Financial news on March 24, 2011

Business and Financial news
Banking Reforms Without Leaders

The Obama administration has not been in a hurry to fill vacancies at the top of financial watchdog agencies. Read more..

By ROB COX and WAYNE ARNOLD - The New York Times

Birthday Greetings From an ‘Idol’ Contestant to Build the Brand

Cameo Stars sells video messages from the contestants on “American Idol” and celebrities like Kim Kardashian to build brands and earn money on Facebook. Read more..

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN - The New York Times

Chief of American Apparel Faces 2nd Harassment Suit

A lawyer for Dov Charney, the chief executive, denied the allegations in the suit, filed by a former sales clerk and three other women. Read more..

By LAURA M. HOLSON - The New York Times

Imax to Open 75 New Theaters in China

Working in tandem with China’s largest theater operator, the company expects to have 300 movie houses in operation by 2016. Read more..

By BROOKS BARNES - The New York Times

New-Home Sales Fell in February

Median prices fell nearly 14 percent as a glut of unsold homes, including foreclosures, weighed on the market. Read more..

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - The New York Times

Out of College, Not on Her Own

A recent graduate grappling with loans and credit card bills tries to get a better grip on where her money goes. Read more..

By TESS VIGELAND - The New York Times

PowerPoint With Few Bells, but Finally on the Go

Documents To Go now offers the chance to cobble together a passable PowerPoint presentation on a mobile device. Read more..

By BOB TEDESCHI - The New York Times

Toyota Says Scarce Parts to Idle Some U.S. Plants

Shortages of some Japanese-made parts are expected to force the automaker to halt production at one or more plants. Read more..

By NICK BUNKLEY - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Cisco Systems CSCO 17.62 17.64 17.35 17.36 57.8M
Pfizer PFE 20.00 20.36 19.81 20.30 49.4M
Intel INTC 20.51 20.51 20.28 20.38 49.4M
General Electric GE 19.68 19.80 19.48 19.78 43.8M
Microsoft MSFT 25.60 25.87 25.50 25.81 38.7M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 31.78 32.33 31.50 32.14 38.3M
AT&T Inc. T 28.50 28.77 28.41 28.54 32.6M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 45.70 45.84 45.09 45.73 21.7M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 31.22 31.61 31.06 31.54 21M
HP Inc. HPQ 42.31 43.14 42.26 43.10 18.6M
ExxonMobil XOM 82.78 83.47 82.55 82.73 17M
General Motors GM 31.32 31.60 31.24 31.39 15.7M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 51.83 52.95 51.77 52.59 15.1M
Comcast CMCSA 24.27 24.83 24.13 24.73 15M
Apple AAPL 341.85 346.00 338.86 344.97 14.5M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 48.14 48.14 47.73 48.11 14M
Altria MO 25.64 25.97 25.58 25.93 13.4M
Gilead Sciences GILD 41.53 42.38 41.43 42.04 12.2M
ConocoPhillips COP 79.06 80.05 78.84 79.70 12.1M
Merck MRK 32.83 32.90 32.54 32.72 11.5M
Verizon Communications VZ 37.11 37.27 37.07 37.18 10.9M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 26.16 26.52 26.08 26.43 10.2M
Home Depot HD 36.85 37.75 36.79 37.36 10M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 58.98 59.08 58.73 59.03 8.66M
Procter & Gamble PG 61.23 61.28 60.75 61.14 8.2M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 42.47 42.99 42.40 42.86 7.01M
Chevron CVX 105.87 105.92 104.93 105.38 7M
Coca-Cola KO 64.58 65.07 64.56 64.69 6.66M
Schlumberger SLB 88.86 88.99 86.71 88.10 6.52M
Amazon AMZN 168.21 172.00 167.36 171.10 6.28M
International Business Machines IBM 160.23 160.71 158.84 160.04 5.15M
Visa V 72.22 72.85 71.54 72.66 5.14M
Amgen AMGN 52.89 53.50 52.43 53.27 5.09M
Boeing BA 73.24 73.33 72.33 72.76 4.36M
McDonald's MCD 74.60 75.00 74.49 74.93 4.31M
Alphabet GOOGL 585.43 588.39 578.80 586.89 4.19M
Pepsico PEP 64.36 64.48 64.17 64.20 4.15M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 43.24 43.94 43.01 43.80 3.92M
United Technologies UTX 81.99 82.90 81.77 82.76 3.26M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 85.02 85.35 84.73 85.16 2.65M
3M MMM 92.61 92.98 91.89 92.58 2.6M
Union Pacific UNP 94.53 95.40 94.07 95.37 2.08M
Exchange Rates of March 24, 2011
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 80.990 JPY 1 JPY = 0.012 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 0.976 CAD 1 CAD = 1.024 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 0.908 CHF 1 CHF = 1.101 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.559 CNY 1 CNY = 0.152 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 114.780 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.879 GBP 1 GBP = 1.137 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.388 AUD 1 AUD = 0.721 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.383 CAD 1 CAD = 0.723 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.287 CHF 1 CHF = 0.777 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.300 CNY 1 CNY = 0.108 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.766 GBP 1 GBP = 1.306 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.209 AUD 1 AUD = 0.827 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.205 CAD 1 CAD = 0.830 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.121 CHF 1 CHF = 0.892 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.578 AUD 1 AUD = 0.634 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.574 CAD 1 CAD = 0.635 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.464 CHF 1 CHF = 0.683 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.576 CNY 1 CNY = 0.095 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.997 CAD 1 CAD = 1.004 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.927 CHF 1 CHF = 1.079 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.697 CNY 1 CNY = 0.149 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.930 CHF 1 CHF = 1.076 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.721 CNY 1 CNY = 0.149 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 7.225 CNY 1 CNY = 0.138 CHF

See what else happened on March 24, 2011