BP plc (NYSE: BP) CEO Dudley apologized for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The gesture apparently did not go over well. Negative press on the UK-based oil firm moved it to the top of the Flame IndesxNote: The Flame Index scans thousands of news sites 24 hours per day and ranks companies getting the most negative press right now. The Flame Index Media Analysis Algorithm crunches the data for an up-to-the-minute ranking of the hardest-hit companies. Alpha Natural Resource took an image hit as Massey Energy, which it is acquiring was sued for deaths in a mine explosion
The Flame Index started as a research tool in 2008 at the NY Innovation Design Lab (nyidlab). It was used as a general metric to evaluate companies and their risk in the media. Publicly traded Fortune 500 companies are used as a measure to calculate an overall market of negative news and the companies are ranked within that market
| Rank | Company | Ticker | Score | Change in Rank | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BP | BP | 34.37 | +15 | CEO apology not taken seriously |
| 2 | Massey Energy | MEE | 31.123 | +4 | Sued for mine explosion deaths |
| 3 | Chevron | CVX | 30.54 | -2 | Fighting environmental suit in Ecuador |
| 4 | PG&E Corp. | PCG | 28.701 | +19 | Regulators examine gas line explosion |
| 5 | J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. | JPM | 26.97 | -2 | Lawsuit over participation in Madoff matter |
| 6 | Fannie Mae | FNMAS | 25.625 | +30 | Ongoing concerns about liquidation |
| 7 | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 25.598 | +4 | Takes 384,000 insulin pump cartridges off the market |
| 8 | Toyota Motor Corporation | TM | 25.06 | 0 | Prius sales hit 3 million, but long term plan has few believers |
| 9 | Rite Aid | RAD | 24.127 | -7 | Supreme Court passes on case that would help sales |
| 10 | Alpha Natural Resources | ANR | 23.974 | +54 | Firm that will buy Massey damage by troubles at miner |
Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.
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