BP (NYSE:BP) Stock, To Speculative To Buy Says Biggs

The Hedge fund manager Barton Biggs, has this month become more optimistic of stocks, but is still leery saying BP (NYSE:BP) is still "to speculative" to purchase. He disagrees with the analyst in a Bloomberg Story who are rating BP's stock at "buy."

With the optimism from BP finally having success in placing their sealing cap and stopping the leaking oil on July 15th, many seem to think that everything is over with the oil spill. In reality, BP has still not reached the desired pressure in the testing of the well. The original target was set at 8,000 - 9,000 pounds per square inch, they have yet to reach over 7,000 pounds of pressure. Not to mention Macondo well has to still be permanently plugged. Yes BP has had a small success, but we must not delude ourselves to the full scope of reality that has yet to play out with BP.

Biggs said, "It's too speculative for me. Are these people down in the Gulf who aren't going to be able to fish, and their business was fishing, are they going to be able to sue BP for payments for the next 20 years ? I don't know, it's to hard to call."

BP has lost almost 40 percent of their stock market value since the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon, but the company has rebounded 37 percent.

BP's (NYSE:BP) Takeover: Shell (LSE:RDSA) or Exxon (NYSE:XOM)

BP's (NYSE:BP) fallen far enough in their stock prices for them to be considered attractive to other big oil oil companies and rivals like Shell (LSE:RDSA) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) to purchase. On April 19th BP's stocks closed at $60.09, the day before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded. With yesterdays stock prices closing at $28.88, that's a loss of over 50 percent of their market value.

"In theory, either Exxon Mobil or RD Shell could consider a bid for BP," said Lucas to investors. "We focus on these two names because they have similar business models and similar global asset structures. They also bear the lowest political risk to a potential combination with BP."

This idea of a takeover by Lucas was "prompted by the gap between the current market value of BP and the intrinsic value that we see in BP." Douglas Youngston, an oil industry analyst of Arbuthnot Securities told CNNMoney if BP's stock fell below $30 a share, it would then become appealing as a possible takeover target.

Youngson said, "if the share price continues to fall, other companies may see this for the bargain it will be." He said this on June 2nd when BP's stock price hit $37.66.

New York Pension Fund Suing BP (NYSE:BP) For Losses

The New York Pension Fund is saying they are suing BP (NYSE:BP) for investment losses. They are hoping to recover some of their losses from the drop that they have experienced with their stocks. Due to BP's negligence that caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

When the Deepwater Rig exploded April 20th, the fund held over 19 million shares according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNopoli. DiNopoli has hired the law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers and Toll, he is the sole trustee of the $132.6 billion in the fund.

"BP mislead investors about its safety procedures and its ability to respond to events like the ongoing oil spill and we're going to hold it accountable," said DiNopoli.

One of the largest state pension funds is in Florida and holds $104 billion according to spokesman Dennis Mackee. "We're monitoring the lawsuit and all developments but we have not come to any decisions," said Mackee. The Florida pension fund covers close to 1 million active workers and retirees. They've seen a loss of almost $65 million on their BP investments.