Financial news on December 16, 2008

Business and Financial news
As Orders Decline, Industrial Production Drops 0.6%

The country’s output of cars, automotive goods, home electronics, appliances and furniture tumbled in November in the face of declining orders. Read more..

By JACK HEALY - The New York Times

Big Oil Projects Put in Jeopardy by Fall in Prices

Price cuts are welcome at the pump, but delays may cut future supplies, setting the stage for another price surge. Read more..

By JAD MOUAWAD - The New York Times

Fed Cuts Key Rate to a Record Low

Having reduced its key rate to a record low, the Fed said that it would use “all available tools” to fight the recession and downward pressure on prices. Read more..

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and JACKIE CALMES - The New York Times

Global Car Industry Fearful for Detroit

There are growing concerns that the automakers’ problems in the United States will weigh down their more successful units in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Read more..

By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ - The New York Times

GMAC Closer to Goal of Being a Bank

GMAC investors holding about $10.5 billion in bonds agreed to new terms of a debt swap, bringing the company closer to becoming a bank and getting a bailout. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Inquiry Finds No Signs Family Aided Madoff

Investigators have found no evidence so far that members of Bernard L. Madoff’s family aided in what may be the largest financial fraud in history, according to a person briefed on the case. Read more..

By ALEX BERENSON and DIANA B. HENRIQUES - The New York Times

Murdoch Investors Are Groaning

Though it may count as a corporate finance achievement, Rupert Murdoch’s gambit for Dow Jones has played out poorly for his investors. Read more..

By ROB COX and LAUREN SILVA - The New York Times

S.E.C. Image Suffers in a String of Setbacks

The Securities and Exchange Commission is finding itself conducting autopsies of financial institutions after failing, in the first instance, to perform adequate biopsies. Read more..

By STEPHEN LABATON - The New York Times

Siemens to Pay $1.34 Billion in Fines

By agreeing to the record fines, the German engineering conglomerate closes the book on wide-ranging criminal investigations in the United States and Germany. Read more..

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and CARTER DOUGHERTY - The New York Times

Wall St. Fraud Leaves Charities Reeling

Around the country, nonprofits are reeling from the Madoff scandal. Read more..

By STEPHANIE STROM - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
General Electric GE 17.13 18.13 17.01 17.92 119M
Intel INTC 14.72 15.68 14.62 15.64 101M
Microsoft MSFT 19.21 20.18 19.00 20.11 97.7M
Cisco Systems CSCO 17.04 17.45 16.69 17.42 77.8M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 29.01 32.75 28.84 32.35 75.8M
Pfizer PFE 16.75 17.57 16.74 17.36 66.5M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 26.47 29.82 26.45 29.78 64.9M
ExxonMobil XOM 80.41 83.64 80.07 83.14 58.5M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 16.62 17.40 16.51 17.27 57.3M
Altria MO 15.29 15.36 14.42 14.54 50.8M
AT&T Inc. T 27.25 28.40 27.06 28.23 44.7M
Apple AAPL 93.98 96.48 92.75 95.43 39.1M
Comcast CMCSA 15.45 16.50 15.43 16.45 31.9M
Verizon Communications VZ 32.75 34.30 32.25 33.50 30.8M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 22.23 22.87 22.08 22.50 29.2M
Home Depot HD 23.73 24.59 22.88 24.32 26.2M
Chevron CVX 78.95 80.06 77.96 79.01 23.3M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 55.01 55.97 54.14 55.24 23M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 23.04 24.17 22.57 23.78 22.3M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 52.03 53.44 51.67 53.16 20.1M
HP Inc. HPQ 35.33 36.55 34.94 36.32 19.5M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 58.45 59.75 57.63 59.60 17.9M
ConocoPhillips COP 52.71 54.36 52.30 54.13 17.8M
Procter & Gamble PG 59.90 61.75 59.58 61.62 17.8M
Coca-Cola KO 45.27 46.79 44.73 46.46 17.5M
Schlumberger SLB 43.62 43.90 41.15 42.88 15.9M
Merck MRK 27.05 28.10 26.48 27.91 15.8M
Gilead Sciences GILD 45.22 47.95 45.22 47.87 14.2M
Alphabet GOOGL 314.52 329.50 311.27 325.28 14.1M
McDonald's MCD 61.14 63.00 60.91 62.92 13.5M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 23.06 24.89 22.50 24.35 11.9M
International Business Machines IBM 83.11 86.84 82.87 86.40 11.6M
Boeing BA 39.21 42.00 38.20 41.90 11M
Pepsico PEP 52.91 54.42 52.51 54.21 9.41M
3M MMM 55.57 58.60 55.31 58.32 9.33M
United Technologies UTX 50.65 51.82 49.08 51.67 9.02M
Amgen AMGN 57.89 59.50 57.84 59.38 8.88M
Amazon AMZN 49.62 52.96 49.29 52.63 8.86M
Union Pacific UNP 43.97 47.45 43.97 46.90 7.87M
Visa V 53.30 54.78 52.74 54.77 7.68M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3170.00 3342.00 3166.00 3328.00 43.1K
Exchange Rates of December 16, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 89.040 JPY 1 JPY = 0.011 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.205 CAD 1 CAD = 0.830 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.124 CHF 1 CHF = 0.890 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.846 CNY 1 CNY = 0.146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 124.780 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.900 GBP 1 GBP = 1.112 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 2.018 AUD 1 AUD = 0.495 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.688 CAD 1 CAD = 0.592 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.575 CHF 1 CHF = 0.635 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.607 CNY 1 CNY = 0.104 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.721 GBP 1 GBP = 1.388 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.617 AUD 1 AUD = 0.619 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.353 CAD 1 CAD = 0.739 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.262 CHF 1 CHF = 0.793 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.242 AUD 1 AUD = 0.446 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.876 CAD 1 CAD = 0.533 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.751 CHF 1 CHF = 0.571 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.646 CNY 1 CNY = 0.094 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.836 CAD 1 CAD = 1.197 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.780 CHF 1 CHF = 1.283 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 4.760 CNY 1 CNY = 0.210 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.932 CHF 1 CHF = 1.073 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 5.682 CNY 1 CNY = 0.176 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.089 CNY 1 CNY = 0.164 CHF

See what else happened on December 16, 2008