Financial news on December 15, 2008
Business and Financial news
After Its Big Cuts, Detroit Makes Lots of Small Ones
As sales continue to plummet, the Big Three automakers are scrutinizing every budget line for potential savings to save cash. Read more..
A Scandal in Chicago That Justifies Investigative Journalism
Newspapers, smacked around for lacking relevance the last few years, have found a compelling spokesman: Rod R. Blagojevich, the governor of Illinois. Read more..
As Rates Near Zero, the Fed Turns to Unproven Methods
The Federal Reserve must now turn to an approach called “quantitative easing,” because it involves injecting money into the economy rather than aiming at an interest rate. Read more..
MediaNews Sees Bad Timing on Newspapers, Not Bad Bets
Dean Singleton gambled his company on California -- where the crash in housing has hit newspapers especially hard -- just as the bottom was about to fall out for newspapers. Read more..
Stock Markets
Values are reported in US Dollars
| Stock | Ticker symbol | Open | High | Low | Close | Volume |
| General Electric | GE | 16.95 | 17.11 | 16.66 | 16.95 | 63.7M |
| Intel | INTC | 14.75 | 14.94 | 14.32 | 14.59 | 60.6M |
| Microsoft | MSFT | 19.34 | 19.44 | 18.89 | 19.04 | 59.9M |
| JPMorgan Chase | JPM | 29.34 | 29.78 | 28.17 | 28.63 | 51.6M |
| Pfizer | PFE | 16.91 | 17.12 | 16.50 | 16.63 | 50.2M |
| ExxonMobil | XOM | 81.32 | 81.50 | 78.86 | 79.95 | 43.4M |
| AT&T Inc. | T | 27.65 | 27.94 | 26.57 | 27.13 | 42.6M |
| Cisco Systems | CSCO | 16.88 | 17.02 | 16.51 | 16.84 | 40.2M |
| Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC | 26.98 | 27.03 | 25.53 | 26.07 | 37.6M |
| Oracle Corp. | ORCL | 16.40 | 16.64 | 16.13 | 16.45 | 37.2M |
| Apple | AAPL | 95.99 | 96.21 | 93.00 | 94.75 | 31.8M |
| Altria | MO | 15.71 | 15.88 | 14.96 | 15.21 | 25.6M |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | BMY | 22.87 | 22.95 | 22.19 | 22.50 | 25.6M |
| Verizon Communications | VZ | 32.94 | 33.17 | 31.68 | 32.30 | 22.1M |
| Comcast | CMCSA | 15.61 | 16.02 | 15.20 | 15.60 | 21.8M |
| Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | 54.99 | 55.12 | 54.01 | 54.71 | 16.7M |
| Chevron | CVX | 80.19 | 80.61 | 77.07 | 78.21 | 16.5M |
| ConocoPhillips | COP | 52.59 | 53.42 | 51.00 | 51.90 | 15.6M |
| HP Inc. | HPQ | 36.06 | 36.10 | 34.41 | 34.82 | 15.2M |
| Abbott Laboratories | ABT | 50.90 | 52.03 | 50.54 | 51.64 | 14.9M |
| Home Depot | HD | 23.62 | 23.87 | 23.04 | 23.41 | 14.7M |
| Alphabet | GOOGL | 314.01 | 318.49 | 305.11 | 310.67 | 13.5M |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 57.73 | 58.39 | 56.95 | 57.81 | 13M |
| Walt Disney & Co. | DIS | 22.93 | 22.98 | 22.34 | 22.77 | 12.9M |
| Merck | MRK | 26.95 | 27.24 | 26.20 | 26.60 | 12.5M |
| Procter & Gamble | PG | 58.15 | 59.85 | 58.15 | 59.36 | 12.2M |
| Schlumberger | SLB | 41.98 | 43.96 | 41.67 | 42.81 | 10.9M |
| UnitedHealth Group | UNH | 23.65 | 24.48 | 23.46 | 23.78 | 10.7M |
| Union Pacific | UNP | 43.33 | 43.89 | 42.05 | 43.48 | 10.3M |
| Coca-Cola | KO | 44.88 | 45.27 | 43.84 | 44.97 | 10.2M |
| International Business Machines | IBM | 82.51 | 83.54 | 80.00 | 82.77 | 8.85M |
| Boeing | BA | 39.60 | 39.88 | 38.20 | 38.74 | 8.23M |
| United Technologies | UTX | 49.49 | 50.10 | 48.87 | 49.63 | 7.99M |
| McDonald's | MCD | 60.69 | 61.23 | 60.00 | 60.69 | 7.96M |
| Amazon | AMZN | 50.65 | 50.95 | 48.15 | 48.85 | 7.29M |
| Pepsico | PEP | 52.41 | 52.87 | 51.12 | 52.42 | 6.15M |
| Gilead Sciences | GILD | 44.95 | 45.55 | 44.15 | 44.35 | 5.69M |
| 3M | MMM | 56.60 | 56.72 | 54.92 | 55.63 | 5.56M |
| Amgen | AMGN | 57.78 | 58.49 | 57.44 | 57.71 | 5.55M |
| Visa | V | 52.81 | 53.77 | 51.77 | 52.75 | 5.46M |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRK.B | 3210.00 | 3288.50 | 3130.00 | 3166.00 | 41.6K |
Exchange Rates of December 15, 2008
| Currencies | Exchange Rates | ||
| US Dollar | Japanese Yen | 1 USD = 90.640 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.011 USD |
| US Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 USD = 1.233 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.811 USD |
| US Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 USD = 1.159 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.863 USD |
| US Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 USD = 6.849 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.146 USD |
| Euro | Japanese Yen | 1 EUR = 124.040 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR |
| Euro | Pound Sterling | 1 EUR = 0.894 GBP | 1 GBP = 1.118 EUR |
| Euro | Australian Dollar | 1 EUR = 2.047 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.489 EUR |
| Euro | Canadian Dollar | 1 EUR = 1.688 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.593 EUR |
| Euro | Swiss Franc | 1 EUR = 1.587 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.630 EUR |
| Euro | Chinese Yuan | 1 EUR = 9.381 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.107 EUR |
| Japanese Yen | Pound Sterling | 1 JPY = 0.721 GBP | 1 GBP = 1.388 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Australian Dollar | 1 JPY = 1.649 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.606 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Canadian Dollar | 1 JPY = 1.360 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.735 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Swiss Franc | 1 JPY = 1.279 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.782 JPY |
| Pound Sterling | Australian Dollar | 1 GBP = 2.288 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.437 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Canadian Dollar | 1 GBP = 1.887 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.530 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Swiss Franc | 1 GBP = 1.774 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.564 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Chinese Yuan | 1 GBP = 10.471 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.096 GBP |
| Australian Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 AUD = 0.824 CAD | 1 CAD = 1.214 AUD |
| Australian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 AUD = 0.775 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.291 AUD |
| Australian Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 AUD = 4.580 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.218 AUD |
| Canadian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 CAD = 0.940 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.064 CAD |
| Canadian Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 CAD = 5.551 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.180 CAD |
| Swiss Franc | Chinese Yuan | 1 CHF = 5.912 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.169 CHF |
See what else happened on December 15, 2008