they aren't broke.

[PassingFair]

72. That money was paying for her basic needs because they were subsidized.

She qualified for Medicaid because she had no money left
after it was "spent down" at the nursing home.

Again, without our system, either she would have been
out on the street, or I would have had to quit my job
to take care of her.

Not an option, as I am the family breadwinner.

[Art_from_Ark]

74. But this all seems to contradict your assertion

that this is a great time for retirees.

Your aunt had no money left, because presumably inflation ate it up-- it was "spent down at the nursing home", which was one of the points I was trying to make.

Also, your system seems to be in place in some states, but not nationwide. In those states where it is not in place, retirees on the low-end face a less rosy future.

[PassingFair]

75. The point is: she has a place to live, health care (constant care now) food, etc.

All provided by the state.

Where is the contradiction?

The system works!

Without this most excellent system, she
would have died on a sidewalk LONG ago,
or she would be totally dependent on me.

[Art_from_Ark]

76. She had to go broke to get that

She could not live on $1450/month, it was being gobbled up by inflation, which you said was nil.
She was lucky that she lived in a state that took care of her after she went broke.
It doesn't work that way in all states.

[PassingFair]

77. Which states, specificallly? n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

78. I'm not sure of the exact states, but here is the disclaimer

from the Medicare web site:

"Medicaid is a State and Federal program that will pay most nursing home costs for people with limited income and assets. Eligibility varies by State. Check your State's requirements to learn if you are eligible. Medicaid will pay only for nursing home care provided in a facility certified by the government to provide service to Medicaid recipients. For more information about Medicaid payments, call the SHIP for your State or call your State's Medicaid office. The telephone number is in the blue pages of the phone book"

The web site also notes:

"About half of all nursing home residents pay nursing home costs out of their own savings. After these savings and other resources are spent, many people who stay in nursing homes for long periods eventually become eligible for Medicaid."

So they've got to be flat broke for a while to qualify for Medicaid.

http://www.medicare.gov/nursing/Payment.asp

[dipsydoodle]

54. You may have made the mistake

of not understanding that those with pensions through pension funds may have no means of know which stocks are involved and certainly no control over that situation.

[PassingFair]

57. That is a shame. And I wonder whether that is not a bigger worry in Britain?

CAN your pensioners get by without investment dividends?

Is your "social security" tied up in the FTSE?

[dipsydoodle]

59. No reason to be any different here from the USA

a simple search will tell you that the shares are almost equally displaced between the two countries.

Is your "social security" tied up in the FTSE ? is simply a dumb fucking question. Would've only have been more stupid if you said Are your "social security"............

The UK is the third largest hold of US debt after China and Japan so where do think the money is "tied up"

[PassingFair]

60. You're a sweetheart!

I could have a fortune tied up in stock and it
WOULD NOT AFFECT MY SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK.

With the way the British are going on about the pensioners,
I assumed that your GOVERNMENT was gambling your retiree's
social security LOCKBOX money on investment returns.

I find it hard to cry about "the pensioners"
when their basic needs are being seen to.

[dipsydoodle]

61. The state pension is the state pension

It's funded from our National Payments over our lifetimes to retirement age. Personal pensions are a different subject - our government encourages those by giving tax relief against payments in to them. Historically BP have always paid the highest dividends and so pension funds have concentrated on those shares - exactly the same your side.

At the current rate BP , as it is now , will probably go down the tubes anyway with Petrochina doing an overnight raid within the next few months - they can easily afford the liabilities involved and it would make them the world's largest oil company. That's the listed private wing of the Chinese government - I don't think the Pentagon will too impressed but fuck 'em.

btw the flaw in the state pension scheme is the relationship between the size of different demographic groups which is going downhill as it is in all countries as we live longer.

[JuniperLea]

62. No, I didn't...

I used to work for a financial services company with an emphasis on retirement savings. This DUer's 86-year-old grandmother SHOULD NOT BE INVESTED in stocks at her age... she should NOT be risking her health insurance and other living expenses on dividends. Someone saw her coming and made a ton of fees off her... sadly, her granddaughter doesn't understand that many of us here are trying to help. This woman needs to take all of her investment ppwk to a LEGITIMATE financial planner and get something FIXED! That she has a pension that is NOT FIXED at this age is a crime.

It's so very sad... this woman is hell bent on arguing her point and isn't listening to valid advice. And so it goes...

