Financial news on December 21, 2009

Business and Financial news
A Dream for an Airline and a Hotel Chain

American Airlines and Hilton Hotels, both stars in the movie “Up in the Air,” paid nothing — really, nothing — to be part of it all. Read more..

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN - The New York Times

After a Year of Ruin, Some Hope

With a little bit of luck, maybe the media industry can conjure itself as a new kind of workplace that doesn’t include the legacy costs of trucks and printing presses. Read more..

By DAVID CARR - The New York Times

As Going Gets Tough, Nokia Brings Out Legal Guns

When Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, sued 11 competitors, it said it was conducting a routine defense of its intellectual property. But the suits were far from standard. Read more..

By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN - International Herald Tribune

As Phones Do More, They Become Targets of Hacking

Security companies are poised to sell products to protect phones, just as Symantec and McAfee sell products for PCs. Read more..

By BRAD STONE - The New York Times

Copenhagen’s One Real Accomplishment: Getting Some Money Flowing

The accord in Copenhagen was “a big step forward” after previous talks offered no financial support mechanisms, Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary general, said. Read more..

By JAMES KANTER - International Herald Tribune

Credit Derivatives That Distort Markets

It is tough for holders of credit-default swaps to profiteer on defaults. But disclosure of which creditors are hedged with credit-default swaps is advisable before restructuring discussions begin. Read more..

By RICHARD BEALES and NEIL UNMACK - The New York Times

In a Distressed Year, Hollywood Smiles

Premium-price tickets will help the industry reach more than $10 billion in ticket sales by the end of 2009. Read more..

By BROOKS BARNES - The New York Times

Labor Data Show Surge in Hiring of Temp Workers

Employers might soon take the next step of bringing on permanent workers if recovery seems durable. Read more..

By LOUIS UCHITELLE - The New York Times

Pfizer Acquires a Stem-Cell Therapy

Pfizer will have the rights to develop Athersys’s cells to treat inflammatory bowel disease, which is in early human testing. Read more..

By ANDREW POLLACK - The New York Times

Spending Less and Looking for Deals

Holiday shoppers are looking for ways to stretch their limited budgets. Read more..

By TEDDY WAYNE - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 25.89 26.62 25.79 25.87 78M
Intel INTC 19.98 20.33 19.00 20.09 56.9M
General Electric GE 15.69 15.79 15.54 15.57 53.1M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 26.99 27.49 26.85 27.34 47.2M
Microsoft MSFT 30.40 30.84 30.37 30.52 40.1M
Pfizer PFE 18.40 18.89 18.37 18.61 39.2M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 41.55 42.24 41.50 41.90 36M
Cisco Systems CSCO 23.52 23.82 23.48 23.64 35.6M
ExxonMobil XOM 68.47 68.75 68.22 68.51 34.5M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 24.39 24.57 24.22 24.43 26.9M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 31.97 33.25 31.92 32.17 24.4M
Apple AAPL 196.05 199.75 195.67 198.23 21.9M
AT&T Inc. T 27.37 27.69 27.37 27.54 21.2M
HP Inc. HPQ 51.49 52.26 51.45 51.99 15.8M
Merck MRK 37.48 38.42 37.47 37.69 14.8M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 52.94 53.54 52.93 53.40 13.4M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 53.58 54.20 53.42 53.92 12.3M
Comcast CMCSA 17.30 17.58 17.30 17.37 11.9M
ConocoPhillips COP 50.19 50.60 50.11 50.60 11.2M
Visa V 88.96 89.07 86.63 87.51 11.1M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 64.64 65.00 64.23 64.33 11.1M
Verizon Communications VZ 33.02 33.32 32.96 33.02 10.1M
Home Depot HD 28.71 29.25 28.71 28.96 10M
Altria MO 19.74 19.83 19.70 19.71 9.87M
Procter & Gamble PG 61.65 61.85 61.23 61.30 9.55M
Amazon AMZN 130.48 133.20 130.19 132.79 9.47M
Pepsico PEP 59.72 60.73 59.60 60.48 7.97M
Gilead Sciences GILD 43.03 43.59 43.00 43.16 7.87M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 32.05 32.49 31.99 32.40 7.7M
Coca-Cola KO 57.02 57.61 56.90 57.18 7.31M
Chevron CVX 77.60 78.00 77.27 77.50 6.74M
Schlumberger SLB 63.45 64.86 63.21 63.77 5.88M
Amgen AMGN 56.07 57.12 56.00 56.73 5.68M
Alphabet GOOGL 597.95 599.84 595.67 598.68 5.14M
International Business Machines IBM 127.80 128.94 127.68 128.65 4.77M
McDonald's MCD 62.24 63.08 62.14 62.66 4.63M
United Technologies UTX 69.55 70.03 69.28 69.36 4.09M
Boeing BA 53.36 54.50 53.36 54.30 3.66M
3M MMM 81.03 82.22 80.93 81.43 2.76M
Union Pacific UNP 63.95 64.78 63.81 64.75 2.66M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3290.50 3305.50 3286.00 3299.00 54.5K
Exchange Rates of December 21, 2009
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 91.120 JPY 1 JPY = 0.011 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.062 CAD 1 CAD = 0.942 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.046 CHF 1 CHF = 0.956 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.829 CNY 1 CNY = 0.146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 130.150 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.890 GBP 1 GBP = 1.124 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.619 AUD 1 AUD = 0.618 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.517 CAD 1 CAD = 0.659 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.494 CHF 1 CHF = 0.670 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.751 CNY 1 CNY = 0.103 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.684 GBP 1 GBP = 1.463 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.244 AUD 1 AUD = 0.804 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.164 CAD 1 CAD = 0.859 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.147 CHF 1 CHF = 0.872 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.820 AUD 1 AUD = 0.550 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.704 CAD 1 CAD = 0.587 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.678 CHF 1 CHF = 0.596 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.949 CNY 1 CNY = 0.091 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.936 CAD 1 CAD = 1.068 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.922 CHF 1 CHF = 1.085 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.020 CNY 1 CNY = 0.166 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.984 CHF 1 CHF = 1.016 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.426 CNY 1 CNY = 0.156 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.527 CNY 1 CNY = 0.153 CHF

See what else happened on December 21, 2009