BP (BP) (PXP) (NOR) (LPX) (SJM) (PEET) Ratings and Price Targets

BP Plc (NYSE:BP), Plains Exploration (NYSE:PXP), Noranda Aluminum (NYSE:NOR), Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX), J.M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) and Peet’s Coffee & Tea (NASDAQ:PEET) had ratings and price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

Plains Exploration (PXP) was upgraded by Susquehanna from a "Neutral" rating to a "Positive" rating.

BP Plc (BP) was downgraded by Société Générale from a "Buy" rating to a "Hold" rating.

Noranda Aluminum (NOR) was downgraded by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a "Buy" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) was downgraded by UBS (NYSE:UBS) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Sell" rating.

KeyBanc Capital initiated coverage on J.M. Smucker (SJM). They have a "Buy" rating and price target of $95.00 on the company.

KeyBanc Capital initiated coverage on Peet’s Coffee & Tea (PEET). They have a "Buy" rating and price target of $80.00 on the company.

BP (BP) (AAPL) (TLEO) (NETL) (DOW) Ratings Changes and Holds

BP PLC (NYSE: BP), Apple, Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Taleo Corp (NASDAQ: TLEO), The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) and NetLogic Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETL) ratings reiterations and changes.

Morgan Keegan reiterated its "Outperform" rating on Taleo Corp (TLEO).
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) had its price target lowered by Benchmark Co. to $55.00.

NetLogic Microsystems, Inc. (NETL) was downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Piper Jaffray reiterated its "Overweight" rating on Apple, Inc (AAPL). They have a price target of $607.00 on the company.

The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) was upgraded by Credit Agricole to an “Outperform” rating.

BP (BP) (HAL) (PBR) (ECA) (HES) Close Mixed on OPEC, Inventory

Shares of BP (NYSE:BP), Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), Encana Corp. (NYSE:ECA) and Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) closed mixed Wednesday, as inventory was down and OPEC couldn't reach a production agreement.

July crude oil climbed $1.65, or 1.67 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settling at $100.74 a barrel, trading in a range of $98.02 to $101.89 on Wednesday.

U.S. gasoline stockpiles jumped 2.21 million barrels last week, more than expected, and distillate stocks increased by 810,000 barrels, against a projection for stocks to remain the same, according to the EIA.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude stock in the U.S. fell 4.85 million barrels, the biggest drop since December 2010.

Hess Corporation closed Wednesday at $73.77, falling $0.76, or 1.02 percent. Encana ended the session at $32.70, down $0.13, or 0.40 percent. Petrobras closed at $32.84, gaining $0.20, or 0.61 percent. Halliburton ended the day at $47.69, dropping $0.41, or 0.85 percent. BP closed at $43.49, losing $0.51, or 1.16 percent.

Chevron (CVX) (COP) (XOM) (PBR) (APC) Close Down as Oil Rallies Late in the Session

A late rally for oil prices wasn't enough to bolster giant oil stocks like Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) and Anadarko (NYSE:APC), which all closed down on Tuesday.

Other energy giants like BP (NYSE:BP), Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) did manage to close in positive territory.

Crude for July delivery settled at $99.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first positive close in three days, gaining 8 cents. Earlier in trading the contract was down as low as $97.74. Oil is up by about 39 percent over the last year.

Brent crude for July delivery jumped $2.30, or 2 percent, to $116.78 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The U.S dollar weakened against the euro, with the euro reaching $1.4696. The dollar also fell against the Swiss franc to 0.8327. Against a basket of major currencies the dollar declined to 73.506.

Even with the collapsing dollar it wasn't enough to have a significant impact because of the offsetting effect of the assumption OPEC will boost production, and an anemic economy is expected to reduce demand.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 19.15 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 12,070.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.23 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 1,284.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.00 point, or 0.04 percent, to end the session at 2,701.56.

Anadarko closed Tuesday at $73.74, down $1.01, or 1.35 percent. Petrobras ended the day at $32.64, falling $0.34, or 1.03 percent. Exxon Mobil closed at $80.00, declining $0.29, or 0.36 percent. ConocoPhillips ended at $70.87, dropping $0.05, or 0.07 percent. Chevron closed at $99.47, losing $0.21, or 0.21 percent.

