Financial news on February 22, 2008

Business and Financial news
A Google Competition, With a Robotic Moon Landing as a Goal

Ten teams from five countries plan to compete for $30 million in prizes in the Google-sponsored race to the moon. Read more..

By BRAD STONE - The New York Times

French Bank’s Troubles Now Include Record Loss

Société Générale blamed the rogue trading scandal and significant write-offs of United States subprime mortgage investments for the $4.95 billion quarterly loss. Read more..

By NICOLA CLARK - The New York Times

German Bank Offering Aid for Its Troubled Investments

Dresdner Bank said that it would bail out its investment vehicle for complex financial products, becoming the latest bank to take the step to avoid a forced sale of assets. Read more..

By CARTER DOUGHERTY - The New York Times

Microsoft to Share More Technical Secrets

Seeking to satisfy European antitrust officials, Microsoft said on Thursday that it would open up and share many more of its technical secrets with the rest of the software industry. Read more..

By STEVE LOHR - The New York Times

Not Your Ordinary Swap Meet

An obscure pressure point in the credit squeeze popped up this week when a boutique investment bank in Houston held a “public auction” for dozens of the most arcane products in the financial world. Read more..

By DIANA B. HENRIQUES - The New York Times

Profit Surges at MGM Mirage

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The casino giant MGM Mirage reported soaring fourth-quarter profit Thursday, including a hefty gain related to a foreign investment in its CityCenter project, which is under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. Read more..

By ASSOCIATED PRESS - The New York Times

Rescues for Homeowners in Debt Weighed

The government is considering proposals to rescue the nearly 8.8 million homeowners who are underwater. Read more..

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and LOUIS UCHITELLE - The New York Times

Suit Says Spinal Disk Maker Falsely Won F.D.A. Approval

The suit now says the original maker of the device and the investment firm that financed its development misled patients and federal regulators about the disk’s safety. Read more..

By REED ABELSON - The New York Times

When Bankers Fear to Act

In financial crises of the past, financial chiefs have managed to find a cooperative way to turn things around. These days, they seem afraid to do anything. Read more..

By FLOYD NORRIS - The New York Times

With Strike’s End, Oscars Regain Marketing Allure

The end of the strike has alleviated the fears of more than a dozen blue-chip advertisers, worried that their marketing plans centered on the Oscars would be disrupted. Read more..

By STUART ELLIOTT - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Intel INTC 20,47 20,50 19,51 19,82 134M
Microsoft MSFT 28,24 28,39 27,20 27,68 126M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 18,93 19,02 18,18 18,90 61.6M
Apple AAPL 122,48 122,51 115,87 119,46 54.6M
Cisco Systems CSCO 23,46 23,60 22,90 23,60 53.7M
General Electric GE 33,77 33,80 33,15 33,55 40M
AT&T Inc. T 34,68 35,05 33,83 34,98 39.8M
Pfizer PFE 22,50 22,59 22,16 22,50 32.7M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 43,03 44,02 41,91 43,93 30.5M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 30,80 31,58 30,31 31,44 28.8M
ExxonMobil XOM 87,48 87,79 86,03 87,17 23.5M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 49,65 50,20 49,47 49,97 19.5M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 22,88 23,00 21,98 22,53 19M
Verizon Communications VZ 35,49 36,25 35,35 36,20 18.7M
Comcast CMCSA 19,87 20,15 19,47 20,15 17.4M
ConocoPhillips COP 80,41 80,70 78,84 80,61 14.2M
HP Inc. HPQ 47,00 47,49 46,35 47,40 14.1M
Home Depot HD 27,51 27,81 27,00 27,77 13.6M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 54,90 55,36 53,73 54,54 12.9M
Merck MRK 46,26 46,48 45,36 46,07 12.4M
Amazon AMZN 70,54 72,21 69,86 72,08 12.3M
Chevron CVX 85,42 85,74 83,69 85,42 12.2M
Gilead Sciences GILD 43,40 43,52 42,37 42,92 11.2M
Procter & Gamble PG 65,97 66,40 65,35 66,21 11.1M
Alphabet GOOGL 502,06 509,00 497,55 507,80 11M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 62,77 63,28 62,50 63,18 10.1M
Altria MO 73,36 73,71 72,52 73,60 9.55M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 32,36 32,64 31,80 32,57 8.81M
International Business Machines IBM 107,14 108,48 105,71 108,07 7.92M
Amgen AMGN 47,48 47,48 46,01 46,43 7.69M
Coca-Cola KO 58,00 58,33 57,39 58,26 7.38M
Schlumberger SLB 84,06 85,63 82,23 85,45 6.17M
McDonald's MCD 55,35 55,69 54,39 55,69 5.96M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 47,50 48,11 46,75 47,36 5.9M
Boeing BA 82,51 83,21 81,75 83,04 5.23M
Pepsico PEP 71,23 71,49 70,54 71,38 4.77M
United Technologies UTX 71,32 72,44 70,69 72,23 3.71M
Union Pacific UNP 123,86 124,13 121,92 124,13 3.53M
3M MMM 79,32 79,81 78,24 79,67 3.49M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 4701,00 4727,00 4600,00 4648,00 12.9K
Exchange Rates of February 22, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 106,920 JPY 1 JPY = 0,009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1,015 CAD 1 CAD = 0,985 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1,084 CHF 1 CHF = 0,922 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7,142 CNY 1 CNY = 0,140 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 158,890 JPY 1 JPY = 0,006 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0,754 GBP 1 GBP = 1,327 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,606 AUD 1 AUD = 0,623 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,502 CAD 1 CAD = 0,666 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1,609 CHF 1 CHF = 0,621 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0,474 GBP 1 GBP = 2,109 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1,010 AUD 1 AUD = 0,990 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0,945 CAD 1 CAD = 1,059 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1,013 CHF 1 CHF = 0,988 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,130 AUD 1 AUD = 0,470 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1,992 CAD 1 CAD = 0,502 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2,134 CHF 1 CHF = 0,469 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0,935 CAD 1 CAD = 1,070 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 1,002 CHF 1 CHF = 0,999 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1,071 CHF 1 CHF = 0,933 CAD

See what else happened on February 22, 2008