[Oregone]

30. +1

[kirby]

28. 86yo should not be invested in stocks...

People nearing retirement should not be invested in the stock market.

She is not a victim, she is an investor. An investment is not an entitlement. An investment is a risk someone takes in order to make a profit. BP screwed up. Why should the shareholders, who are the people who invested in the company, be immune? The company that she invested in is going to have to pay out billions of dollars of its profits. It would be irresponsible to send those profits to shareholders in the form of dividends, when they are going to be needed to pay claims and restore the environmental damage. If that money is paid out to shareholders and then they do not have the money in the future, the taxpayer then is on the hook while the investors took undeserved profits.

[Dappleganger]

32. That part is true.

Jesus, isn't that like rule #1 of investing?? If you're old and need to rely on those dividends NOW don't leave them in volatile funds! I feel sorry for the guy's mother but it's one of those things which old people just can't handle, the up and down volatility which will stress them out and put them at more risk. My father just turned 70 and we don't even have his funds in anything that risky. He needs the the stability just to keep him from stressing out.

[Statistical]

33. Well an 86yr old CAN be invested in stocks but only the portion of funds not needed in next 3-5 year

Someone should have enough funds in cash + interest on bonds to cover their immediate cashflow needs.

That applies regardless of age (however obviously the older you are the more you need secure).

[LaurenG]

35. She is so poor she had to move in with me 3 years ago.

She has stocks, they pay dividends, she pays for her health insurance with them. There is nothing more that I can say to any of you.
You don't get it because you already made up your mind what you thought about this and if the facts don't fit your opinion you just move to another attack. Whatever. It's a bit late to tell her she shouldn't have stocks.

I feel terrible for all the people this mess is hurting, I stand by that.

[kirby]

46. 'I don't get it'?

What don't I get? I think I understand your mothers dilemma pretty well. However it does not change the fact that a stock dividend / stock profit is not an entitlement, no matter how compelling the personal story is.

Unlike some other posters here, I do feel bad for people in her situation. I wish this hadn't happened. They were even given poor financial advice and/or ignored the advice they were given. I just do not think there should be any government bailout or that the taxpayer should be on the hook to subsidize their investment loss. If BP were to pay out those dividends, the taxpayer would end up having to come up with the money.

[LaurenG]

51. I stand by what I said. I feel for those who live on their dividends

My mom really has nothing to do with it, I used her as an example. BP needs to pay for what they did but I can also feel for those who use dividends to live on.

If it helps to clarify I don't own stock, I will have to work until I die.

[PassingFair]

58. Do you have subsidized housing in Ohio?

It is reasonable and safe here.

(See my post above, my aunt lived in
subsidized apartments for over 10 years.)

[aquart]

38. Did she investigate the way the profits were made?

She's been living on violations that have killed people more times than in the Gulf. But no temptation to sell because the money was good?

[LaurenG]

53. No she let her broker pick her stocks but she doesn't own bp stocks

this wasn't about her. I used her as an example.

What is so hard to get. I feel badly for those share holders who have been using their dividends to live on. I meant nothing else by it. I am angry as hell at bp for what they've done but I have room in my heart to feel for anyone who will be hurt by this, including the little old people who were of another era who just didn't understand what they were doing.

[JuniperLea]

4. It was a very risky gamble...

If people are actually depending on living off the dividends, they maid heinously poor retirement choices. Or their money manager did.

[LaurenG]

9. Yes - but those who are on fixed incomes will still be hurt

That makes me sad for them.

[nyc 4 Biden]

10. i dont feel bad for them.

they are investing in companies that are destroying the planet.

[LaurenG]

12. You would if it were your elderly parents or grandparents

Yeah BP sucks and they need to pay for this but I don't feel bad about feeling pity on old people. Does fixed income mean anything to you guys?


And just so you know, we are all demanding the oil they are sucking out of the ground, and that includes you helping to destroy the planet. Where is your self rightous anger at yourself for not buying an electric car?


It's OK as long as it doesn't hurt you personally?

[JuniperLea]

20. Do you know me? Do you know what I drive?

Do you understand "fixed income" is exactly what the people of the south are dealing with?

Jeez...

[LaurenG]

25. I feel horrible for them as well and when I said that yesterday

I got my ass handed to me for that as well. I don't need to know what you drive, we all use oil/gas in some form. It doesn't have to be a car.

This place is nuts, people are going around itching to fight. I'm done with this conversation.

