Replies to post #9525 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

BHP’s has many large investors who own the shares for the dividend (which is somewhat illogical for a commodities company). Thus, when commodity prices fall, BHP has to step up production volume to generate the cash flow to cover the dividend, which is the opposite of what they ought to be doing based on economic principles.

p.s. BHP is planning to split into two companies sometime in 2015.

[DewDiligence]

Analysts question whether BHP’s split-up makes sense in current commodities markets:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/bhp-chief-to-shed-light-on-mining-spinoff-plan-1424640269