JPMorgan (JPM) (GS) (MS) See Crude Prices Continuing to Rise

Even though there is a temporary reprieve from the cost of oil and gasoline surrounding Memorial Day weekend, that didn't affect the outlook for oil prices over the the next year from JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).

All three financial institutions said recently they see oil prices continuing to push up.

J.P. Morgan believes Brent crude will reach $130 a barrel in the third quarter. Goldman Sachs said that benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude will climb to $135 a barrel by the end of 2012, and Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley sees Brent crude averaging $120 a barrel in 2011.

On Friday, benchmark crude for July delivery was up 36 cents to settle at $100.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude was down 2 cents to $115.03 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil for June delivery jumped almost a penny to settle at $3.0014 per gallon and gasoline futures for June delivery rose 2.39 cents to settle at $3.0313 per gallon. Natural gas for July delivery climbed 15.8 cents to settle at $4.518 per 1,000 cubic feet.

If projections from investment banks are accurate, the price of gas will eventually rise to about $4.25 a gallon in the latter part of 2011.

Major oil producers closed mixed on Friday. Marathon (NYSE:MRO) ended the session at $53.37, falling $0.21, or 0.39 percent. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) closed at $72.64, gaining $0.30, or 0.41 percent. BP (NYSE:BP) closed at $45.54, up $0.16, or 0.35 percent. Exxon (NYSE:XOM) ended at $82.63, climbing $0.24, or 0.29 percent.

Exxon (XOM) (BP) (COP) (MRO) Climb While Oil Futures Pull Back

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), BP (NYSE:BP) and Marathon Oil all closed up Thursday, even as oil futures pulled back after jumping over $101 a barrel on Wednesday.

Obama's economy continues to fall apart as first-time unemployment claims increased by about 10,000, far above the expected decline of 4,000 economists had been looking for. That is a seasonally adjusted 424,000 for the week ended May 21.

The growth rate of the U.S. economy was also worst than expected, growing at an anemic 1.8 percent rate in the first quarter, plunging from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter, and below the 2.2 percent economists projected.

The U.S. Labor Department also upwardly revised initial unemployment claims from the last report.

All of this affected oil prices, as oil futures closed lower Thursday. Light, sweet crude for July delivery settled down $1.09, or 1.1 percent, to $100.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up 12 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $115.05 a barrel.

Front-month June reformulated gasoline blendstock, settled up 3.21 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $3.0483 a gallon. June heating oil was up 0.26 cent, or 0.1 percent, to $2.9829 a gallon.

With the Memorial Day weekend coming in the U.S., which usually involves heavy travel and usage of gasoline in vehicles, it probably offset the slightly lower price of oil and gas heading into the summer months.

Marathon closed Thursday at $53.58, gaining $0.82, or 1.55 percent. BP ended the day at $45.38, up $0.67, or 1.50 percent. Exxon Mobil closed at $82.39, climbing 0.43, or 0.52 percent. ConocoPhillips ended the session at $72.34, rising $0.37, or 0.51 percent.

BP (BP) Gets Rating Upgrade from Societe Generale

Analysts at Societe Generale upgraded oil giant BP (NYSE:BP) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating.

The primary reason for the upgrade is the confirmation BP won't be bearing the sole responsibility for the Gulf oil spill, after partner Mitsui agreed to pay a portion of the clean up costs. Anadarko (NYSE:APC) is expected to join in sharing the financial responsibility soon.

Anadarko holds a 25 percent stake in the failed Macondo well with Mitsui holding the remaining 10 percent. BP owns the other 65 percent.

Expectations legal liabilities will be the next area the two companies will have to come to an agreement with BP on, which should raise the outlook for the BP, as they a lot of the negative outlook already built into the price.

BP closed Monday at $44.03, falling $0.97, or 2.16 percent.

Feinberg to Pay Realtors Via BP (NYSE:BP) Fund

Administrator of the BP (NYSE:BP) compensation fund, Kenneth Feinberg, received a standing ovation from a convention or Realtors on Sunday, as he reiterated his reversal on allowing the compensation fund to be used to pay those legitimately hurt from the oil spill.

Feinberg has been blasted by many who believe they are being short-changed from the fund, but there have been so many illegitimate claims, and claims made which don't include proof of anything, that Feinberg has found it difficult to go through the massive amount of material he has to in order to make a decision and pay out legitimate claims.

