Financial news on May 19, 2009

Business and Financial news
Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling Payers

With Congress on the verge of limiting penalties on delinquent borrowers, credit card companies are expected to turn to their best customers to make up the difference. Read more..

By ANDREW MARTIN - The New York Times

Efforts to Repay Bailouts May Undercut Benefit for Taxpayers

The price that the government accepts for warrants to buy bank stock could determine whether taxpayers make a profit or a loss. Read more..

By ERIC DASH - The New York Times

Feuding at the Central Bank

The bank has started to buy assets in an attempt to help revive the economy, but its leaders cannot agree on how far to go and when to stop. Read more..

By PAUL TAYLOR - The New York Times

Ford Rejects Big Cuts in Dealer Network

Ford said it has made reductions in the number of dealers, but fewer than those announced by G.M. and Chrysler. Read more..

By BILL VLASIC - The New York Times

Guide to New Credit Card Rules

New York Times columnist Ron Lieber finds that there is some cause for concern in the sweeping credit card legislation that passed the Senate on Tuesday. Read more..

Eric Owles - The New York Times

Justices to Hear Conrad Black Appeal

Conrad Black will try to persuade the Supreme Court to overturn his fraud conviction regarding Hollinger International. Read more..

By THE NEW YORK TIMES - The New York Times

Passengers’ Advocates See Progress

Legislation in Congress calls on airlines to provide certain services for passengers stuck on the runway, but battles continue over whether to permit them to get off the plane while they wait. Read more..

By SUSAN STELLIN - The New York Times

Seeking a Missing Link, and a Mass Audience

A media pile-on will announce a 47-million-year-old primate. Read more..

By TIM ARANGO - The New York Times

The Race to Harness Hydrates

Estimates of global natural gas hydrates remain vague, but one U.S. government estimate says that the energy from hydrates could exceed that of all other known fossil fuels. Read more..

By YASMINE RYAN - International Herald Tribune

The Race to Provide Wi-Fi at 30,000 Feet

Airlines are spending about $100,000 a plane to install the Wi-Fi equipment, and will in turn charge passengers to use the service. Read more..

By JOE SHARKEY - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 27.02 27.08 25.40 25.40 96.8M
General Electric GE 13.64 13.96 13.49 13.70 92.1M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 37.30 37.68 35.77 35.81 59.9M
Intel INTC 15.47 15.91 15.27 15.65 59M
Cisco Systems CSCO 18.71 19.35 18.64 18.88 53.8M
Microsoft MSFT 20.51 20.74 20.25 20.31 51.4M
Home Depot HD 25.39 25.40 24.00 24.63 39.9M
Pfizer PFE 15.19 15.29 15.02 15.10 34.1M
HP Inc. HPQ 35.97 36.98 35.61 36.58 26.1M
AT&T Inc. T 24.75 24.84 24.63 24.67 24.9M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 18.79 19.21 18.77 18.97 23.4M
ExxonMobil XOM 70.31 71.13 70.07 70.52 20.9M
Comcast CMCSA 15.18 15.38 14.95 15.00 19.8M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 43.24 43.55 42.75 42.88 16.6M
Coca-Cola KO 46.14 46.93 45.82 46.64 15.9M
Merck MRK 25.74 25.90 25.30 25.77 15.6M
Procter & Gamble PG 52.57 53.51 52.27 52.95 15.2M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 49.92 50.00 49.35 49.36 14.6M
ConocoPhillips COP 45.86 46.52 45.75 45.90 14.5M
Chevron CVX 65.98 66.25 65.66 65.86 14.2M
Altria MO 16.89 16.92 16.67 16.81 13.7M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 56.21 56.21 55.70 55.89 13.4M
Apple AAPL 126.82 129.31 125.74 127.45 13.3M
Verizon Communications VZ 29.79 29.87 29.53 29.65 12M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 24.25 24.40 23.75 23.82 11.9M
Visa V 66.03 66.31 64.29 64.80 11.4M
Gilead Sciences GILD 43.15 43.18 42.10 42.69 10M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 20.40 20.60 20.26 20.36 9.81M
Schlumberger SLB 54.01 54.70 52.65 54.01 8.59M
Amazon AMZN 75.43 78.96 75.12 77.87 8.03M
Amgen AMGN 49.29 50.08 49.07 49.94 7.66M
Pepsico PEP 51.29 52.10 51.10 51.61 7.58M
International Business Machines IBM 104.33 106.12 104.00 105.51 7.08M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 27.71 28.21 27.25 27.46 6.93M
McDonald's MCD 54.34 54.46 53.72 53.87 6.33M
Alphabet GOOGL 396.10 401.64 393.00 398.88 5.67M
United Technologies UTX 52.84 53.17 52.21 52.30 5.57M
Boeing BA 44.36 45.06 43.90 44.62 4.79M
3M MMM 59.07 59.50 58.25 59.00 4.1M
Union Pacific UNP 48.68 49.49 47.97 48.17 3.57M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 2933.00 3012.00 2933.00 3000.00 31K
Exchange Rates of May 19, 2009
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 96.020 JPY 1 JPY = 0.010 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.156 CAD 1 CAD = 0.865 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.109 CHF 1 CHF = 0.901 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.825 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 130.850 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.881 GBP 1 GBP = 1.136 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.761 AUD 1 AUD = 0.568 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.575 CAD 1 CAD = 0.635 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.512 CHF 1 CHF = 0.662 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.315 CNY 1 CNY = 0.107 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.673 GBP 1 GBP = 1.486 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.346 AUD 1 AUD = 0.743 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.203 CAD 1 CAD = 0.831 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.155 CHF 1 CHF = 0.866 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.000 AUD 1 AUD = 0.500 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.789 CAD 1 CAD = 0.559 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.716 CHF 1 CHF = 0.583 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.565 CNY 1 CNY = 0.095 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.894 CAD 1 CAD = 1.119 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.858 CHF 1 CHF = 1.166 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 5.294 CNY 1 CNY = 0.189 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.959 CHF 1 CHF = 1.042 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 5.908 CNY 1 CNY = 0.169 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.159 CNY 1 CNY = 0.162 CHF

See what else happened on May 19, 2009