Halliburton Stock Crash: 4 Key Questions

(TheStreet) -- Shares of Halliburton

were flattish in trading on Friday, but that didn't make up for the Thursday stock price crash triggered by the cement-test crisis. On Thursday, the government released a letter from the presidential commission investigating the BP

oil spill, a letter that revealed problems with Halliburton's cement used in the BP Macondo well. The Halliburton cement has been at the epicenter of the oil-spill investigation since the beginning of the crisis, so it's no surprise that the cement job has come into focus again. The ongoing level of risk to Halliburton shares is the question for investors. The knee-jerk reaction was immediate on Thursday, with Halliburton shares falling 10% at one point and with close to 100 million shares traded. On Friday morning, shares were close to flat after opening lower by another 3%, and trading action was again heavy. Halliburton shares fell all the way to $21 earlier in the oil spill crisis, but buoyed by two straight earnings beats, Halliburton shares rebounded. Do the latest revelations from the government mean that there is another leg down in Halliburton shares likely before another leg up? Has the exogenous risk of the oil spill again become a greater pressure point for Halliburton than business fundamentals?

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