Can Turtles Fly?

This is more of a note for myself but others may find it insightful. Since bonds of BP, Anadarko Petroleum, and Transocean may be worth considering in the future—potential still not good enough for me—I have been researching them. For amateur investors without access to bond information, a good site is the freely available  FINRA site . In my opinion, assuming you are not buying them when overvalued, the ideal bonds for amateurs are convertible bonds. Some may not agree with that, especially since convertibles tend to pay very low interest, but if convertibles convert, they can be highly profitable. During bull markets, convertibles look like one of the worst securities around but they provide safety during bear markets or in distress situations. If you look at Warren Buffett's history, many of the distress investments he made have involved convertible bonds or convertible preferred shares. Another type of bond that can be useful in distress situations, depending on the solvenc...

If there is one company that could see serious permanent damage from the Macondo oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it's likely not BP, but, instead, is Anadarko Petroleum (APC). Anadarko Petroleum is the minority owner of the well (25% ownership) and it may be on the hook for as much as $6 billion. However, unlike BP, which self-insures, I believe Anadarko has external insurance (not 100% sure.) Also, most importantly, Anadarko is a smaller company and is a pure E&P (exploration & production) so it will be hurt by the deepwater drilling ban (it does own properties elsewhere but Gulf of Mexico is important.) Regardless of what happens to any of the involved companies, the environmental disaster will alter the oil & gas business. I suspect companies won't be allowed to drill in deepwater without some backup plan to handle disasters in the future. From Fortune: The partnership [between BP and Anadarko] could cost them up to $6 billion dollars, according ...