Analyst Differ On Future Direction Of British Petroleum

em>Joel Elconin is the co-host of Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep, a daily trading idea radio show.

British Petroleum BP shares are trading lower by $1.78 at $30.64 in Friday's session. In a battle of Wall Street analysts, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is getting the upper hand. Before the open, BOAML downgraded the issue from Neutral to Underperform. Oppenheimer is taking the opposite end of the trade and says to buy the issue on weakness, After a lower open, ($31.20 vs. Thursday's close of $32.41),, it managed a brief pop to $31.36 before resuming its decline. So far, the bulls are attempting to make a stand at last Monday's mini flash low ($30.53), hovering at $30.55 but not being to distance itself from the key support level. The issue not traded below $30 since July 2010, when it bottomed at $28.79. It has followed Crude Oil lower since May and fallen from $43.83 or roughly 30 percent since.