Financial news on February 22, 2008
Business and Financial news
Ten teams from five countries plan to compete for $30 million in prizes in the Google-sponsored race to the moon. Read more..
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..
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..
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..
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..
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..
The government is considering proposals to rescue the nearly 8.8 million homeowners who are underwater. Read more..
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..
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..
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..
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
| Currencies | Exchange 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