Financial news on November 21, 2008

Business and Financial news
Angelina Jolie’s Carefully Orchestrated Image

The actress pushed for favorable coverage while negotiating magazine rights to pictures of her new twins. Read more..

By BROOKS BARNES - The New York Times

Canada: Bank Chief Wants Bonus

The chief executive of Toronto-Dominion Bank, W. Edmund Clark, said he did not plan to follow the lead of executives at the Goldman Sachs Group and forgo his annual bonus. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Detroit’s Bid for Aid Fails — For Now

Democratic leaders in Congress gave auto industry leaders 12 days to come back with a plan showing that federal aid would be well-spent. Read more..

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN - The New York Times

Detroit's Green Gamble

General Motors is banking on the Chevrolet Volt electric car to prove that it can deliver an environmentally friendly automobile. Read more..

Sean Patrick Farrell - The New York Times

Fields of Grain and Losses

Hard times are back on the American farmstead, as the price paid for crops is dropping much faster than the cost of growing them. Read more..

By DAVID STREITFELD - The New York Times

For European Airlines, Decline in Premium Ticket Sales Takes a Toll on Earnings

The worsening economy is squeezing Europe’s flag carriers, with dwindling sales of premium-class tickets starting to take their toll. Read more..

By CAROLINE BROTHERS - The New York Times

Looking to Washington Amid Turmoil, So Far in Vain

With the stock market plunging and the credit market freezing, cries are being heard for quick government intervention. Read more..

By FLOYD NORRIS - The New York Times

Oil Closes Below $50, Lowest Price Since May 2005

After rising to dizzying heights this summer, the oil market is suffering a hair-raising drop. Read more..

By JAD MOUAWAD - The New York Times

Treasury to Support a Frozen Money Fund

In an unusual step, the Treasury Department said it was prepared to buy assets from a troubled money market mutual fund that has been frozen for more than two months. Read more..

By DIANA B. HENRIQUES - The New York Times

U.S. Agrees to Buy Student Loans to Ease Borrowing

The Education Department announced that it would buy up to $6.5 billion of federally guaranteed student loans made in the 2007-8 academic year as part of its effort to make sure loans are available. Read more..

By JONATHAN D. GLATER - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
JPMorgan Chase JPM 23.74 24.42 19.69 22.72 194M
General Electric GE 13.56 14.06 12.80 14.03 172M
Microsoft MSFT 18.02 19.70 17.98 19.68 157M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 22.92 23.51 19.89 21.76 140M
Cisco Systems CSCO 14.81 15.30 14.20 15.17 104M
Intel INTC 12.45 13.17 12.06 13.11 104M
Pfizer PFE 14.99 15.83 14.51 15.67 94M
ExxonMobil XOM 69.78 76.20 69.15 75.81 84.6M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 15.44 16.49 15.10 16.38 73.2M
AT&T Inc. T 25.05 25.35 23.32 25.19 57.9M
Apple AAPL 81.93 84.12 79.14 82.58 56M
Comcast CMCSA 13.49 14.07 12.73 14.07 55.5M
Altria MO 15.02 15.53 14.51 15.49 41M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 51.40 53.04 50.20 52.92 40.3M
HP Inc. HPQ 32.56 34.82 32.31 34.64 38.5M
Home Depot HD 18.82 19.34 17.46 19.29 38.4M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 50.63 51.70 48.27 51.52 37M
ConocoPhillips COP 42.95 47.22 42.37 46.84 36.5M
Verizon Communications VZ 27.40 28.64 26.23 28.47 35M
Chevron CVX 65.46 71.04 64.27 70.49 34.8M
Procter & Gamble PG 60.05 63.33 58.29 63.09 34.2M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 56.48 58.51 54.49 58.35 30.8M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 19.24 21.13 18.78 21.12 28.1M
Coca-Cola KO 41.64 44.29 40.50 44.00 25.1M
Merck MRK 23.90 24.46 22.82 24.40 24.3M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 18.92 19.30 18.07 19.11 23.8M
Schlumberger SLB 41.13 45.20 39.36 45.00 23.7M
Visa V 49.60 49.60 43.54 46.38 21.2M
McDonald's MCD 53.68 55.21 51.15 55.15 20.7M
Alphabet GOOGL 262.51 269.37 247.30 262.43 20.5M
International Business Machines IBM 72.74 76.98 69.50 74.88 19.8M
Amgen AMGN 51.55 55.08 51.10 54.90 19.4M
Pepsico PEP 51.24 54.78 49.74 54.59 17.9M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 16.72 17.20 15.19 17.15 17.7M
United Technologies UTX 43.78 47.03 41.76 46.67 15.8M
Gilead Sciences GILD 41.74 43.34 39.37 41.46 15.7M
Amazon AMZN 36.39 39.00 35.72 37.87 15M
3M MMM 57.78 61.61 56.64 61.30 14.8M
Boeing BA 37.18 39.93 36.17 39.58 13.3M
Union Pacific UNP 50.33 50.40 43.78 47.50 13.2M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 2680.00 2920.00 2605.00 2914.00 93K
Exchange Rates of November 21, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 95.900 JPY 1 JPY = 0.010 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.270 CAD 1 CAD = 0.787 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.223 CHF 1 CHF = 0.818 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.831 CNY 1 CNY = 0.146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 120.670 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.844 GBP 1 GBP = 1.186 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.992 AUD 1 AUD = 0.502 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.596 CAD 1 CAD = 0.627 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.539 CHF 1 CHF = 0.650 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 8.599 CNY 1 CNY = 0.116 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.699 GBP 1 GBP = 1.431 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.649 AUD 1 AUD = 0.607 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.322 CAD 1 CAD = 0.756 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.275 CHF 1 CHF = 0.784 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.360 AUD 1 AUD = 0.424 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.892 CAD 1 CAD = 0.529 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.825 CHF 1 CHF = 0.548 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.172 CNY 1 CNY = 0.098 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.801 CAD 1 CAD = 1.248 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.773 CHF 1 CHF = 1.294 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 4.309 CNY 1 CNY = 0.232 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.964 CHF 1 CHF = 1.038 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 5.376 CNY 1 CNY = 0.186 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 5.587 CNY 1 CNY = 0.179 CHF

See what else happened on November 21, 2008