Financial news on December 18, 2007
Business and Financial news
As Ethanol Takes Its First Steps, Congress Proposes a Giant Leap
Congress is on the verge of telling American business to create a huge new industry capable of converting agricultural wastes and other plant material into automotive fuel. Read more..
F.C.C. Eases Media Ownership Rule
A restriction preventing a company from owning both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city was loosened. Read more..
Home Prices in South Korea Stalling at a High Point
Over the past year, the once feverish housing market in South Korea has come to a near halt, as buyers and sellers have become scarce. Read more..
Loews to Spin Off Lorillard Tobacco
In a move that would finally separate it from the tobacco business, Loews said it planned to divest its interest in Lorillard Tobacco, the maker of Kent, Newport, Maverick and True. Read more..
Stock Markets
Values are reported in US Dollars
| Stock | Ticker symbol | Open | High | Low | Close | Volume |
| Microsoft | MSFT | 34.64 | 35.00 | 34.21 | 34.74 | 52.8M |
| Cisco Systems | CSCO | 28.14 | 28.47 | 27.58 | 28.15 | 49.9M |
| Intel | INTC | 25.92 | 26.14 | 25.59 | 25.91 | 44.7M |
| Pfizer | PFE | 23.15 | 23.56 | 22.98 | 23.37 | 43.9M |
| Apple | AAPL | 186.52 | 187.33 | 178.60 | 182.98 | 43.7M |
| General Electric | GE | 36.53 | 36.93 | 36.24 | 36.80 | 42.2M |
| Oracle Corp. | ORCL | 21.08 | 21.26 | 20.62 | 21.25 | 38.9M |
| Comcast | CMCSA | 18.09 | 18.13 | 17.97 | 18.08 | 35.4M |
| JPMorgan Chase | JPM | 44.70 | 44.95 | 43.13 | 43.90 | 25.2M |
| ExxonMobil | XOM | 90.50 | 91.54 | 89.04 | 91.42 | 24.6M |
| AT&T Inc. | T | 40.90 | 41.14 | 40.52 | 40.60 | 24.1M |
| Home Depot | HD | 26.22 | 26.60 | 25.57 | 26.47 | 22.4M |
| Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC | 30.31 | 30.68 | 29.65 | 30.32 | 20.3M |
| Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | 48.19 | 48.55 | 46.87 | 48.24 | 16.9M |
| Alphabet | GOOGL | 674.16 | 676.71 | 652.50 | 673.35 | 14.3M |
| ConocoPhillips | COP | 83.06 | 83.88 | 82.18 | 83.54 | 14M |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | BMY | 27.92 | 28.30 | 27.63 | 28.17 | 13.9M |
| Verizon Communications | VZ | 43.42 | 43.94 | 42.98 | 43.81 | 12.4M |
| Abbott Laboratories | ABT | 56.89 | 57.97 | 56.70 | 57.69 | 12.3M |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 67.80 | 67.90 | 67.18 | 67.71 | 12.3M |
| HP Inc. | HPQ | 51.25 | 51.76 | 50.88 | 51.02 | 12M |
| Walt Disney & Co. | DIS | 32.80 | 33.30 | 32.61 | 33.02 | 11.9M |
| Coca-Cola | KO | 62.56 | 62.81 | 61.88 | 62.22 | 11.9M |
| Amgen | AMGN | 46.82 | 47.69 | 46.80 | 47.29 | 10.9M |
| Procter & Gamble | PG | 73.33 | 73.65 | 72.52 | 72.84 | 10.7M |
| Altria | MO | 76.31 | 76.58 | 75.40 | 75.93 | 10.3M |
| Merck | MRK | 59.88 | 60.03 | 59.32 | 59.74 | 9.8M |
| Chevron | CVX | 90.61 | 91.63 | 89.61 | 91.19 | 8.74M |
| International Business Machines | IBM | 104.40 | 106.97 | 104.13 | 106.31 | 8.04M |
| Pepsico | PEP | 77.50 | 78.08 | 76.52 | 77.02 | 7.38M |
| McDonald's | MCD | 60.14 | 60.49 | 59.53 | 59.83 | 7.37M |
| Amazon | AMZN | 85.83 | 87.46 | 83.86 | 86.89 | 7.27M |
| Schlumberger | SLB | 91.69 | 91.69 | 89.04 | 90.39 | 7.04M |
| UnitedHealth Group | UNH | 56.99 | 57.47 | 56.34 | 57.20 | 6.55M |
| Boeing | BA | 87.20 | 87.87 | 86.20 | 87.17 | 5.73M |
| Gilead Sciences | GILD | 45.35 | 46.16 | 45.00 | 45.55 | 5.11M |
| United Technologies | UTX | 75.80 | 76.18 | 74.63 | 75.92 | 4.4M |
| 3M | MMM | 86.21 | 86.31 | 85.03 | 85.85 | 3.08M |
| Union Pacific | UNP | 129.64 | 130.14 | 127.53 | 129.43 | 1.76M |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRK.B | 4515.00 | 4575.00 | 4365.00 | 4510.00 | 44.3K |
Exchange Rates of December 18, 2007
| Currencies | Exchange Rates | ||
| US Dollar | Japanese Yen | 1 USD = 113.360 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.009 USD |
| US Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 USD = 1.005 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.995 USD |
| US Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 USD = 1.152 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.868 USD |
| US Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 USD = 7.385 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.135 USD |
| Euro | Japanese Yen | 1 EUR = 163.430 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.006 EUR |
| Euro | Pound Sterling | 1 EUR = 0.715 GBP | 1 GBP = 1.398 EUR |
| Euro | Australian Dollar | 1 EUR = 1.674 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.597 EUR |
| Euro | Canadian Dollar | 1 EUR = 1.449 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.690 EUR |
| Euro | Swiss Franc | 1 EUR = 1.660 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.602 EUR |
| Japanese Yen | Pound Sterling | 1 JPY = 0.437 GBP | 1 GBP = 2.286 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Australian Dollar | 1 JPY = 1.024 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.976 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Canadian Dollar | 1 JPY = 0.886 CAD | 1 CAD = 1.129 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Swiss Franc | 1 JPY = 1.015 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.985 JPY |
| Pound Sterling | Australian Dollar | 1 GBP = 2.341 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.427 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Canadian Dollar | 1 GBP = 2.025 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.494 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Swiss Franc | 1 GBP = 2.320 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.431 GBP |
| Australian Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 AUD = 0.865 CAD | 1 CAD = 1.157 AUD |
| Australian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 AUD = 0.991 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.009 AUD |
| Canadian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 CAD = 1.145 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.873 CAD |
See what else happened on December 18, 2007