For the Realtors, Feinberg has set aside $60 million of the $20 billion committed for the fund to pay out temporary claims to them.

That means those Realtors believing they are owed more in damages from BP will be able to pursue lawsuits if they feel they can win the cases.

Feinberg has given his opinion in the matter that they will have a hard time winning these types of cases, but at least they're getting some compensation short term and will have some relief in these difficult times.

Realtors were actually damaged more from the Obama moratorium in the Gulf than they were from the oil spill, and Feinberg said there's nothing he can do to alleviate the fallout from that.

BP (NYSE:BP) Reportedly Sells African Assets to Trafigura

A newspaper in Namibia reported that BP (NYSE:BP) has sold assets in the country, and also in Botswana and Zambia, to oil trader Trafigura. The paper cited a minister from the government as the source.

Claims that Namibia Mines and Energy Minister Isak Katali confirmed the sale was asserted by the paper.

BP spokeswoman Glenda Zvenyika, based in Johannesburg, said, "BP is in the process of selecting a buyer for its assets in five African countries and that's all there is at the moment. Before we make an announcement on the deal, these reports are just speculation."

Zvenyika did reiterate the company is in negotiations to sell the assets in the three countries, and also in Tanzania and Malawi, but at this time there have been no decisions made concerning deals.

BP has a goal of selling off about $30 billion in assets to raise capital to pay for liabilities related to the Gulf oil spill.

BP (NYSE:BP) Shutting Down Rhum Gas Field on Iran Sanctions

With the British government unwilling to clarify the situation resulting from the sanctions by Europe on Iran because of their nuclear program, BP said they're going to shut down their Rhum gas field in the North sea to be sure they're in compliance with the decision.

The Rhum field is a 50/50 venture with Iranian Oil Co. U.K. Ltd., a unit of Naftiran Intertrade Co., based in Tehran, Iran.

Matt Taylor, a spokesman for BP based in Aberdeen, Scotland, said, “Pending clarification from the government and to ensure we comply with the required notification period in the regulations, preparations to suspend production are underway. From the middle of next week there will be no production from Rhum.”

The purpose of the sanctions, according to the EU, is to keep the use of European technology from aiding the nuclear program of Iran.

Once the British government clarifies the rules of the sanctions, BP will review the shutdown.

In the short term and in light of the huge gas supply, the shutdown won't hurt the UK, as the Rhum field currently supplies about 2 percent of gas demand for winters in the UK.

The implication of all of these seems to say the EU didn't thoroughly think through the consequences of this, or Britain is strongly opposing the shutdown and is negotiating to allow the Rhum field to be exempt from sanctions.

BP (NYSE:BP) Still Waits for Decision on Rhum Field in Iranian JV

The joint venture between BP (NYSE:BP) and Iranian Oil Company UK remains under a cloud, as the recent decision to sanction Iran over its nuclear program could result in the closure of the field.

BP has asked for clarification on the issue as to whether or not the Rhum field located in the North Sea falls under the sanctions.

BP and Iranian Oil Company UK are 50/50 partners in the venture.

When asking the UK government to clarify whether the fall under the sanction in the venture or not, the government seems to be unwilling to make that decision, and have thrown it back to BP on how to respond to ensuring they are in compliance with the [EU] regulations."

The Rhum gas field is 5 percent of the overall production of BP in the North Sea.

BP (NYSE:BP) Drilling in Gulf for At Least 20 Years Says Dudley

Any idea BP (NYSE:BP) would willingly leave the Gulf of Mexico as a key production asset has been rejected by CEO Bob Dudley, who has recently stated more than once they're in it for the long haul.

In London, Dudley said this about the commitment of the company to the Gulf: “We certainly have a great set of production assets and we have opened up the lower tertiary play in the Gulf of Mexico, which is a two-decade play. That’s an important piece of exploration for BP we’re very good at. You’ll see us continue to participate in that.”

Dudley has been leading the company out of their defensive posture since the Gulf oil spill, and now that they've ended the oil from leaking into the Gulf, and cleanup is well under way, Dudley has the company focused on resuming production and profit, while reiterating the need to keep safety as their number one priority while drilling in deep water areas of the world.

Contrary to the media reports and assumptions, deepwater drilling hasn't slowed down at all, and is considered the focus for the long term in the industry as it relates to oil.

