socialgandhi

Apparently Barack Obama has told David Cameron he has “no interest” in undermining BP over the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, during the first conversation between the two men about the spillage.

Maybe not according to this picture of the American President taken during the 30 minute phone call that appeared in the press over the weekend.

Didn’t this type of body language end a couple of Rangers players’ international football careers not so long ago?

The say a picture is worth a thousand words and in Obama’s case, it’s worth at least $75 billion dollars, as that’s what’s been wiped off the value of investor’s holdings since the spill, which is now over 40 days old and counting.

Why should we care that Britain’s biggest company looks to be taking a bashing from Obama?

Well, British Petroleum (as Barack is fond of referring to is as), made up 7pc of the FTSE All Share Index and paid out around 15pc of all the dividend income in Britain. Now the spill has wiped billions of pounds off the company’s value, which affects almost everyone in Britain with equity investments.

Pension funds, investment funds and even your child’s trust fund probably have some exposure to the company. Equity income funds – some of the most popular funds in the UK – tend to hold BP shares because the company is such a good dividend payer. You may well be exposed to BP without even knowing it.

And with a troubled Obama playing to the American electorate with statements like ‘If laws were broken, leading to death and destruction, my solemn pledge is, we will bring those responsible to justice’, even if the spill is brought under control, the pain for BP and its investors (which is most of us!) will have only just begun.

So it’s not just the Yellow Fin Tuna and the Red Snapper that will be paying a huge price for this environmental, political and economic disaster.