Financial news on December 12, 2011

Business and Financial news
A Leader in the Cloud Gains Rivals

Cloud computing, which Salesforce.com has been marketing for years, is now seen as such a good idea that IBM, SAP, Oracle and others are acquiring their own players; Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff says acquisitions are vindication of his strategy. Read more..

By QUENTIN HARDY - The New York Times

Bill Shock Without Leaving Home

For mobile users, unlimited wireless Internet isn’t what it used to be. Read more..

By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN - International Herald Tribune

Fed to Weigh Publishing a Forecast on Rates

Federal Reserve's policy-making committee will consider the idea of publishing a regular forecast of its future decisions on interest rates. Read more..

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM - The New York Times

Markets Slide on Euro and Intel

Investors expressed increasing disappointment in a plan for more fiscal discipline in the euro zone; they also sold stocks after Intel lowered its sales forecast for the quarter. Read more..

By CHRISTINE HAUSER and DAVID JOLLY - The New York Times

New Royal Caribbean Ad

"The Sea Is Calling," is the theme of a new advertising campaign for Royal Caribbean. Read more..

None None - The New York Times

One Million Mobile Apps, and Counting at a Fast Pace

Mobilewalla, which helps users navigate the mobile app market, reports the one millionth mobile app is released, with about 15,000 apps weekly being introduced; notes surge in new apps is accelerating. Read more..

By SHELLY FREIERMAN - The New York Times

South Korean Agency Takes a New Tack on Transformation

Stuart Elliott Advertising column notes South Korean agency Cheil Worldwide is hoping to reintroduce itself in the United States as Cheil USA; notes Lars Bastholm will be chief creative officer. Read more..

By STUART ELLIOTT - The New York Times

Using Oil to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Enhanced oil recovery could give new life to the field of carbon capture and storage, which is one solution to the global emissions problem. Read more..

By TIMOTHY GARDNER | REUTERS - International Herald Tribune

When Truth Survives Free Speech

A defamation suit that seemed to be an example of a blogger being unfairly denied the protections of a journalist was actually something else entirely. Read more..

By DAVID CARR - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
General Electric GE 16.71 16.86 16.32 16.46 179M
Intel INTC 24.18 24.29 23.61 24.00 94.8M
Altria MO 28.72 28.91 28.67 28.87 45.3M
Cisco Systems CSCO 18.62 18.70 18.26 18.53 44.1M
Pfizer PFE 20.38 20.55 20.23 20.39 40.2M
Microsoft MSFT 25.41 25.57 25.29 25.51 38.9M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 32.55 32.60 31.76 32.04 36M
AT&T Inc. T 29.02 29.08 28.92 29.01 25.8M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 26.63 26.68 26.07 26.29 24.9M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 31.40 31.40 30.78 31.32 22.5M
Comcast CMCSA 22.53 23.38 22.37 23.27 20.2M
HP Inc. HPQ 27.07 27.46 27.07 27.34 19.6M
ExxonMobil XOM 80.73 81.09 79.21 80.05 17.8M
Merck MRK 35.58 35.67 35.18 35.41 12.6M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 54.23 54.50 53.80 54.27 11.2M
Home Depot HD 39.85 40.11 39.31 40.05 11.1M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 63.87 64.20 63.35 63.51 10.8M
Apple AAPL 391.68 393.90 389.45 391.84 10.8M
Amgen AMGN 58.30 58.41 57.15 57.16 10.2M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 36.20 36.77 35.92 36.65 10.1M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 57.87 58.44 57.76 58.09 10M
ConocoPhillips COP 71.15 71.40 69.75 70.48 9.72M
Schlumberger SLB 72.85 72.99 70.58 71.92 9.5M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 33.37 33.59 33.03 33.18 8.86M
Procter & Gamble PG 64.58 64.92 63.94 64.31 8.79M
Chevron CVX 104.02 104.23 101.50 103.07 7.6M
Gilead Sciences GILD 38.76 39.15 38.60 39.01 7.47M
Coca-Cola KO 67.26 67.50 66.32 66.89 6.69M
General Motors GM 20.66 20.90 20.56 20.80 6.28M
Pepsico PEP 65.10 65.24 63.89 64.66 5.83M
McDonald's MCD 97.67 98.53 97.20 98.48 5.8M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 76.94 77.01 75.67 76.27 5.59M
Boeing BA 71.51 71.96 70.18 70.90 5.46M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 48.71 49.00 47.94 48.20 4.95M
United Technologies UTX 75.63 75.76 74.15 74.48 4.84M
Alphabet GOOGL 621.88 626.18 620.29 625.39 4.36M
Amazon AMZN 190.03 191.15 187.63 189.52 4.34M
International Business Machines IBM 193.64 193.90 191.22 192.18 3.8M
Visa V 96.64 97.40 95.83 96.92 3.41M
3M MMM 81.90 81.99 80.03 80.59 3.34M
Verizon Communications VZ 38.24 38.39 37.98 38.35 2.79M
Union Pacific UNP 100.78 101.54 99.79 100.60 1.78M
Exchange Rates of December 12, 2011
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 77.890 JPY 1 JPY = 0.013 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.027 CAD 1 CAD = 0.974 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 0.937 CHF 1 CHF = 1.067 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.361 CNY 1 CNY = 0.157 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 102.740 JPY 1 JPY = 0.010 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.846 GBP 1 GBP = 1.182 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.309 AUD 1 AUD = 0.764 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.354 CAD 1 CAD = 0.739 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.236 CHF 1 CHF = 0.809 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 8.391 CNY 1 CNY = 0.119 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.823 GBP 1 GBP = 1.215 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.273 AUD 1 AUD = 0.785 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.317 CAD 1 CAD = 0.759 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.203 CHF 1 CHF = 0.832 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.546 AUD 1 AUD = 0.647 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.600 CAD 1 CAD = 0.625 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.460 CHF 1 CHF = 0.685 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 9.916 CNY 1 CNY = 0.101 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 1.034 CAD 1 CAD = 0.967 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.944 CHF 1 CHF = 1.059 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.405 CNY 1 CNY = 0.156 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.912 CHF 1 CHF = 1.096 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.197 CNY 1 CNY = 0.161 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.787 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 CHF

See what else happened on December 12, 2011