Financial news on December 15, 2006

Business and Financial news
Alan F. Shugart, 76, a Developer of Disk Drive Industry, Dies

Alan F. Shugart was an engineer and entrepreneur whose career defined the modern computer disk drive industry. Read more..

By JOHN MARKOFF - The New York Times

Angelo R. Cali, 91, Founder of Real Estate Trust, Dies

Angelo R. Cali’s family-owned real estate development company merged with the Mack Company in 1997 to create one of the country’s largest real estate investment trusts. Read more..

By DENNIS HEVESI - The New York Times

Chief Financial Officer Appointed by Times Company

The New York Times Company named James M. Follo, the former chief financial officer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, as its chief financial officer. Read more..

By THE NEW YORK TIMES - The New York Times

Criminal Inquiries Look at U.S. Oil-Gas Unit

The two inquiries are just the latest of several into the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service and its collection of royalties for oil and gas. Read more..

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS - The New York Times

New Minder of Expenses for Citigroup

Robert Druskin, Citigroup’s new chief operating officer, said he aims to make a “leaner, thinner Citigroup” to win over frustrated investors. Read more..

By ERIC DASH - The New York Times

OPEC Sets Reduction in Output

OPEC plans to reduce its output by nearly 2 percent in February, an indication that it wants to keep oil prices above $60 a barrel next year. Read more..

By JAD MOUAWAD - The New York Times

Suit Challenges Warm Gasoline

The suit accuses oil companies and gas stations of overcharging customers at the pump by failing to compensate for changes in gasoline volumes when temperatures rise. Read more..

By THE NEW YORK TIMES - The New York Times

U.A.W. President Won’t Rule Out a Merger With Another Union

A merger would help the United Auto Workers regain some of the influence it has lost as hundreds of thousands of factory jobs have been eliminated. Read more..

By NICK BUNKLEY - The New York Times

Vivendi to Keep NBC Stake – For Now

The French media conglomerate Vivendi is keeping its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for now, an apparent vote of confidence in the ability of NBC TV’s chief, Jeff Zucker, to lift the network from the bottom of the ratings heap. Vivendi told NBC’s parent, General Electric, that it decided not to exercise its right next month to sell $3 billion worth of its NBC stake, which is valued at $8.3 billion. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Why an Agency Said No to Wal-Mart

After suddenly calling off a lengthy ad agency search, Wal-Mart invited four of the five finalists to come pitch again. Three accepted. One walked away. Read more..

By STUART ELLIOTT - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Microsoft MSFT 30,14 30,23 30,03 30,19 103M
General Electric GE 36,26 37,51 36,21 37,36 88.4M
Intel INTC 20,99 21,20 20,86 20,96 81.3M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 18,01 18,03 17,59 17,68 70.4M
Cisco Systems CSCO 27,43 27,77 27,33 27,56 67M
Pfizer PFE 25,56 25,80 25,54 25,64 49.9M
AT&T Inc. T 35,62 36,00 35,56 35,66 46.9M
ExxonMobil XOM 78,95 79,00 77,13 77,30 37M
Apple AAPL 89,02 89,22 87,33 87,72 26.4M
Home Depot HD 40,11 40,37 39,83 39,89 26M
Verizon Communications VZ 36,00 36,51 36,00 36,48 23.6M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 35,60 35,77 35,43 35,65 19.6M
ConocoPhillips COP 73,25 73,52 72,41 72,77 17.6M
Comcast CMCSA 43,00 43,24 42,79 42,95 16.6M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 48,20 48,65 48,00 48,30 16.2M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 46,63 46,89 46,39 46,45 16.1M
Amgen AMGN 71,79 71,99 70,12 70,22 15.9M
HP Inc. HPQ 40,00 40,27 39,86 39,94 15.7M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 34,82 34,84 34,15 34,30 14.1M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 48,10 48,65 47,90 48,47 13.9M
Altria MO 85,00 85,39 84,97 85,21 13.6M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 66,57 66,57 65,50 66,29 12.8M
Coca-Cola KO 49,00 49,35 48,38 48,93 11.9M
Procter & Gamble PG 63,49 64,24 63,37 64,11 11.5M
Alphabet GOOGL 482,64 484,11 479,84 480,30 10.4M
Merck MRK 43,71 44,11 43,42 44,00 10.3M
Chevron CVX 75,99 76,11 74,98 75,38 9.53M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 25,59 25,67 25,48 25,61 8.79M
United Technologies UTX 62,42 62,49 62,01 62,45 8.23M
Amazon AMZN 39,38 40,19 39,23 40,01 8.15M
International Business Machines IBM 95,61 95,80 95,05 95,30 8.09M
Schlumberger SLB 68,08 69,05 67,45 67,55 7.61M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 49,85 50,15 49,14 50,09 7.42M
McDonald's MCD 43,69 43,95 43,12 43,41 7.39M
Gilead Sciences GILD 64,06 64,69 63,11 64,49 6.92M
Pepsico PEP 62,47 63,35 62,05 62,87 6.55M
3M MMM 79,67 79,67 78,19 78,31 6.22M
Boeing BA 90,17 90,90 90,17 90,70 5.3M
Union Pacific UNP 94,09 94,62 93,16 93,93 2.22M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3668,00 3800,00 3662,00 3800,00 47.3K
Exchange Rates of December 15, 2006
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 118,160 JPY 1 JPY = 0,008 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1,158 CAD 1 CAD = 0,864 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1,221 CHF 1 CHF = 0,819 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7,828 CNY 1 CNY = 0,128 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 154,580 JPY 1 JPY = 0,006 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0,670 GBP 1 GBP = 1,493 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,673 AUD 1 AUD = 0,598 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,514 CAD 1 CAD = 0,660 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1,598 CHF 1 CHF = 0,626 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0,433 GBP 1 GBP = 2,308 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1,082 AUD 1 AUD = 0,924 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0,979 CAD 1 CAD = 1,021 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1,033 CHF 1 CHF = 0,968 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,498 AUD 1 AUD = 0,400 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,260 CAD 1 CAD = 0,442 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2,384 CHF 1 CHF = 0,419 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0,904 CAD 1 CAD = 1,106 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0,954 CHF 1 CHF = 1,048 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1,055 CHF 1 CHF = 0,948 CAD

See what else happened on December 15, 2006