Oil stock Petrobras’ (NYSE:PBR) recent move regarding its dividend should have had much more troubling consequences than it did. While there certainly was a fallout connected with it, investors were clearly inclined to give Petrobras the benefit of the doubt. In fact, Petrobras stock was up fractionally in Monday afternoon’s trading.
Petrobras CEO Jean Paul Prates got called on the carpet by no less than the president of Brazil himself, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula’s primary issue that he sought Prates’ input on, was why Petrobras shareholders were looking for a special dividend when that money should have been routed into job-producing projects. Following debate on the matter, Prates ultimately abstained from the vote instead of voting against the proposal, which was ultimately rejected by much of the board that was appointed by the government. Lula might well have been feeling some heat on this matter himself; his…
