Financial news on April 24, 2009

Business and Financial news
Can’t Afford to Move? Britons Turn to Renovations

With Britain's real estate market continuing to struggle, many homeowners are deciding to renovate rather than take the risk of trying to sell and buy something new. Read more..

By SHELLEY EMLING - International Herald Tribune

CIT Group Posts 8th Loss in a Row

With more losses in sight, the commercial lender suspended its dividend and announced the elimination of an additional 140 jobs. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Edgy Banks Start to Get Word Today on Stress Tests

The nation’s 19 biggest banks will start learning Friday how they fared in federal examinations — and which among them will need another bailout. Read more..

By ERIC DASH - The New York Times

Investors Waver, but Shares Close Higher

Despite ending higher, the major indexes were on pace to post their first weekly drop after six weeks of almost uninterrupted gains. Read more..

By JACK HEALY - The New York Times

PCCW Chairman Drops Bid to Privatize Group

His plans foiled by a court a day earlier, Richard Li, the chairman of PCCW, said he abandoned his bid to privatize the company. Read more..

By BETTINA WASSENER - The New York Times

Plight of Carmakers Could Upset All Pension Plans

Pension experts predict that a government takeover of the plans at G.M. and Chrysler would spur other auto companies and all types of manufacturers to abandon such benefits for competitive reasons. Read more..

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH - The New York Times

Software That Copies DVDs Is on Trial

Hollywood studios say software that lets users save digital copies of DVDs hurts the movie industry. Read more..

By BRAD STONE - The New York Times

Subprime Loans, Corporate-Style, Will Fuel Defaults

A record percentage of senior debt is on the lowest rungs of credit quality, making conditions favorable for the default rate on corporate loans and bonds to skyrocket in the near future. Read more..

By FLOYD NORRIS - The New York Times

U.S. Said to Seek a Chrysler Plan for Bankruptcy

The Treasury Department has reached an agreement in principle with the autoworkers union in the event that Chrysler, which is negotiating with Fiat, files for bankruptcy. Read more..

By MICHELINE MAYNARD and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 20,63 21,97 20,05 21,40 222M
Microsoft MSFT 19,82 21,20 19,50 20,91 168M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 33,66 34,50 32,25 33,38 117M
General Electric GE 12,03 12,35 11,95 12,11 97.4M
Intel INTC 15,61 15,74 15,30 15,62 67.6M
Pfizer PFE 13,31 13,38 12,99 13,17 65.6M
Cisco Systems CSCO 18,12 18,50 17,97 18,42 55.7M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 19,75 20,18 19,65 19,79 43M
ExxonMobil XOM 66,21 67,00 65,91 66,57 32.3M
AT&T Inc. T 25,56 25,76 25,00 25,16 28.2M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 48,82 49,56 47,72 47,87 26.9M
Verizon Communications VZ 31,13 31,29 30,53 31,00 26M
Amazon AMZN 82,03 86,68 80,73 84,46 23.5M
ConocoPhillips COP 40,76 41,96 40,60 41,21 22.1M
Merck MRK 23,27 23,55 23,05 23,45 22.1M
Home Depot HD 25,93 26,82 25,56 26,31 21.9M
Schlumberger SLB 49,82 50,92 48,55 49,73 20.5M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 43,57 43,90 42,88 43,09 19.4M
Apple AAPL 124,64 125,14 122,97 123,90 19.3M
Comcast CMCSA 13,65 14,04 13,42 13,89 19M
HP Inc. HPQ 34,97 36,00 34,83 35,80 17.8M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 19,84 20,46 19,56 20,26 16.6M
Amgen AMGN 48,07 50,02 47,69 49,83 16.1M
Altria MO 16,95 17,24 16,76 16,92 14.9M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 51,76 51,84 50,64 50,92 14.8M
Coca-Cola KO 42,95 43,09 42,57 42,79 14.7M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 23,43 23,61 22,56 23,06 14.6M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 20,19 20,30 19,99 20,10 14.4M
Chevron CVX 66,24 67,34 66,01 66,60 12.6M
3M MMM 54,26 57,02 53,74 57,00 11.5M
Procter & Gamble PG 49,50 49,89 49,02 49,51 11.3M
Pepsico PEP 48,31 48,92 47,93 48,52 11.3M
International Business Machines IBM 101,17 101,58 99,50 100,08 10.2M
McDonald's MCD 55,17 55,45 54,05 54,31 9.94M
Visa V 59,31 60,75 58,04 60,38 9.92M
Boeing BA 38,10 39,01 37,75 38,72 8.35M
United Technologies UTX 48,26 49,68 47,84 49,37 7.7M
Alphabet GOOGL 386,05 393,18 380,50 389,49 6.76M
Gilead Sciences GILD 45,75 46,12 45,42 45,80 6.3M
Union Pacific UNP 49,71 50,40 48,20 49,13 6.03M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 2845,00 2930,00 2809,00 2910,00 54K
Exchange Rates of April 24, 2009
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 97,140 JPY 1 JPY = 0,010 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1,209 CAD 1 CAD = 0,827 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1,139 CHF 1 CHF = 0,878 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6,826 CNY 1 CNY = 0,146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 128,700 JPY 1 JPY = 0,008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0,902 GBP 1 GBP = 1,108 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,831 AUD 1 AUD = 0,546 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,602 CAD 1 CAD = 0,624 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1,508 CHF 1 CHF = 0,663 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9,040 CNY 1 CNY = 0,111 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0,701 GBP 1 GBP = 1,427 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1,423 AUD 1 AUD = 0,703 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1,244 CAD 1 CAD = 0,804 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1,172 CHF 1 CHF = 0,853 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,029 AUD 1 AUD = 0,493 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1,775 CAD 1 CAD = 0,563 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1,671 CHF 1 CHF = 0,598 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10,009 CNY 1 CNY = 0,100 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0,874 CAD 1 CAD = 1,144 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0,823 CHF 1 CHF = 1,215 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 4,942 CNY 1 CNY = 0,202 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0,940 CHF 1 CHF = 1,064 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 5,645 CNY 1 CNY = 0,177 CAD

See what else happened on April 24, 2009