Financial news on April 5th, 2012
Business and Financial news
David Pogue State of the Art column observes that Nokia and Microsoft have joined forces to make the Lumia 900 a top-of-the-line device; holds the smartphone is beautiful, fast and powerful; points out, however, that does not necessarily mean that people will flock to it. Read more..
Google provided a first look at its Internet-connected glasses, which place a small see-through display screen above a person’s eye. Read more..
Why markets reacted negatively to comments by the Federal Reserve; Kevin Roose lives like a billionaire for a day; and heirs to old money are plunging into technology. Read more..
The music’s concerts and festivals now have profit margins that Wall Street is starting to notice, but determining the value of the promoting companies and the risks associated with live music events pose challenges for investors. Read more..
More than 500 engineers attend conference to seek ways to strengthen New York State's power grid; state is awash in generating capacity because the recession has stunted industrial demand, but the energy infrastructure is ailing; 42 percent of the state's power plants are more than 40 years old, and 22 percent are more than 50 years old. Read more..
One year after its acquisition by AOL, The Huffington Post has become a source of growth with several business units now in Arianna Huffington’s hands, a move intended to add sections and products faster. Read more..
Jane L Levere Advertising column highlights New Balance's campaign for the 30th anniversary model of its 990 running shoe. Read more..
Delta Air Lines emerges as a possible buyer for a ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer, Pa, as a means of cutting its jet fuel costs; analysts note that running an oil refinery can be even tougher than running an airline; refining industry has mostly been unprofitable in recent years, and its hardships on the East Coast are especially pronounced. Read more..
Spain sells 2.6 billion euros ($3.4 billion) worth of bonds, near the bottom of its targeted range, unsettling financial markets; European Central Bank cites concerns about a slowdown in the economy and a possible resurgence of the sovereign debt crisis. Read more..
Telecom Italia says it might sell its fixed-line phone network as it looks to reduce its debt burden and stem losses; reports a 2011 loss of 4.7 billion euros ($6.2 billion) after writing down the value of its domestic business by 7.3 billion euros ($9.7 billion). Read more..
Stock Markets
Values are reported in US Dollars
Stock | Ticker symbol | Open | High | Low | Close | Volume |
Microsoft | MSFT | 31.15 | 31.63 | 31.05 | 31.52 | 50.4M |
Oracle Corp. | ORCL | 29.15 | 29.63 | 29.13 | 29.56 | 43.3M |
General Electric | GE | 19.61 | 19.71 | 19.46 | 19.49 | 40M |
Cisco Systems | CSCO | 20.18 | 20.37 | 20.07 | 20.22 | 30.6M |
JPMorgan Chase | JPM | 44.13 | 44.73 | 43.81 | 44.34 | 28.8M |
Apple | AAPL | 626.98 | 634.66 | 623.40 | 633.68 | 22.9M |
Pfizer | PFE | 22.27 | 22.36 | 22.22 | 22.34 | 22.1M |
Intel | INTC | 27.87 | 28.10 | 27.80 | 28.07 | 22M |
AT&T Inc. | T | 31.09 | 31.16 | 30.75 | 30.94 | 21.5M |
Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC | 33.78 | 34.02 | 33.63 | 33.73 | 19.6M |
HP Inc. | HPQ | 23.15 | 23.37 | 23.08 | 23.11 | 14.7M |
Merck | MRK | 38.76 | 38.91 | 38.59 | 38.88 | 13.9M |
Abbott Laboratories | ABT | 61.39 | 61.49 | 61.10 | 61.30 | 12.3M |
ExxonMobil | XOM | 84.56 | 85.38 | 84.35 | 84.82 | 12M |
Verizon Communications | VZ | 37.91 | 37.92 | 37.52 | 37.66 | 11.7M |
Comcast | CMCSA | 29.19 | 29.57 | 29.08 | 29.56 | 11.3M |
Home Depot | HD | 49.69 | 50.67 | 49.56 | 50.62 | 9.56M |
ConocoPhillips | COP | 76.06 | 76.35 | 75.25 | 75.36 | 8.34M |
Gilead Sciences | GILD | 47.03 | 47.88 | 47.00 | 47.76 | 8.27M |
General Motors | GM | 24.99 | 25.18 | 24.61 | 24.81 | 8.21M |
Schlumberger | SLB | 68.54 | 69.40 | 68.28 | 68.42 | 7.97M |
Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 65.26 | 65.38 | 65.09 | 65.34 | 7.92M |
