Financial news on October 12, 2006

Business and Financial news
2 More Executives Resign Over Options

Chiefs at McAfee and CNet are stepping down, as casualties from investigations of stock option grants continued to mount. Read more..

By LAURIE J. FLYNN - The New York Times

A London Airport Is Sold to Investors

The American International Group and a team of investors agreed to buy London City Airport, taking over a terminal serving almost two million regional business travelers a year. Terms were not disclosed. AIG, the world’s largest insurer, and an in... Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Drought in Australia Helps Push Wheat Prices to a 10-Year High

A worsening drought in Australia increased the chances that the country’s wheat crop would be cut by more than half. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Housing Glut’s Impact

Prices of new houses will fall this year for the first time since 1991, and existing homes will have the smallest gain ever. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

In the New China, Banks Still Cling to Old Ways

The behavior of Chinese banks seems closer to the 1990’s crony capitalism of Indonesia and Thailand which engendered financial panics. Read more..

By AUSTAN GOOLSBEE - The New York Times

Justice Dept. Approves AT&T-BellSouth Deal

The decision angered consumer groups who said the companies would control too much of the country’s telecommunications networks. Read more..

By KEN BELSON - The New York Times

Locking Down Mac OS X

How do I turn on a password for my Mac? What other kinds of security features are available within Mac OS X? Read more..

By J. D. BIERSDORFER - The New York Times

Shares Are Broadly Lower; Talk of Rate Cut Is Damped

Blue-chip stocks fell for the first time in three days after Alcoa had begun the quarterly earnings season by missing analysts’ estimates. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Technological Beauty Is More Than Case-Deep

Most point-and-shoot digital cameras still look simple on the outside, but what’s inside is getting more sophisticated. Read more..

By STEPHEN C. MILLER - The New York Times

Visa Plans an Initial Public Offering as Soon as Next Year

The decision highlights the company’s intense rivalry with MasterCard, whose shares surged after it went public in May. Read more..

By ERIC DASH and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Microsoft MSFT 27.58 28.29 27.54 28.22 120M
Intel INTC 21.11 21.55 20.95 21.49 81.9M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 18.65 19.00 18.52 18.99 44.7M
Cisco Systems CSCO 24.40 24.53 24.12 24.45 41.5M
AT&T Inc. T 33.00 33.61 32.98 33.60 28.9M
Pfizer PFE 27.29 27.74 27.27 27.65 26.6M
General Electric GE 36.25 36.32 36.10 36.22 23.4M
Apple AAPL 73.61 75.39 73.60 75.26 21.2M
McDonald's MCD 41.92 42.46 41.80 42.23 19M
ExxonMobil XOM 66.88 67.75 66.86 67.65 18.5M
ConocoPhillips COP 58.00 59.07 57.74 58.81 18.2M
Comcast CMCSA 37.85 38.71 37.58 38.38 16.3M
HP Inc. HPQ 38.04 38.57 38.00 38.42 15.6M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 47.70 48.57 47.55 48.26 15M
Home Depot HD 37.98 38.24 37.76 37.90 13.2M
Verizon Communications VZ 36.83 37.17 36.83 36.99 13.1M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 46.80 46.85 46.35 46.45 13M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 48.49 48.67 48.08 48.32 12.4M
Pepsico PEP 63.00 63.50 62.16 62.85 10.9M
Schlumberger SLB 57.80 58.35 57.23 57.83 10.6M
Alphabet GOOGL 428.56 429.68 424.00 427.44 9.68M
Merck MRK 42.35 42.85 42.19 42.76 8.57M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 24.40 24.68 24.08 24.60 8.26M
Chevron CVX 63.49 64.16 63.31 64.02 8.14M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 65.23 65.29 64.78 64.84 7.9M
Altria MO 79.20 79.20 78.38 78.78 7.76M
Amazon AMZN 33.10 33.71 32.63 33.55 5.99M
Procter & Gamble PG 62.57 62.87 62.32 62.41 5.93M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 31.35 31.43 31.12 31.30 5.93M
Amgen AMGN 73.64 74.12 73.26 74.09 5.82M
Coca-Cola KO 44.20 44.25 43.96 44.05 5.52M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 36.37 36.44 36.14 36.30 5.45M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 50.00 50.00 49.08 49.62 5.01M
Gilead Sciences GILD 65.50 67.10 64.95 66.85 4.81M
International Business Machines IBM 84.20 84.90 84.10 84.70 4.66M
Boeing BA 82.20 83.86 82.10 83.64 4.13M
United Technologies UTX 65.93 66.56 65.69 66.38 2.78M
3M MMM 75.44 75.55 74.86 75.43 2.11M
Union Pacific UNP 90.36 90.92 89.88 90.78 1.26M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3307.00 3333.00 3306.00 3329.00 13.2K
Exchange Rates of October 12, 2006
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 119.330 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.134 CAD 1 CAD = 0.882 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.268 CHF 1 CHF = 0.789 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7.914 CNY 1 CNY = 0.126 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 149.880 JPY 1 JPY = 0.007 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.676 GBP 1 GBP = 1.480 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.670 AUD 1 AUD = 0.599 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.424 CAD 1 CAD = 0.702 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.593 CHF 1 CHF = 0.628 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.450 GBP 1 GBP = 2.220 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.113 AUD 1 AUD = 0.898 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.950 CAD 1 CAD = 1.053 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.063 CHF 1 CHF = 0.941 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.472 AUD 1 AUD = 0.405 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.108 CAD 1 CAD = 0.474 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2.357 CHF 1 CHF = 0.424 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.852 CAD 1 CAD = 1.173 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.953 CHF 1 CHF = 1.049 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.118 CHF 1 CHF = 0.894 CAD

See what else happened on October 12, 2006