Enron Corp.’s stock continued to plummet even further Thursday amid a report that the energy giant’s poor stock performance this year was largely behind CEO and President Jeffrey K. Skilling’s decision to resign.

While insisting Tuesday that he had resigned for “personal reasons” unrelated to Enron’s business activities, Skilling conceded in a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article Thursday that the pressure and responsibility that he personally felt for the company’s falling stock prices was the main reason.

Enron’s stock performance was a “kind of ultimate score card,” he told the WSJ, adding that Enron’s share price had dropped by more than 50% this year. The company’s stock took a pummeling Wednesday on the first full day of trading following Skilling’s announced resignation, falling $2.68 to $40.25 and dipping beneath a 52-week low of $42 set earlier this month. The pattern continued throughout Thursday, with the stock skidding 8.45% to $36.85 by 5 p.m. The stock had been more than $80/share a year ago.

If the stock had remained up, “I don’t think I would have felt the pressure to leave,” Skilling, who had been CEO for only about six months, told the WSJ.

Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, who will now assume the role of CEO, is expected to appoint two of the company’s executives to the “office of chairman” within the next few days. The company declined to say which executives were being eyed for the top spot.

Key Enron executives whose names are likely to appear on the shortlist include: Stanley C. Horton, chairman and CEO of Enron Transportation Services; Andrew S. Fastow, Enron’s executive vice president and CFO; Richard A. Causey, executive vice president and chief accounting officer; Steven J. Kean, executive vice president and chief of staff; and Dave Delaney, chairman and CEO of Enron Energy Services.

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