Randomly Noted

BP PLC has reached the point in the Gulf oil spill crisis in which its responsibility for the environmental disaster permits outsiders to feel entitled to comment on every aspect of the oil giant’s business.

So a public debate ensues about whether BP should continue to pay a dividend to investors when the oil is still leaking and the eventual level of BP’s liability and costs can’t yet be known.

And, as cited in an article by Suzanne Vranica in today’s Wall Street Journal, a debate ensues about whether the company should have spent a reported $50 million for image-improvement advertising on television.

On that latter point, whether you think the spending ethically justified or not, it certainly is premature.

Despite the image experts Vranica lists as being hired by BP, the final line of the article to me is the most telling.

“Until the leak is stopped, no amount of advertising or PR will help,” said Chris Gidez, U.S. director of crisis communications at Hill & Knowlton NY, as quoted by the Journal.

For BP that stop has to happen before any image repair work can be successfully undertaken.

Nothing can compete with the images of the continually spewing oil from the ocean floor and the oil-drenched birds.

Fraud is fraud, so it’s silly to try to decide on degrees of venality amongst the various types.

Still, it seems particularly loathsome to try for ill-gotten gains off the back of disasters and the tragedies of others.

Case in point: the Securities and Exchange Commission today warned investors to be wary of scams that seek to exploit the big oil spill in the Gulf and the efforts, which no doubt will be expensive and time-consuming, to clean up.

“While some of the companies touting their role in the cleanup may be legitimate, others could be bogus operations that are only looking to clean out unsuspecting investors,” The SEC and market regulator FINRA said in a jointly issued press release.

It’s ghoulish enough that some investors, upon their hearing of some unexpected tragedy, quickly turn their attention to the business, and therefore investment, implications of the disaster.

That’s the way of the world. Still, scamming off tragedy seems beyond the pale.

The SEC and FINRA provided a list of what to look for in potential Gulf oil spill-related scams. The list includes:

Company claims to have products that effectively help clean up oil spills and/or fix  ecosystems. Company claims to have contracts or an expectation of contracts with BP for the cleanup. Or that claim some involvement with one of the federal government agencies on the scene.

Today’s historically huge earthquake in Chile and, now, reports of tsunami waves measured in centimeters – in Hawaii, Australia and elsewhere in the Pacific – are fascinating scientific phenomena. What’s also remarkable, from a humanitarian and macroeconomic standpoint, is that Chile’s death toll has been so limited – it now stands at around 214. It’s a reminder of how robust Chile’s economy and infrastructure are. It’s easy to forget about the likes of Chile (smaller, thriving emerging economies) when all the EM-investing chit-chat is about Brazil, China, India and (decreasingly, for Putin-esque reasons) Russia.

DJN colleague Kevin Noblet is reporting from Haiti with WSJ colleagues. Here are some of his  accounts:

Companies Cope With Disaster’s Aftermath

Haiti Authorities Battle Looters

Shantytown Stands as City Crumbles

Restored Cellphone Service Saves Lives

Relief Groups Work to Aid Survivors

Disabled Students Escape Danger

Hallmarks of Haiti’s Landscape