Procter & Gamble | PG | 66.92 | 67.48 | 66.83 | 67.31 | 7.7M |
Altria | MO | 31.04 | 31.37 | 30.99 | 31.36 | 7.26M |
Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | 60.20 | 60.69 | 60.07 | 60.67 | 6.53M |
Walt Disney & Co. | DIS | 42.84 | 43.18 | 42.68 | 43.08 | 6.34M |
Bristol-Myers Squibb | BMY | 33.55 | 33.71 | 33.45 | 33.68 | 6M |
Chevron | CVX | 105.17 | 105.90 | 104.33 | 104.75 | 5.98M |
Coca-Cola | KO | 73.28 | 73.52 | 73.07 | 73.47 | 5.77M |
Pepsico | PEP | 66.04 | 66.21 | 65.70 | 66.15 | 5.76M |
McDonald's | MCD | 97.13 | 98.66 | 97.07 | 98.62 | 5.47M |
UnitedHealth Group | UNH | 58.82 | 59.19 | 58.60 | 59.01 | 4.83M |
Alphabet | GOOGL | 632.24 | 636.43 | 628.57 | 632.32 | 4.63M |
Amgen | AMGN | 67.77 | 68.14 | 67.49 | 68.02 | 3.86M |
International Business Machines | IBM | 205.15 | 205.68 | 204.46 | 205.47 | 3.81M |
Visa | V | 118.32 | 121.15 | 118.07 | 121.01 | 3.35M |
Amazon | AMZN | 193.55 | 196.03 | 193.55 | 194.39 | 3.22M |
Berkshire Hathaway | BRK.B | 80.81 | 81.28 | 80.65 | 80.91 | 2.83M |
Boeing | BA | 73.42 | 73.89 | 73.30 | 73.59 | 2.64M |
United Technologies | UTX | 81.55 | 82.16 | 81.38 | 81.60 | 2.48M |
Union Pacific | UNP | 107.85 | 109.32 | 107.56 | 108.65 | 2.26M |
3M | MMM | 87.36 | 87.79 | 86.97 | 87.27 | 2.05M |
Exchange Rates of April 5th, 2012
Currencies | Exchange Rates | ||
US Dollar | Japanese Yen | 1 USD = 82.350 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.012 USD |
US Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 USD = 0.993 CAD | 1 CAD = 1.007 USD |
US Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 USD = 0.920 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.087 USD |
US Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 USD = 6.314 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.158 USD |
Euro | Japanese Yen | 1 EUR = 107.610 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.009 EUR |
Euro | Pound Sterling | 1 EUR = 0.825 GBP | 1 GBP = 1.212 EUR |
Euro | Australian Dollar | 1 EUR = 1.267 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.789 EUR |
Euro | Canadian Dollar | 1 EUR = 1.297 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.771 EUR |
Euro | Swiss Franc | 1 EUR = 1.202 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.832 EUR |
Euro | Chinese Yuan | 1 EUR = 8.247 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.121 EUR |
Japanese Yen | Pound Sterling | 1 JPY = 0.767 GBP | 1 GBP = 1.304 JPY |
Japanese Yen | Australian Dollar | 1 JPY = 1.178 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.849 JPY |
Japanese Yen | Canadian Dollar | 1 JPY = 1.205 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.830 JPY |
Japanese Yen | Swiss Franc | 1 JPY = 1.117 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.896 JPY |
Pound Sterling | Australian Dollar | 1 GBP = 1.535 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.651 GBP |
Pound Sterling | Canadian Dollar | 1 GBP = 1.571 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.636 GBP |
Pound Sterling | Swiss Franc | 1 GBP = 1.455 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.687 GBP |
Pound Sterling | Chinese Yuan | 1 GBP = 9.994 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.100 GBP |
Australian Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 AUD = 1.023 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.977 AUD |
Australian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 AUD = 0.947 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.056 AUD |
Australian Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 AUD = 6.508 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.154 AUD |
Canadian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 CAD = 0.926 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.080 CAD |
Canadian Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 CAD = 6.358 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.157 CAD |
Swiss Franc | Chinese Yuan | 1 CHF = 6.863 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.146 CHF |
See what else happened on April 5th, 2012