BP will continue to play a big part in that, although they have to take their safety practices to another level if they want to thrive, or even survive, as one more accident, depending on where they are in the world, would probably end their existence as a company.

BP (NYSE:BP) Costs Rise to $40 Billion for Gulf Oil Spill

While turning a profit for their latest quarter, BP (NYSE:BP) took another charge of close to $7.7 billion related to the spill, which brings their total costs to an enormous $40 billion so far.

They also turned a profit of $1.785 billion, a major improvement over the last quarter when they had a loss of $16.9 billion.

The extra charge for the quarter was higher than expected because of the company taking longer in September to plug the well than they had anticipated.

BP CEO Bob Dudley said, "We have made good progress during the quarter. This strong operating performance shows the determination of everyone at BP to move the company forward and rebuild confidence after the terrible events of the past six months.

"We have also begun to make important changes in the way we operate across the group ... to ensure that safety and risk management are embedded as the absolute priority for every operation, for every person, throughout BP."

The $40 billion is an estimate as to what the costs of the oil spill will ultimately be, almost 25 percent above previous estimates, and sure to rise.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Cement Used on BP (NYSE:BP) Well Ordered to be Tested

The controversial cement mix used by Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the BP (NYSE:BP) oil well, and labeled as unstable by several sources, has been ordered to be tested by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier.

Barbier said the components of the mix could be "deteriorating over time" and the tests should be done as soon as possible on it.

According to Kenneth E. Arnold, who advised the U.S. Department of Interior, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, it may be too late for the cement test to do much good, as "The samples are old now," Arnold said. "Whatever tests they do now are going to be open to interpretation."

As Halliburton also claims, it's difficult to simulate the exact formula under laboratory conditions which was used inside the Macondo well, added Arnold.

This was all started from the release of results from the oil spill commission that siad the test performed on the cement mix before the accident found the mix to be unstable, bringing the actions of Halliburton into question.

Halliburton continues to claim the test done on cement formulas found to be unstable aren't the exact mix used to seal the oil well. They do acknowledge that several tests on the cement mix were unstable, other than one test result which showed the mix to be stable.

The result of this will probably be my expert against your expert thing, and in court, it's a toss-up as to who will ever win one of those.

BP (NYSE:BP) Starting to Escape "Gross Negligence" Label?

With one of the two key pieces of the failure of BP (NYSE:BP) in relationship to the Gulf oil spill having come to light - the poor cement mixture used by Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) to seal the Macondo oil well - BP could be one step closer to saving billions in fines connected to the Clean Water Act.

The second piece of the puzzle, the blowout preventer, which was provided by Cameron International (NYSE:CAM) is next to be decided upon, and once that is completed, BP will probably be exonerated as far as being considered grossly negligent, as the failure will end up being from contractors rather than BP itself.

That of course doesn't excuse BP from its oversight in the matter, which is where in fact it did fail.

Other major oil companies have noted the same thing, that they will have to be much more diligent in managing contractors than in the past, as that would probably have saved BP from even having experienced what they're now going through.

Will Market Punish Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Over Potential Liability in BP (NYSE:BP) Cement Job?

Some analysts are attempting to circle the wagons around Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) after the devastating conclusion from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, concluded the cement mixture used to seal the Macondo well of BP's was unstable.

Questions as to whether or their indemnity agreement with BP will hold is being bantered about, along with potential exposure to lawsuits which could weigh on the company for years if Halliburton isn't able to wiggle its way out of this.

At this time there is uncertainty because of the mixed reports, with some implying the mixtures being tested were different than the actual mixture used by Halliburton, although independent tests from Chevron (NYSE:CVX) ended up with the same conclusion, that the mixture was indeed unstable and shouldn't have been used.

The worst case scenario so far is Halliburton could be on the hook for fines and/or fees as high as $2 billion. That wouldn't include paying BP anything or lawsuits which would inevitable come about from the incident.

Halliburton's job will be to counter the allegations and conclusions in order to clear themselves of wrongdoing. If they can't, there will definitely be far more liability incurred by them than just though a week ago.

What Will Halliburton's (NYSE:HAL) Failure Cost Them? What Will BP (NYSE:BP) Gain?

The narrative has changed quickly concerning the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill, as the investigation surrounding the cement job performed by Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) could drastically change the liability outlook.

