Getting into the broader debate (not contained to Halliburton), I have some observations. Everyone hates big companies when they are doing well, employing lots of people, paying lots of dividends and making shareholders rich ("big greedy investors")-- when the companies are providing jobs and spreading the wealth (though the top dogs spread disproportionate globs of it their own way, still, since employees often are also shareholders, everybody ends up better off).
Now that people are being laid off and shareholders hold worthless certificates, everyone is oh so sympathetic to these unfortunate folks. Why is it that there is so much sympathy for the very same people, and the sympathy just depends on how much their shares are worth?
Why is the public so easy to whip up and no logic is applied? We are supposed to love the worker but hate the person who employs him.