Financial news on August 16, 2006

Business and Financial news
3M Will Expand Buyback

By Bloomberg News. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

British Airport Operator Faulted for Not Hiring Temps

Critics said that because of BAA’s limited ability to pass any additional costs on to the airlines, it had no real incentive to spend money to hire more workers. Read more..

By HEATHER TIMMONS - The New York Times

F.B.I. Calls Ex-Comverse Chief a Fugitive, and Casts a Wide Net

Jacob Alexander was charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud in relation to a suspect stock options scheme. He did not show up for his arraignment. Read more..

By JULIE CRESWELL - The New York Times

Monsanto Buys Delta and Pine Land, Top Supplier of Cotton Seeds in U.S.

Monsanto will acquire the Delta and Pine Land Company, the nation’s leading supplier of cotton seeds, in a move that would add to Monsanto’s commanding position in the business of biotechnology crops. Read more..

By ANDREW POLLACK - The New York Times

Office Tenants Eager for Early Renewals

Manhattan’s office market has been so robust this year that some real estate brokers said firms are renewing their leases early to lock in rents. Read more..

By ALISON GREGOR - The New York Times

Pfizer’s New Leader Realigns Top Positions

Pfizer’s new chief executive, Jeffrey B. Kindler, has moved to put his stamp on the drug maker with a wide-ranging executive reorganization. Read more..

By ALEX BERENSON - The New York Times

Rank Colleges, but Rank Them Right

Do we spend too much time worrying about college rankings? Or not nearly enough? Read more..

By DAVID LEONHARDT - The New York Times

What Working in I.T. Really Means

I used to believe that I.T. people didn't like Macs because they are less trouble-prone and would make their jobs obsolete. Today, however, I'm convinced that it's a myth. Read more..

By DAVID POGUE - The New York Times

With Its Stock Still Lackluster, G.E. Confronts the Curse of the Conglomerate

Investors seem to have trouble understanding that General Electric’s wildly disparate units march to the same corporate tune. Read more..

By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Intel INTC 18.27 18.69 18.13 18.61 68.5M
Cisco Systems CSCO 20.80 21.14 20.59 21.10 65.3M
Microsoft MSFT 24.61 24.73 24.47 24.70 52.4M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 15.74 15.75 15.41 15.54 49.6M
Pfizer PFE 26.35 26.81 26.35 26.75 28.4M
Apple AAPL 67.10 68.07 66.33 67.98 27.9M
ExxonMobil XOM 68.30 68.94 67.31 67.57 26.5M
HP Inc. HPQ 34.20 36.23 34.08 34.43 25.1M
General Electric GE 33.37 33.84 33.32 33.71 23.9M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 44.55 44.68 44.05 44.43 16.5M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 20.91 21.15 20.85 21.08 15.2M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 49.00 49.28 48.85 49.28 14M
Comcast CMCSA 34.75 34.80 34.06 34.14 12.6M
Home Depot HD 34.55 34.61 34.02 34.50 12.5M
Alphabet GOOGL 383.48 388.45 382.12 387.72 11.7M
Amgen AMGN 66.08 67.00 65.61 66.61 10.8M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 29.71 29.76 29.56 29.71 9.92M
Chevron CVX 66.15 67.00 64.95 65.41 9.47M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 45.44 45.65 45.12 45.47 8.81M
AT&T Inc. T 30.40 30.40 30.24 30.25 8.49M
ConocoPhillips COP 67.18 67.74 66.13 66.70 8.18M
Verizon Communications VZ 34.39 34.42 34.16 34.23 7.95M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 35.20 35.38 35.08 35.23 7.87M
Amazon AMZN 27.97 28.14 27.52 27.95 7.64M
International Business Machines IBM 77.45 79.28 77.35 79.09 7.39M
Schlumberger SLB 63.50 64.96 62.78 63.43 7.2M
Merck MRK 41.25 41.42 40.97 41.18 6.86M
Altria MO 81.02 81.02 80.41 80.74 6.79M
Procter & Gamble PG 60.38 60.56 60.23 60.42 6.61M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 64.48 64.75 64.42 64.61 5.71M
3M MMM 70.30 70.94 70.15 70.79 5.24M
Coca-Cola KO 44.39 44.46 44.21 44.33 4.92M
Gilead Sciences GILD 62.63 64.06 62.55 64.00 4.87M
McDonald's MCD 35.59 35.99 35.43 35.97 4.41M
Boeing BA 77.20 78.95 76.86 78.83 4.18M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 48.29 48.50 47.84 48.14 4.1M
Pepsico PEP 63.45 63.58 63.13 63.29 3.39M
United Technologies UTX 61.25 62.49 61.00 62.17 2.63M
Union Pacific UNP 82.60 84.68 81.99 84.59 1.89M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3075.00 3162.00 3075.00 3145.00 30.4K
Exchange Rates of August 16, 2006
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 115.820 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.119 CAD 1 CAD = 0.894 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.229 CHF 1 CHF = 0.813 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7.988 CNY 1 CNY = 0.125 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 148.720 JPY 1 JPY = 0.007 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.677 GBP 1 GBP = 1.477 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.670 AUD 1 AUD = 0.599 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.437 CAD 1 CAD = 0.696 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.579 CHF 1 CHF = 0.634 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.455 GBP 1 GBP = 2.198 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.123 AUD 1 AUD = 0.891 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.966 CAD 1 CAD = 1.036 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.061 CHF 1 CHF = 0.942 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.468 AUD 1 AUD = 0.405 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.123 CAD 1 CAD = 0.471 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2.331 CHF 1 CHF = 0.429 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.859 CAD 1 CAD = 1.164 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.944 CHF 1 CHF = 1.059 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.098 CHF 1 CHF = 0.911 CAD

See what else happened on August 16, 2006