Financial news on October 12th, 2007

Business and Financial news
Ask Questions of Dan Nye, C.E.O. of LinkedIn

The future of social networking? Competing with Facebook? All those e-mails from people wanting you in their network? Ask your question for Dan Nye, the C.E.O. of LinkedIn, in the comments to this post. Read more..

By SAUL HANSELL - The New York Times

BEA Says $6.66 Billion Bid by Oracle Is Too Low

Oracle’s unsolicited bid for the software maker, announced today, comes amid mounting competition from SAP of Germany and Microsoft. Read more..

By LAURIE J. FLYNN - The New York Times

Big Shake-Up as Citigroup Combines Two Key Units

Citigroup said it would combine its investment banking and alternative investment units, bringing both groups together under one leader, Vikram S. Pandit. Read more..

By LANDON THOMAS Jr. and ERIC DASH - The New York Times

Chinese Exports Continue to Rise Despite Setbacks

Beijing says it has exported $878 billion in goods through the first nine months of 2007. Read more..

By DAVID BARBOZA - The New York Times

Countrywide Is Assailed in Protest of Policies

As delinquencies and foreclosures rise within Countrywide’s loan portfolio, the lender is increasingly finding itself at the center of the mortgage storm. Read more..

By CHRISTINA CRAPANZANO - The New York Times

For BEA, Years of Rumors Become Reality

When Oracle offered $6.7 billion for BEA Systems on Friday, one of the Street’s longest-running rumors finally turned into fact. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Imitating the Web, for the Busy Reader

With its latest redesign, BusinessWeek is looking for some magic to raise circulation and keep advertisers interested. Read more..

By LOUISE STORY - The New York Times

LinkedIn Plans to Open Up in a Closed Sort of Way

Dan Nye, LinkedIn’s chief executive, said the company will allow only outside applications that it approves, and it is interested in a share of the revenue of companies that use its platform. No food fights need apply. Read more..

By SAUL HANSELL - The New York Times

Shawn Fanning’s Snocap Prepares for Fire Sale

Snocap, a service started by Shawn Fanning, the Napster founder, that was meant to help music companies profit from file-trading systems, has laid off 60 percent of its staff and is preparing for a sale. Read more..

By SAUL HANSELL - The New York Times

The Luddite in the Googleplex

Speaking to the especially wired group of executives and politicians at Google’s Zeitgeist conference, Yves Chouinard, the founder of the Patagonia outdoor clothing maker, said he has never used a keyboard and that technology tends to homogenize culture. Read more..

By MIGUEL HELFT - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

StockTicker symbolOpenHighLowCloseVolume
General ElectricGE40,8641,0440,1241,0351.4M
IntelINTC25,6025,6825,3325,5548.7M
Oracle Corp.ORCL22,4022,6522,1122,4439.7M
AppleAAPL163,01167,28161,80167,2535.3M
PfizerPFE25,4325,4525,1625,2633.9M
MicrosoftMSFT30,0330,4029,9530,1731.1M
Cisco SystemsCSCO32,8333,1232,7532,9229.1M
ComcastCMCSA23,7724,0423,7224,0117.2M
Abbott LaboratoriesABT53,2953,3552,3852,6416.9M
ExxonMobilXOM93,1093,8492,8193,4815.1M
AT&T Inc.T41,9342,3541,7442,2914.8M
Wal-Mart StoresWMT46,9847,2846,8047,0614M
Wells Fargo & Co.WFC36,4536,6135,9836,0413.9M
AlphabetGOOGL623,98638,40618,24637,3913.6M
McDonald'sMCD56,8557,3656,1857,0212.6M
JPMorgan ChaseJPM46,6747,1046,5446,8212.5M
Home DepotHD33,5233,6833,2033,4412.4M
Verizon CommunicationsVZ45,8146,0645,3845,5310.6M
AltriaMO69,9970,1869,8770,069.65M
BoeingBA96,1197,5995,4296,699.51M
HP Inc.HPQ51,4251,9751,3051,559.25M
UnitedHealth GroupUNH49,2449,9849,1549,699.16M
ConocoPhillipsCOP86,2786,8785,4885,728.68M
AmazonAMZN89,4292,3988,9292,378.36M
Procter & GamblePG71,9372,0071,6071,708.21M
AmgenAMGN57,9058,8857,2958,178.1M
MerckMRK53,1953,6852,8053,517.81M
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ66,1766,2465,8165,947.03M
ChevronCVX91,5391,7490,8891,416.01M
Gilead SciencesGILD42,7243,3642,5343,305.91M
PepsicoPEP71,7472,4771,4071,785.75M
International Business MachinesIBM118,50118,89117,28117,815.66M
Walt Disney & Co.DIS35,2035,5835,1535,475.47M
SchlumbergerSLB109,20110,31108,19109,845.41M
Coca-ColaKO57,2057,9357,1557,805.21M
Bristol-Myers SquibbBMY29,6329,8429,4929,775.02M
United TechnologiesUTX79,5880,6279,0880,322.96M
3MMMM94,6794,9093,7094,172.62M
Union PacificUNP118,24119,79117,69119,522.28M
Berkshire HathawayBRK.B4200,004290,004200,004234,0032.4K
Exchange Rates of October 12th, 2007
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US DollarJapanese Yen1 USD = 117,600 JPY1 JPY = 0,009 USD
US DollarCanadian Dollar1 USD = 0,972 CAD1 CAD = 1,029 USD
US DollarSwiss Franc1 USD = 1,184 CHF1 CHF = 0,844 USD
US DollarChinese Yuan1 USD = 7,511 CNY1 CNY = 0,133 USD
EuroJapanese Yen1 EUR = 166,750 JPY1 JPY = 0,006 EUR
EuroPound Sterling1 EUR = 0,696 GBP1 GBP = 1,436 EUR
EuroAustralian Dollar1 EUR = 1,567 AUD1 AUD = 0,638 EUR
EuroCanadian Dollar1 EUR = 1,378 CAD1 CAD = 0,726 EUR
EuroSwiss Franc1 EUR = 1,680 CHF1 CHF = 0,595 EUR
Japanese YenPound Sterling1 JPY = 0,417 GBP1 GBP = 2,396 JPY
Japanese YenAustralian Dollar1 JPY = 0,939 AUD1 AUD = 1,065 JPY
Japanese YenCanadian Dollar1 JPY = 0,826 CAD1 CAD = 1,211 JPY
Japanese YenSwiss Franc1 JPY = 1,007 CHF1 CHF = 0,993 JPY
Pound SterlingAustralian Dollar1 GBP = 2,251 AUD1 AUD = 0,444 GBP
Pound SterlingCanadian Dollar1 GBP = 1,979 CAD1 CAD = 0,505 GBP
Pound SterlingSwiss Franc1 GBP = 2,412 CHF1 CHF = 0,415 GBP
Australian DollarCanadian Dollar1 AUD = 0,878 CAD1 CAD = 1,138 AUD
Australian DollarSwiss Franc1 AUD = 1,071 CHF1 CHF = 0,934 AUD
Canadian DollarSwiss Franc1 CAD = 1,219 CHF1 CHF = 0,821 CAD

See what else happened on October 12th, 2007