Financial news on February 19, 2009

Business and Financial news
5 Big Papers to Share Articles and Photos

Papers from New York, Albany, Buffalo, Newark and Hackensack, N.J., are forming an alliance. Read more..

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA - The New York Times

Details on Obama’s Housing Plan Are Pending, but First Some Answers

The Obama administration’s housing plan aims to help homeowners who fall into two categories: those struggling to pay their mortgages and those shut out of the refinancing market. Read more..

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD - The New York Times

Fed Chief Defends Steps Taken to Contain Crisis

Ben S. Bernanke vowed to do whatever it took to pull the economy out of its downward spiral, even as he acknowledged that recent indicators were “dismal.” Read more..

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS - The New York Times

G.M. Says New Loan Is Adequate to Save It

G.M. projects a $6.6 billion surplus by 2012, but the Obama administration must decide if that is realistic as it reviews the company’s latest loan request. Read more..

By BILL VLASIC and NICK BUNKLEY - The New York Times

Hewlett-Packard’s Profit Declines 13%

Sales at Hewlett-Packard felt the waning demand for technology products worldwide, but managed to meet earnings expectations. Read more..

By ASHLEE VANCE - The New York Times

Low-Tech Fixes for High-Tech Problems

When your credit card won’t swipe, reach for a plastic bag. And put your cellphone in the fridge. Read more..

By PAUL BOUTIN - The New York Times

MBIA Splits Off Its Municipal Bond Business

MBIA said the move was a first step toward helping to unfreeze the public finance capital markets in the United States. Read more..

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH - The New York Times

Music Rights in iTunes

What does it mean when iTunes music is “D.R.M.-free”? Does that mean I can play the files on other types of players? Read more..

By J .D. BIERSDORFER - The New York Times

Outsourcing of Drug Trials Is Faulted

A research article states that volunteers for medical trials in foreign countries may be unduly influenced. Read more..

By NATASHA SINGER - The New York Times

Yahoo Shows Search Ads With Images and Video

The struggling search engine is trying to win business back from its big rival, Google, by improving click-through rates. Read more..

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
General Electric GE 10.94 10.98 9.95 10.06 157M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 12.91 13.75 11.94 12.01 129M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 22.04 22.30 20.54 20.60 66.5M
HP Inc. HPQ 32.79 32.92 30.67 31.39 57M
Intel INTC 13.33 13.38 12.67 12.68 56.2M
Microsoft MSFT 18.30 18.38 17.81 17.91 49.2M
Cisco Systems CSCO 15.48 15.52 15.01 15.04 43M
Pfizer PFE 14.30 14.43 13.98 14.03 41.3M
Comcast CMCSA 12.68 13.39 12.58 12.99 40.2M
Apple AAPL 93.37 94.25 90.11 90.64 33M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 17.34 17.37 16.80 16.83 32.8M
ExxonMobil XOM 71.82 72.96 71.77 72.16 31.2M
AT&T Inc. T 23.26 23.63 23.11 23.19 28M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 49.44 50.67 49.44 50.45 27.3M
Home Depot HD 19.95 20.44 19.93 20.16 20.4M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 17.78 18.01 17.22 17.69 19.6M
Altria MO 15.07 15.85 15.07 15.70 16.6M
Verizon Communications VZ 28.49 28.67 27.92 27.99 15.8M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 53.64 54.80 53.64 54.46 14.8M
ConocoPhillips COP 42.63 42.93 41.54 41.79 14.2M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 21.10 21.13 20.44 20.51 14.2M
Procter & Gamble PG 51.50 52.05 51.03 51.13 13.5M
International Business Machines IBM 91.69 92.16 88.45 88.93 12.6M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 56.48 56.50 55.63 55.93 12.2M
Schlumberger SLB 38.96 39.76 38.29 38.54 10.7M
Chevron CVX 65.99 67.71 65.99 66.68 10.2M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 28.58 29.39 28.28 28.65 10.1M
Alphabet GOOGL 357.50 359.80 341.41 342.64 9.97M
Coca-Cola KO 43.11 43.72 42.68 43.30 9.91M
Merck MRK 28.93 29.00 28.46 28.53 9.86M
Union Pacific UNP 39.85 40.94 38.65 39.23 9.83M
McDonald's MCD 55.92 57.11 55.31 55.31 9.52M
Visa V 56.95 57.90 55.49 55.63 8.78M
Pepsico PEP 51.27 52.55 51.00 52.20 6.86M
Amazon AMZN 62.84 64.18 61.67 61.95 6.77M
Amgen AMGN 57.83 57.97 56.98 57.08 6.5M
Gilead Sciences GILD 49.84 50.15 49.04 49.04 6.24M
3M MMM 46.58 48.04 46.58 47.07 5.55M
United Technologies UTX 45.20 45.93 44.61 44.72 5.53M
Boeing BA 38.24 38.70 37.42 37.57 5.47M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 2606.00 2677.00 2500.00 2516.50 74.7K
Exchange Rates of February 19, 2009
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 94.170 JPY 1 JPY = 0.011 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.258 CAD 1 CAD = 0.795 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.173 CHF 1 CHF = 0.852 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.836 CNY 1 CNY = 0.146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 119.370 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.886 GBP 1 GBP = 1.129 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.968 AUD 1 AUD = 0.508 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.594 CAD 1 CAD = 0.627 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.487 CHF 1 CHF = 0.673 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.742 GBP 1 GBP = 1.347 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.649 AUD 1 AUD = 0.607 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.335 CAD 1 CAD = 0.749 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.246 CHF 1 CHF = 0.803 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.220 AUD 1 AUD = 0.451 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.798 CAD 1 CAD = 0.556 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.677 CHF 1 CHF = 0.596 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.810 CAD 1 CAD = 1.235 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.755 CHF 1 CHF = 1.324 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.932 CHF 1 CHF = 1.073 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 5.432 CNY 1 CNY = 0.184 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 5.821 CNY 1 CNY = 0.172 CHF

See what else happened on February 19, 2009