Member Info for Harmonica

Mr. SMITH,

Sorry, but ENTIRELY wrong!

Where or when has the UK Government said that it was definitely going to impose a windfall tax? Nowhere.

On the other hand, Sir Keir Starmer can be heard on FiveLive banging on about a one-off wimdfall tax to help the more needy up to £600 each. The last time that I looked, the Labour Party was not part of the present Government of the UK.

Norbert,

Repeating what I have pointed out , ie that there is a disconnect between the price of oil and the price of BP tells me nothing that I have not already stated here.

That begs the the question of why?

As I type this, Brent crude is down about $4.50 per barrel and yet BP, thank goodness, is up almost 2%, with Shell by even more!

How is this disconnect possible given that BP still relies on crude oil for much of its revenues and profits?

Invstrat,

Not sure why you think that the Ukraine war will be over soon? The Russians, short of a coup, cannot be seen to walk away. Zelensky, today, said that he hates the Russians, so why would he stop? So long as the West keeps supplying the Ukraine with arms, the war will go on.

Could the purchase of four million shares have banged up the share price so much today?

I am sceptical as Shell went up even more as a percentage.

I see that the plan includes FIVE times greater offshore windfarms by 2030 and extra exploration in the North Sea for oil and gas . Two opportunities for BP to invest its cashflow for the future!

EmeraldCarrots,

Why would the Russians destroy the pipework that has earned them around £38bn from the rest of Europe since the war began? If the Ukrainians have not blown it up, then why should the Russians?

Mind you, if the West were to stop arms supplies to the Ukraine government, then it could yet happen that the Ukrainians will stop the flow as they will have nothing to lose.

I was not, unlike you, trying to be insulting. If it came across as such, I apologise.

That you felt you had to answer with an ad hominem attack says a lot about you, alas.

Thanks for the link which answers my question perfectly; I just wish you had done so without the needless personal attack.

"Imminent peace in Ukraine" sounds like code for a Russian win! I prefer that peace to come with the Russians fleeing Ukraine with their tails between their legs!

I had heard that the fall in the price of crude oil was due to news of Shanghai going into Covid-19 lock down. The fall seems an over reaction for just one city in China going into lock down! Is it because many more are expected to do so, pretty much shutting down the country??

£4.00 Hxrmonica

There is only one Labour Party, perhaps one too many, hence singular, hence 'is'.

If lots of others also get it wrong, does that make it right?

The argument rests on whether we are prescriptive or descriptive.

Is, not "are", Enso!

"penny's" (sic).

ARGH!

Bres1960,

I thought that they taught the English language better than that in Russia!

They are indeed NOT "employee's" (sic), but 'employees'.

Similarly, they are NOT the "owner's" (sic), but simply 'owners'.

We are NOT "share holder's" (sic) but proud 'shareholders'.

You are not a grocer on the side, are you?

Why do so many people feel the irrestible urge to add an apostrophe when they want to pluralise? Just stick an 's' on the end and you will be more right than wrong!

Oh, and as stewards of the company, they are paid to make decisions so that we shareholders do not need to.

Agreed, HappyInvestor, the shareholders are the owners.

However, the supposed taxes are business taxes based on company profits, so they area windfall tax on BP directly and not on you and me directly, though a fall in share price due to it would hurt us.

But I am not worried in the slightest as it will not happen under the Conservative Party Government.

HI HappyInvestor,

The windfall is NOT your personal windfall, but on the (super) profits of BP! Dividends do NOT affect profits, as such, but is a distribution of them. The share price is not a level of profit so would have nothing to do with any windfall tax.

However, I should not worry if I were you. Since Sir Keir Starmer has been asking for it, the Conservatives will be pretty much guaranteed NOT to do it now! So, as Frankie said: "Relax"!

Watching PMQs recently, the Leader of The Opposition , Sir Keir Starmer suggested that the likes of BP and Shell ought to pay a windfall tax to help beleaguered consumers of fuel suffering large increases. As soon as I heard that, the chances of PM Johnson doing so fell to close to zero. The PM will not likely do it if suggested/demanded by the political rivals.

BP can relax now.

Appxhap,

Sorry, but paying off debt does not offset profits.

Paying off debts is treated as paying down capital.

The only effect on profits would be in the future when there would be less debt interest to pay, since there is less loan capital in the balance sheet.

Do not confuse capital with income.

Easy mistake for non-accountants to make.

"I'm 30% down, divided is lower than inflation and buy backs are supposed to be good?"

Neil,

Just ask yourself how much WORSE it would be if the increase in demand for BP shares had NOT occurred due to the buybacks? From another viewpoint, the shares are then cancelled, so they are removed permanently from supply. Whatever aspect you look at, either/both support the share price.

If BP has any flexibility, with prices down, it should be buying up to its declared limits and cancelling them pronto!