So far BP has rightly been the main focus of investigations, but that couldn't have remained the case throughout the entirety of the story because of there being so many contractors and others whose equipment and actions may have led to the failure on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Investigators from the oil spill commission have determined the cement used by Halliburton was unstable, and Halliburton has admitted the final formulation used wasn't completed checked for its stability.

While Halliburton continues to dispute whether the actual formula they used is the one being tested, it seems it is close enough or accurate enough to make a judgment over, as the commission, and an independent study by Chevron (NYSE:CVX) seems to have confirmed.

With failures to completely test the mixture, there is no doubt Halliburton will incur some liability in the matter. It's only a matter of how much liability, not if they'll face it. There is also the question of whether they're insured enough to cover the liabilities, or it'll cost their bottom line.

It has already pushed up the costs of doing business through the increase in cost of their credit-default swaps, and there will surely be more to come.

For BP, this could be helpful once liability is determined. Whether or not it comes from an insurer or Halliburton directly, it could ease the liability load for them, and release capital over a period of time.

The other major element in liability is the blowout preventer provided by Cameron International (NYSE:CAM), which also failed to do its job. That's being tested at this time as to why it failed.

Concerning liability, BP has probably seen the worst, and anything like this is positive news for them from a financial perspective, but also helps them some reputationally, as people realize they weren't the sole company responsible for the disaster, and in some cases, like with the cement mixture, was out of their hands.

That does bring up something all oil companies said they've learned from this, and that is they must keep a much closer watch on contractors, even those like Halliburton, who had had a pretty good reputation as far as quality work goes.

Halliburton’s (NYSE:HAL) Shares Hammered After BP (NYSE:BP) Cement Report

There is no way to get around the potentially devastating report from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, where Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had the conclusion drawn that the cement they recommended using was unstable.

An independent investigation from Chevron (NYSE:CVX) performed on behalf of the commission reached the same conclusion, as well as did an internal investigation from BP.

Credit-default swaps almost immediately rose in price for Halliburton right after the news, and their stock got hammered, and will continue to be under pressure because of the unknown liabilities associated with the findings.

Whatever it is, in the short term Halliburton is in trouble, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

The share price of Halliburton plunged to $31.68 at close, losing $2.74, or 7.96 percent, and continued to drop after hours.

BP (NYSE:BP) Losing Competitive Advantage to Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and Shell (NYSE:RDS-A) in Gulf Drilling

BP (NYSE:BP) rivals Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and Shell (NYSE:RDS-A) are using the misfortune of BP to quickly gain a wider competitive advantage in Gulf drilling as the troubled energy company has to focus on other battles and shoring up their reputation.

No government entity or official would likely grant BP a drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico at this time, while the other companies are applying for permits to drill in the region.

Interestingly, Anadarko (NYSE:APC) has been given a free pass, as they've indicated they're ready to resume drilling in the Gulf even though they are 25 percent owners in the failed Macondo oil well, and their liability and responsibility in the matter is yet to be determined.

This is about resources, and since BP is by far the only company involved able to pay for damages, the others have in general ignored, although they may have to pay BP back before it's all through, although it's expected to be far below anything BP will have to pay.

BP will fall behind their rivals in the Gulf because of the Gulf oil spill, and their competitors will be smart to take advantage of the current conditions to extend their lead over them, which it looks like they're doing.

No BP (NYSE:BP) Oil in Gulf Seafood

Officials from Gulf states continue to hammer home truth about the effects of oil from the BP (NYSE:BP) spill, and that is that every test done on seafood from the Guld has revealed there's absolutely no oil tainting the test subjects.

Those with agendas are attempting to cloud and confuse the matter by contending they continue to find oil strewn around the Gulf of Mexico, implying the food chain has to be infected and tainted by oil. But when officials go to the alleged areas with huge swaths of oil, they find no proof that there was any in the area.

This is of course attributed to weather patterns and other fictitious assertions in order to keep the lies alive.

The agenda is fisherman and others allegedly harmed by the oil spill are seeking to be compensated for damages, and the more they can prove they were damaged the more money they'll be paid.

No matter. There is absolutely no proof any Gulf seafood is contaminated or tainted, and it can be eaten with full confidence.

BP has committed $20 million to continue comprehensive testing and marketing to get the word out on the safe food that can be consumed from the Gulf.