Kevin Murphy: Why I doubled my stake in BP

Why is not any one writing about the liability of the American contractors hired by BP? . I am fed up with the shallow analyses of events we are getting from all directions these days.

here here, franco...if i was in control of bp,, i would let the other parties involved in this tragic accident that my lawyers will be chasing them....soon

I totally agree with Franco. I have just returned from a month in the USA. The main topic of all news channels seems to be BP's alleged negligence in the Gulf of Mexico. They seem ignorant or complacent in the isse of who owns the other 35% of the well and the possible faulty well equipment made by a US corporate.

Where is the UK government in supporting BP and why is the issue that BP is a 65% partner in this platform.

To me BP has been totally clean in its dealings with the affected areas of the US which is more than one can say for the oil and gas failure of US corporates.

It seesm a case of the USA through size and muscle can bully any company or nation without recourse.

What happened to our national pride? BP has demonstrated incredible openness but when are UK citizens going to pressure our government and the USA to tell the truth and support BP?

The whole issue disgusts me as a UK citizen that the UK government doesnt take Obama to task!

We've lost a lot of fine young men supporting the USA now lets see them back us!

Why is an income fund going after a non dividend paying share -- no matter how attractive it is. These two young men are not running a special situations fund are they. For my money they should be looking for undervalued income bearing stocks.

You won't get anything much from mainstream news channels..I get most of my news on BP via twitter....I also hate to see adverts that promote making money from an ecological disaster that doesn't look like it's going to ease any time soon...

I fully agree with Franco & Anonymous 1, it is time for Britain to stand up for its honour instead of kowtoing to obama.

I was happy when he became president but he has gone down in my book for his constant bashing of BP, why can't he be honest and say that his fellow americans are also involved in this catastrophe

It is an interesting point why Halliburton and Transocean appear to be sharing none of the blame? Halliburton is also a very wealthy company; surely their money would be welcomed too? Perhaps because these companies are American they 'don't' factor into the equation? I question whether this really was an accident or a deliberate act designed to tap money from BP? It is curious that a similar accident happened not so long ago when Halliburton's concrete failed in a similar manner. Also curious that the Halliburton crew were all safely getting away from the 'accident', whilst others were apparently left in a position where they would most likely die. The US government has BP on the hook for as many Billions as they say so. The costs of litigation could be endless and astronomical. Its one thing to buy when blood is running in the streets, its another when the blood is gushing from the company you are thinking of buying! At a time when the US government is desperate for funds, it seems all too convenient that one of the biggest money makers in the world should fall victim to a supposed accident that should never have happened. Why is BP not even attempting to off-load some of the blame? If this had been one of the small young oil companies, there wouldn't be any money for the US government to grab! Then what would they have done, swept it under the carpet?

I think its disgraceful how Obama has lashed into BP with the slant on 'British' which is factually incorrect anyway, but particularly as over the last 18 months the whole world has had to carry the burden of US toxic debts bundled into A rated investments. This 'special relationship' with the US has gone from bad to worse - I recall an old Spitting Image sketch of Ronald Reagan & Maggie Thatcher where Ronnie comments "Shame its only her country Im screwing" - nuff said I reckon.

As a matter of general interest, is there any way of confirming independently that the Schroder Income Fund has actually increased its stake in BP?

cadbury's usa owned tat&lyle sugar usa owned id bp the next brit household name to become usa owned

Mnnn now lets see who in halliburton was connected to the last US gov ?????............... ONE BIG CESS PIT........

BP stands for "bhopal Poisoners" ie the American Company Union Carbide, when 15,000 local people were poisoned-how much compensation did they receive from Uncle Sam?-peanuts.how long did it take to receive? many years.

Good old American justice.

I think that one has to accept that the USA is full of loudmouths and grubbing lawyers. In a country where a large proportion of the population does not accept evolution or global warming, and where creationists thrive it is obvious that there is no understanding of scientific evidence and evaluation - just a state of denial and popular mob behaviour.

We are lucky in that our educational system taught many of us to think for ourselves and to minimize prejudice. But then our schools have lost much of this approach in favour of jumping through hoops so perhaps we are going the same way !

Apologies to those few enlightened Americans !!

No mainstream news on our TV channels? fr66ajc retweets some interesting (and often scary) stuff about BP.....

I agree that the shares are a 'buy' at less than 350 pence. Rhetoric from the US administration has eased, Cameron appears to have established a good relationship with Obama and talked to him like a Dutch uncle, and the relief well programme is well ahead of schedule. The most likely 'worst' scenario is that Exxon or the Chinese will purchase large chunks of BP, memories will fade, and litigation will drag on for decades ( all positive for shareholder value ).

I agree with IainE above who questions why the managers of an income fund should be buying a stock where the prospects of a dividend in the near term are nil. It is irresponsible, in my opinion!

IanE is spot on. The Schroder fund management is taking on a risk which, in my view, is not in their mandate. I am redeeming my holding. Markets are currently volatile enough without the gambling instincts of a couple of day traders to add to the mix!

The whole world is run on mob instinct. Everyone knew that lending and borrowing were out of control many years before the crash, but everyone just jumped on the bandwagon, got more and more credit cards, saw their houses as a magical money pot instead of a home, and the lenders just went mad, lending any old amount to anyone who filled in some lies about their status on a form. Fora short time I employed a labourer who was illiterate, uneducated, a drunk and drug addict. He had £30,000 worth of credit card debt. He will never ever be able to pay it off and has no intentions of ever trying to do so. BP was brought low by the bad, possibly even criminally negligent or careless decisions of just a few relatively low level managers. The Bhopal disaster was similarly a result of poor quality, low level, management. These sorts of disasters are going to become commonplace as companies get to be larger and larger, more technical and delve into increasingly dangerous processes. The Flixborough explosion was due to poor maintenance of a rainwater gutter, sloppy practice in transporting molten steel in open topped containers the two combined with the unhappy coincidence of a rainstorm. Wake up world and smell the burning coffee!