ConocoPhillips: Why the Sell-off?

Wow, I go hiking and fly-fishing in the South San Juan Wilderness for four days and come back to this?! ConocoPhillips (COP) was at $88 when I departed and now that I am back in Wi-Fi space I log in to find it trading at $81 and change? What in the world happened? I figure oil must have dropped to $50/barrel or that natural gas must be trading at $5. Hmmm... nope, oil is at $130... natural gas at $10.60. Perhaps COP cut the dividend? Nope... no news of that either. The dividend is yielding over 2% and if history is any indication, more dividend rate increases are surely in the cards.

So, why the selloff in COP? How come a company that is expected to earn $12/share in 2008 is trading at $82? Has management lost its head? Nope - CEO Jim Mulva continues to make deals in foreign energy markets that other oil companies can only dream about. Are people not buying Conoco