Financial news on August 17, 2010

Business and Financial news
Aisle by Aisle, an App That Pushes Bargains

Major retailers are working with a new smartphone app called Shopkick that tracks and offers promotions to users as they shop. Read more..

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD - The New York Times

Aspen to Acquire Sigma Unit

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, Africa’s largest drugmaker, agreed to buy a unit of Sigma Pharmaceuticals for $806 million in cash to gain assets from a company that’s lost about half its value in the past year, Bloomberg News reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Barclays Agrees to Pay $298 Million for Violating U.S. Trade Law

The Justice Department said Barclays had illegally engaged in financial transactions with banks in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Myanmar. Read more..

By JOHN ELIGON - The New York Times

Canadian Takeover Rules Weigh on Potash

The Deal Professor examines how Potash may find itself with dwindling options in fending off a hostile takeover bid from BHP Billiton because of Canadian restrictions on defensive maneuvers. Read more..

By STEVEN DAVIDOFF SOLOMON - The New York Times

Ellison Jr. in Paramount Deal

David Ellison, son of Oracle founder and chief executive Larry Ellison, has raised $350 million to co-finance movies with Paramount Pictures, The Los Angeles Times reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Morning Take-Out

More purported fraud at for-profit colleges; speculation that the Lehman Brothers case is heating up; what real inflation looks like. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

New Zealand Billionaire to Buy Maker of Hefty Bags

The Reynolds Group, part of the global packaging business owned by New Zealand’s richest man, will pay about $4.4 billion for Pactiv, the maker of the Hefty brand trash bags. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Potash Rejects $38.6 Billion Offer From BHP

Potash, the Canadian fertilizer giant, said on Tuesday that it has rejected a $38.6 billion unsolicited merger offer from BHP Billiton, setting the stage for a potentially massive takeover fight. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Rank Expected to Acquire Pactiv

Pactiv is poised to announce a deal to be acquired by New Zealand’s Rank Group, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

WarmlyYours

Julia Billen explains how she have saved her floor heating systems company from the claws of the recession. Read more..

None None - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Cisco Systems CSCO 22.07 22.29 21.95 22.05 82.9M
General Electric GE 15.66 15.74 15.50 15.58 60.9M
Intel INTC 19.72 19.87 19.50 19.53 60.8M
Microsoft MSFT 24.71 24.96 24.60 24.71 52.9M
Pfizer PFE 16.23 16.40 16.13 16.27 50.5M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 25.96 26.01 25.21 25.34 49.5M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 37.97 38.07 37.40 37.48 33.9M
AT&T Inc. T 26.70 27.10 26.70 26.97 27.5M
HP Inc. HPQ 40.99 41.35 40.72 40.82 23.6M
Comcast CMCSA 17.88 18.01 17.72 17.76 23M
Home Depot HD 28.03 28.80 27.71 28.31 22.5M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 22.86 23.24 22.72 23.05 22.5M
ExxonMobil XOM 60.49 61.16 60.14 60.82 20.1M
Verizon Communications VZ 30.10 30.38 29.99 30.17 17.7M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 50.79 51.62 50.66 51.02 16.3M
Altria MO 22.72 22.99 22.53 22.92 15.2M
Apple AAPL 250.08 254.63 249.20 251.97 15.1M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 58.93 59.48 58.50 59.22 13.5M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 50.50 50.89 50.25 50.69 12.6M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 26.40 26.79 26.26 26.59 12.3M
ConocoPhillips COP 55.38 56.25 54.93 55.87 11.6M
Procter & Gamble PG 60.31 60.92 59.93 60.29 10.9M
Merck MRK 35.19 35.62 34.94 35.54 10.7M
Gilead Sciences GILD 34.03 34.60 33.77 34.16 10.2M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 33.92 33.99 33.51 33.76 9.88M
Coca-Cola KO 56.02 56.42 55.50 56.12 9.03M
McDonald's MCD 72.08 73.65 71.74 73.22 7.39M
Chevron CVX 77.57 78.08 77.08 77.77 7.36M
United Technologies UTX 70.85 71.33 69.91 70.51 6.49M
Schlumberger SLB 60.00 60.99 59.64 60.31 5.84M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 32.23 32.58 31.98 32.35 5.54M
Amazon AMZN 127.34 129.98 126.79 128.86 5.04M
Amgen AMGN 53.89 54.38 53.69 53.96 5M
3M MMM 82.94 84.89 82.67 84.09 4.37M
Pepsico PEP 65.68 66.00 65.22 65.55 4.36M
Boeing BA 65.16 66.91 64.65 65.99 4.3M
International Business Machines IBM 128.83 129.85 127.91 128.45 4.3M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 77.47 78.19 77.00 77.53 4.12M
Alphabet GOOGL 488.53 494.70 486.03 490.52 3.78M
Visa V 73.45 73.77 72.44 73.36 3.33M
Union Pacific UNP 73.98 75.68 73.98 74.85 2.57M
Exchange Rates of August 17, 2010
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 85.560 JPY 1 JPY = 0.012 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.033 CAD 1 CAD = 0.968 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.043 CHF 1 CHF = 0.958 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.793 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 110.210 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.827 GBP 1 GBP = 1.209 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.422 AUD 1 AUD = 0.703 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.330 CAD 1 CAD = 0.752 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.344 CHF 1 CHF = 0.744 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 8.749 CNY 1 CNY = 0.114 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.750 GBP 1 GBP = 1.333 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.290 AUD 1 AUD = 0.775 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.207 CAD 1 CAD = 0.829 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.219 CHF 1 CHF = 0.820 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.720 AUD 1 AUD = 0.581 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.608 CAD 1 CAD = 0.622 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.625 CHF 1 CHF = 0.615 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.570 CNY 1 CNY = 0.095 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.935 CAD 1 CAD = 1.070 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.945 CHF 1 CHF = 1.059 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.150 CNY 1 CNY = 0.163 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.010 CHF 1 CHF = 0.990 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.576 CNY 1 CNY = 0.152 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.508 CNY 1 CNY = 0.154 CHF

See what else happened on August 17, 2010