[lunasun]

65. Thank you its called socially resposible investing

All kinds of portfolios /funds around for many many years... The origins of socially responsible investing may date back to the Quakers. A Quaker Philadelphia Yearly Meeting prohibited members from participating in the slave trade–buying or selling humans in 1700s. That is more than 86 yrs ago.

All these cost cutting moves by BP was to save a dime to give to it's every stock holder next qtr.
By law BP has to make a profit for it stock holders.

The investors, their money they trade for $tock, and their votes / or apathy not to vote during stockholder meetings are all part of the equation to destruction.

So many I know won't shop at Walmart but when I bring it to their attention , in horror then find out they are the stockholder that Walmart is making that extra nickel for by many inappropriate means.

Be part of the solution not the problem
invest responsibly
even oldies have time to convert
plus it's just good karma too

[JuniperLea]

11. I doubt the poor fishermen in the Gulf had money to invest in anything...

Fishermen usually live paycheck to paycheck... and now they have no income at all.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for investors when people who live off their own sweat and blood are being hurt.

[LaurenG]

15. That is not the point

Can none of you read? I said I feel bad for the people on fixed incomes. I didn't say BP should not have to pay for this.
BP should have to pay for this and I can have pity on all the people who are hurt all at the same time, I guess that's a foreign concept to some of you.

edit: left out a word

[aquart]

39. Sorry, but how are stock dividends "fixed" income?

Good years they are high, bad years they are low. What is "fixed" about that? You mean she has NEVER had to tighten her belt or forego ANYTHING?

MY income is fixed. No matter how high food or electricity goes or rent increases, I'm stuck with managing on that amount.

I'd tell your mom to try canned tuna, but maybe that won't be available soon.

[LaurenG]

41. Read the rest of the thread.

She lives with me now since her home was foreclosed on. I take care of the stuff she can't afford. She's on a slow ride to hell financially. We are vegetarians and grow some of our own food so that helps.

I feel sorry for others in the same predicament. One day maybe you'll understand that the world isn't just made up of people who make perfect decisions, it's made up of people like my mother as well.

Shame on you, and those like you, judgemental people looking for a fight, and if you wonder why the world is so hard to live in, find a mirror you might find your answer.

Oh and all of this because I made a comment that I felt sorry for the people who depend on that income. A simple statement made out of compassion for those (maybe few) who will be hurt too. DU it ain't what it used to be.

[Tansy_Gold]

45. If she's living on the dividend income then she's got more than

half a dozen shares.

At one time she had money to invest, and now she doesn't. So, why didn't she sell her stock and try to save her home?

I don't know, call me too cynical to breathe, but when I read stories like this I think of people who don't want Mama or Grandpa to give up that stock because that's an inheritance someone wants to get their own hands on so THEY can sell it and benefit.


Tansy Gold, proud supporter of the INHERITANCE tax.

[LaurenG]

49. She has no way to pay her loan. It's an arm it just keeps getting worse.

There is no inheritance to speak of even if she WOULD sell her stocks and I really resent what you are implying.

But this really wasn't about her. This started because I said I feel for those who use their dividends to live on. I didn't mean any other thing except exactly what I said.

[wildflower]

21. I am too

I wish BP could take it out of their CEO benefits instead.

[Oregone]

29. Im not

Im sorry for workers who get exploited so the owner class gets dividends generated from labor.

[LaurenG]

31. I'm sorry for workers who get exploited too.

owner class? lol I guess you didn't read through the shit storm.

[Oregone]

40. Oh

You mean the anecdotal report about the 86 year old granny conned into giving those greedy bums her money to play with for a few peanuts, in the grand ol scheme of things?

Shit happens. The whole economic structure is fucked, and that produces the shit. As long as someone is advocating for the economic structure (capitalism), then they have less regard for Granny than I do.

[LaurenG]

43. What?

I feel sorry for those who are hurt. Deal with it.

[Oregone]

44. To feel sorry for someone is not the same as wanting to ensure it doesn't happen again

BP feels sorry about this gush. They will still skirt every law they can if it helps them save a dime hereafter.

You feel sorry about this woman. But unless you are ready to renounce the capitalistic system that causes exploitation of workers and insecure retirements, your sorriness doesn't quite mean a thing. Being perpetually sorry is just being perpetually weak and hypocritical.

