Financial news on October 18, 2007

Business and Financial news
A Headache for Small Drug Makers

The F.D.A. has begun to crack down on the thousands of drugs, often made by small companies, that have never had to go through the agency’s stringent approval process. Read more..

By BRENT BOWERS - The New York Times

A Move to Let Logos Carry More of the Message

The new logo for the New Museum of Contemporary Art will be featured in a campaign to promote the institution’s move to a new home in downtown Manhattan. Read more..

By ERIC PFANNER - The New York Times

Cisco Offices Are Raided in Brazil

Brazilian law enforcement officials raided the offices of Cisco Systems and arrested top executives as part of a continuing investigation into a smuggling and tax fraud scheme. Read more..

By DOW JONES - The New York Times

European Will Oversee Accounting Standards

The International Accounting Standards Committee has been pressured by some European politicians who want the board to be more accountable to governments. Read more..

By FLOYD NORRIS - The New York Times

Judge Postpones KPMG Trial

A federal judge has disqualified a defense lawyer for a former KPMG partner in the government’s high-profile tax shelter case, a surprise twist on the eve of the trial. Read more..

By LYNNLEY BROWNING - The New York Times

MySpace Needs Internal Not External Developers

MySpace will have new tools for people to develop programs for its site. MySpace has always been open, more so than Facebook. But it hasn’t done much to improve its own site. Read more..

By SAUL HANSELL - The New York Times

Plan Would Ease Limits on Media Owners

An F.C.C. proposal to relax decades-old rules would be a big victory for some executives of media conglomerates. Read more..

By STEPHEN LABATON - The New York Times

Seeing Sugar’s Future in Fuel

After seeing Midwestern farmers improve their lot by selling corn to ethanol distilleries, sugar cane and sugar beet growers want their own ethanol deal, paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Read more..

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS - The New York Times

Taxes in Developed Nations Reach 36% of Gross Domestic Product

The cost of government has risen about 20 percent since 1975, when taxes accounted for less than 30 percent of the gross domestic product of the O.E.C.D.’s member countries. Read more..

By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON - The New York Times

Winning Bid Picked for Stake in Aeroméxico

The Mexican government said it would sell its controlling stake in Aeroméxico to an investor group that includes Banamex, the Mexican subsidiary of Citigroup. Read more..

By ELISABETH MALKIN - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Intel INTC 26.51 26.98 26.47 26.97 66.2M
Microsoft MSFT 31.22 31.23 30.63 31.16 49.2M
Pfizer PFE 24.55 24.91 24.52 24.54 43.1M
Cisco Systems CSCO 32.19 32.93 32.18 32.68 33.2M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 21.49 21.58 21.11 21.43 32.3M
General Electric GE 40.93 41.00 40.52 40.79 32.2M
Apple AAPL 171.50 174.19 171.05 173.50 29.4M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 33.72 33.91 33.30 33.50 28.6M
Alphabet GOOGL 635.41 641.37 628.50 639.62 24.6M
AT&T Inc. T 41.86 42.35 41.71 41.81 21.1M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 49.00 49.00 47.92 48.10 20.6M
ExxonMobil XOM 94.63 95.24 94.15 95.05 20.5M
Comcast CMCSA 24.13 24.31 23.81 24.07 20.1M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 46.10 46.13 45.45 45.90 19.4M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 45.78 46.04 45.34 45.89 19M
Home Depot HD 31.60 32.01 31.38 31.68 17.9M
Gilead Sciences GILD 42.60 43.99 42.57 43.51 14.2M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 65.24 65.32 64.69 64.90 13.5M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 51.30 52.03 51.19 51.67 12.3M
ConocoPhillips COP 87.01 88.21 86.82 88.01 10.8M
Coca-Cola KO 59.04 59.65 58.77 59.36 10.4M
Chevron CVX 93.07 93.75 92.00 92.42 10M
Altria MO 71.17 71.30 70.75 70.89 9.86M
Verizon Communications VZ 45.15 45.44 44.80 44.97 9.85M
HP Inc. HPQ 52.49 53.00 52.02 52.87 8.66M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 35.31 35.40 34.71 34.78 8.5M
Procter & Gamble PG 70.55 71.00 70.50 70.90 8.08M
International Business Machines IBM 114.82 116.41 114.44 114.80 7.74M
Schlumberger SLB 110.46 111.87 109.68 111.62 7.67M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 29.53 29.82 29.40 29.58 7.48M
Merck MRK 53.00 53.65 52.99 53.39 6.78M
Boeing BA 95.36 97.15 94.80 96.94 6.76M
Amgen AMGN 56.28 56.96 56.02 56.71 6.64M
United Technologies UTX 76.77 78.24 76.52 77.43 6.54M
Union Pacific UNP 118.90 127.17 118.90 125.93 5.9M
Amazon AMZN 89.37 90.43 89.15 89.85 5.33M
McDonald's MCD 56.89 57.10 56.67 56.79 3.71M
Pepsico PEP 72.07 72.44 71.71 71.88 3.43M
3M MMM 94.28 95.36 93.23 94.73 2.5M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 4320.00 4324.00 4275.00 4300.00 17.3K
Exchange Rates of October 18, 2007
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 115.600 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 0.974 CAD 1 CAD = 1.027 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.170 CHF 1 CHF = 0.854 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7.511 CNY 1 CNY = 0.133 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 165.140 JPY 1 JPY = 0.006 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.699 GBP 1 GBP = 1.430 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.597 AUD 1 AUD = 0.626 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.391 CAD 1 CAD = 0.719 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.672 CHF 1 CHF = 0.598 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.423 GBP 1 GBP = 2.363 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.966 AUD 1 AUD = 1.035 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.842 CAD 1 CAD = 1.188 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.012 CHF 1 CHF = 0.988 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.283 AUD 1 AUD = 0.438 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.989 CAD 1 CAD = 0.503 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2.390 CHF 1 CHF = 0.418 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.871 CAD 1 CAD = 1.149 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 1.047 CHF 1 CHF = 0.956 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.202 CHF 1 CHF = 0.832 CAD

See what else happened on October 18, 2007