Financial news on August 20, 2008

Business and Financial news
A Small Empire Built on Cuddly and Fuzzy Branches Out From the Web

Given all the nastiness on the Internet -- blog trolls, flame wars, vicious gossip, pornography, snark and spam -- what better antidote is there than looking at pictures of cute animals? Read more..

By DAN MITCHELL - The New York Times

California Licenses 2 Companies to Offer Gene Services

Two closely watched companies that offer consumers information about their genes have received licenses that will allow them to continue to do business in California. Read more..

By ANDREW POLLACK - The New York Times

China: Olympics Help Tsingtao Sales

Tsingtao Brewery, China’s largest beer company by sales, said first-half profit rose 32 percent after publicity from sponsoring the Beijing Olympics increased demand. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Hewlett’s Printing Business Struggles

Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest technology company, continues to roll along financially -- except in one traditional core business -- its printing business. Read more..

By MATT RICHTEL - The New York Times

Higher Costs Are Taking a Toll on Business

Businesses have been passing the costs on to consumers, just as joblessness expands and spending power shrinks. Read more..

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and PETER S. GOODMAN - The New York Times

It May Be a Jungle Out There, but No Longer in the Lobby

The interior landscaping industry finds itself in a difficult place as tastes seem to be leaning toward fewer plants in building lobbies. Read more..

By C. J. HUGHES - The New York Times

News Corp. Reports Murdoch’s Income

The News Corporation reported compensation of $27.5 million for its chairman, Rupert Murdoch, for its 2008 fiscal year. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Owner Gives Executives Time to Fix Chrysler

Top Chrysler executives are determined to fix the company, and executives at Cerberus Capital, Chrysler’s new private-equity owner, say they will get the chance. Read more..

By BILL VLASIC - The New York Times

Some Investors Say U.S. Bailout of Housing Giants Is Inevitable

Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined almost 25 percent on concerns that the companies will need a bailout from the federal government. Read more..

By CHARLES DUHIGG and VIKAS BAJAJ - The New York Times

South Africa: Diamond Prices Up 16%

De Beers, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds, said prices had increased an average of 16 percent since the beginning of the year. Read more..

By DOW JONES - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Intel INTC 23,74 23,80 23,15 23,39 54.2M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 28,01 29,01 27,17 28,92 52.8M
Microsoft MSFT 27,54 27,58 27,17 27,29 41.5M
General Electric GE 28,74 28,93 28,09 28,65 40.7M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 35,52 37,07 35,02 37,00 39.1M
HP Inc. HPQ 45,00 46,36 44,80 46,16 33.2M
Cisco Systems CSCO 24,34 24,48 24,01 24,23 32M
Pfizer PFE 19,36 19,43 19,06 19,28 30.3M
ExxonMobil XOM 78,54 79,66 77,38 78,81 26M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 22,68 22,95 22,50 22,66 21.9M
AT&T Inc. T 30,96 31,01 30,39 30,69 21M
Home Depot HD 26,01 26,44 25,67 25,97 19M
Apple AAPL 174,77 176,94 173,61 175,84 18.1M
Comcast CMCSA 21,66 21,75 21,10 21,28 17M
ConocoPhillips COP 80,09 81,16 79,44 80,85 16.6M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 58,52 58,65 57,68 58,36 12.9M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 31,86 32,20 31,40 31,82 12.4M
Chevron CVX 85,32 87,00 84,50 86,46 11.7M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 21,49 21,83 21,34 21,52 11.6M
Verizon Communications VZ 34,35 34,75 33,83 34,45 11.5M
Procter & Gamble PG 70,68 70,76 69,68 70,30 11M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 71,18 71,55 70,59 71,08 10.3M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 58,66 58,97 57,88 58,34 9.88M
Merck MRK 35,25 35,43 34,70 34,94 9.69M
Amgen AMGN 64,05 64,29 63,40 63,57 9.58M
Schlumberger SLB 93,90 96,10 92,92 95,62 8.89M
Altria MO 21,07 21,07 20,75 20,99 8.34M
Alphabet GOOGL 494,72 496,69 482,57 485,00 7.96M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 30,95 30,96 29,89 30,24 7.08M
International Business Machines IBM 123,50 123,97 122,01 122,51 6.87M
Gilead Sciences GILD 55,07 55,55 54,13 54,62 5.97M
Amazon AMZN 82,00 83,25 81,20 82,13 5.95M
Coca-Cola KO 54,55 54,74 53,90 54,35 5.52M
Union Pacific UNP 77,49 78,30 76,90 77,83 4.99M
McDonald's MCD 62,64 62,67 61,96 62,43 4.63M
Visa V 74,10 74,71 73,66 74,57 4.53M
United Technologies UTX 64,98 65,15 63,99 64,75 4.52M
Pepsico PEP 70,37 70,37 69,40 69,85 4.08M
Boeing BA 62,99 63,97 62,21 63,21 3.96M
3M MMM 71,24 71,43 70,29 70,69 2.93M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3885,00 3908,00 3845,00 3855,00 17.1K
Exchange Rates of August 20, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 109,810 JPY 1 JPY = 0,009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1,060 CAD 1 CAD = 0,943 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1,099 CHF 1 CHF = 0,910 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6,855 CNY 1 CNY = 0,146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 161,890 JPY 1 JPY = 0,006 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0,792 GBP 1 GBP = 1,263 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,689 AUD 1 AUD = 0,592 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,563 CAD 1 CAD = 0,640 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1,620 CHF 1 CHF = 0,617 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0,489 GBP 1 GBP = 2,045 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1,043 AUD 1 AUD = 0,959 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0,965 CAD 1 CAD = 1,036 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1,000 CHF 1 CHF = 1,000 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,133 AUD 1 AUD = 0,469 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1,973 CAD 1 CAD = 0,507 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2,044 CHF 1 CHF = 0,489 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0,925 CAD 1 CAD = 1,082 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0,958 CHF 1 CHF = 1,044 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1,036 CHF 1 CHF = 0,965 CAD

See what else happened on August 20, 2008