[LaurenG]

47. You really stepped into this didn't you.

Stop assuming you know jack about me and telling me what to think or feel. This started because I stated I feel bad for people who are hurt.

You need to renounce the capitalistic system yourself and while your at it why don't you implement that in everyone's life and make it all better right now.

While I appreciate your viewpoint, had you taken the time to know me you would see that I embrace what you are preaching and unless you are an older middle aged person, I can say I've been living it longer than you have.

In the meantime, people are suffering, I am sad that this happened, it is heart breaking. Since I am conscientious I eat only vegan. I don't feel sorry for animals just when they are covered in oil, I feel for them from the moment they take their first breath. Since I care that people hurt I give what I can even if it's only empathy.

If you knew me you would know that I am probably one of the least capitalistic people you know about. I just don't talk about it. I live it. My mother(the lady spoken of above) was a republican and we have never seen eye to eye on anything. However after my father died I took in my mom and "caring person" that I am I also took in my older disabled sister. I am supporting people who made errors or were victims because I care about them. I also understand that I need to nurture the planet and all that live here. I own a 1989 and a 1995 car, I also grow some of my own food, recycle and give my fellow human beings what they need when I can. What a freaking greedy capitalist I am huh.

Don't fear though I am sure there is much much more to come and I WILL be compassionate to those who are hurting. I didn't make those choices but I'm not about to pretend that I am flawless and will continue try my best to be compassionate to any sentient being. Maybe you should try it sometime, it might make you feel more a part of the human race rather than someone who thinks they know how the world works, yet by your short interaction with me has shown he knows how to judge and criticize but has no clue about how to help anyone along the way. Stuff your pretty little "idealistic society" where the sun doesn't shine and get to work helping others rather than bullying me for saying that I care.

[DURHAM D]

50. Sorry about all the people giving you grief.

They seem to think they are better than your or your mother. Unbelievably self-righteous.

If they are so morally righteous why do they pay out good money for internet access? They should be giving that money to the needy instead.

[LaurenG]

52. Thanks Durham I am really surprised at the way this went! nt

[Tansy_Gold]

48. We have to face another reality, and that is funding

"retirement."

Retirement as we know it in 2010 is a relatively new invention, and only made possible by "investments" of some kind that provide an income after the working days are over. Now, those investments can be in socialized programs where the government administers post-work income as in Social Security, or they can be in private pension plans which are administered by for-profit entities or by unions, or they can be private investments made by the individual while she/he is still working.

Stocks and bonds and mutual funds and other combinations thereof provide some "security" for the individual investor seeking a financially secure retirement. But none of those investments are entirely secure either. 401Ks lose money, CDs pay pathetic rates of return, and Social Security is rigged so it doesn't keep up with inflation.

So it's understandable, I think, that people do attempt to invest in ways that will provide them a comfortable "retirement." Unfortunately, I don't think the capitalist system provides either the comfort all of them are seeking or the security all of them deserve.

Until then, stock market investments are an outright gamble, and there are always going to be winner and losers. The shrimpers gamble every day when they set out on the open sea that they'll come back safe. No one is guaranteeing their return, either literally or financially. Why should stock investors be granted any special dispensation? Because they need the money? I don't think so.


Tansy Gold

[Oregone]

63. Sure...employed owned private industry. Retirement is selling your shares back over a schedule

Those are distributed to current workers.

Secure by creating local 5 company exchanges.

Done deal. Millworkers prosper as they make the mill prosper. Simple.

[FLPanhandle]

73. I'm not sorry for them at all.

They, as stockholders, never demanded the Board of Directors or company management operate in the least risky and safiest way possible.

They, as stockholders, were quite happy to cash in on the profits from doing things cheaply and risky.

They profited quietly and happily when things were going well, they can suffer quietly too.

[JuniperLea]

6. Good... it was a slap in the face to the millions of people who have had their lives ruined...

BP was negligent, and they need to pay up and make it right.

The stock market is a crap shoot... it's glamorized gambling.

[happygoluckytoyou]

42. PAY THE DIVIDENDS IN OIL COVERED SHRIMP, TAR BALLS, AND ALL THE OIL THEY CAN SHAMWOW FROM THE GULF!!

[dipsydoodle]

55. This is the link

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-16/bp-stops-dividend-sells-assets-to-finance-obama-s-spill-fund.html

Some of this will work back to front if the reduction in capital expenditure would've otherwise have been been brought from US companies.