Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
The problem is the record date for the stock was May 7. Plenty of people probably had dividend capture strategies on and now are screwed, as are the ordinary investors who thought the company would act in an ethical manner.
Bottom line, they caved to blackmail from Obama, who is not exactly known for his respect for the law or property rights. This weasel Hayward should be canned immediately, the responsible people in the E&P division should get the axe and the Board also should be recycled. This is a broken company run by idiots.