Financial news on October 24, 2008
Business and Financial news
Canada to Guarantee Bank Loans
Loan guarantees offered by the Canadian government on Thursday suggest that even healthy banking systems might require government support for international borrowing. Read more..
Disability Insurer Found Guilty of Social Security Fraud
A federal jury found that Unum had committed fraud by requiring some customers to apply for Social Security benefits even though it knew they were not eligible. Read more..
Green Inc: Green Halloween
Times reporter Kate Galbraith finds an inexpensive organic pumpkin for Halloween. Read more..
In China, Steps to Ease Mortgages as Real Estate Loses Its Sizzle
Fearing a surge in loan defaults for banks, the Chinese government announced a series of measures to support real estate prices. Read more..
Stock Markets
Values are reported in US Dollars
| Stock | Ticker symbol | Open | High | Low | Close | Volume |
| Microsoft | MSFT | 21.06 | 22.86 | 20.95 | 21.96 | 154M |
| General Electric | GE | 17.46 | 18.23 | 17.27 | 17.83 | 129M |
| Intel | INTC | 13.39 | 14.85 | 13.37 | 14.28 | 96M |
| Cisco Systems | CSCO | 16.08 | 16.93 | 15.90 | 16.31 | 88.6M |
| Pfizer | PFE | 15.91 | 17.03 | 15.68 | 16.57 | 65M |
| JPMorgan Chase | JPM | 35.12 | 37.73 | 34.51 | 35.43 | 62M |
| Apple | AAPL | 90.33 | 97.90 | 90.11 | 96.38 | 56.8M |
| ExxonMobil | XOM | 64.01 | 70.98 | 64.00 | 69.04 | 54.6M |
| Oracle Corp. | ORCL | 15.71 | 16.71 | 15.48 | 16.20 | 54.2M |
| Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC | 29.04 | 32.00 | 29.00 | 30.91 | 50.1M |
| AT&T Inc. | T | 23.12 | 25.62 | 23.11 | 24.68 | 46.5M |
| Comcast | CMCSA | 13.01 | 16.25 | 12.50 | 13.07 | 34.4M |
| Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | 50.00 | 52.97 | 49.99 | 51.40 | 29.8M |
| Altria | MO | 18.50 | 19.48 | 18.50 | 19.22 | 29M |
| HP Inc. | HPQ | 30.25 | 33.32 | 30.03 | 32.44 | 27.6M |
| Procter & Gamble | PG | 56.90 | 60.34 | 56.62 | 58.87 | 26.6M |
| Verizon Communications | VZ | 24.32 | 26.47 | 24.26 | 25.08 | 24.3M |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 59.00 | 62.49 | 58.64 | 60.79 | 23.1M |
| Home Depot | HD | 17.90 | 19.00 | 17.58 | 18.51 | 22.5M |
| ConocoPhillips | COP | 46.43 | 49.49 | 46.04 | 48.45 | 21.6M |
| Abbott Laboratories | ABT | 51.89 | 55.59 | 51.20 | 54.30 | 20.9M |
| Coca-Cola | KO | 41.00 | 43.00 | 41.00 | 41.61 | 20.4M |
| Chevron | CVX | 61.01 | 65.46 | 60.57 | 63.91 | 19.8M |
| Amazon | AMZN | 44.75 | 52.32 | 44.50 | 48.96 | 19.6M |
| Schlumberger | SLB | 47.46 | 49.49 | 45.37 | 47.52 | 18.3M |
| Merck | MRK | 26.51 | 28.24 | 26.46 | 27.35 | 17.2M |
| Walt Disney & Co. | DIS | 21.74 | 23.20 | 21.50 | 22.61 | 16.2M |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | BMY | 17.42 | 18.20 | 17.10 | 17.64 | 15.9M |
| Amgen | AMGN | 52.64 | 58.45 | 52.55 | 57.17 | 15.8M |
| Alphabet | GOOGL | 326.47 | 350.47 | 324.74 | 339.29 | 14.7M |
| McDonald's | MCD | 52.41 | 54.55 | 51.70 | 53.06 | 13.4M |
| Gilead Sciences | GILD | 42.81 | 44.55 | 42.75 | 43.32 | 12.6M |
| International Business Machines | IBM | 79.27 | 84.31 | 78.82 | 82.07 | 12.3M |
| UnitedHealth Group | UNH | 22.18 | 23.45 | 21.26 | 22.91 | 10.4M |
| Pepsico | PEP | 50.51 | 53.01 | 50.41 | 51.76 | 10.4M |
| Visa | V | 43.80 | 48.50 | 43.74 | 47.98 | 10.2M |
| 3M | MMM | 58.36 | 61.50 | 57.52 | 59.61 | 10.1M |
| Boeing | BA | 42.50 | 47.24 | 41.75 | 45.24 | 9.79M |
| United Technologies | UTX | 45.18 | 48.91 | 45.04 | 47.31 | 9.16M |
| Union Pacific | UNP | 53.11 | 59.43 | 53.11 | 58.28 | 7.06M |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRK.B | 3660.00 | 3790.00 | 3657.00 | 3713.00 | 49K |
Exchange Rates of October 24, 2008
| Currencies | Exchange Rates | ||
| US Dollar | Japanese Yen | 1 USD = 94.280 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.011 USD |
| US Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 USD = 1.277 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.783 USD |
| US Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 USD = 1.168 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.856 USD |
| US Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 USD = 6.844 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.146 USD |
| Euro | Japanese Yen | 1 EUR = 119.040 JPY | 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR |
| Euro | Pound Sterling | 1 EUR = 0.793 GBP | 1 GBP = 1.262 EUR |
| Euro | Australian Dollar | 1 EUR = 2.032 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.492 EUR |
| Euro | Canadian Dollar | 1 EUR = 1.612 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.620 EUR |
| Euro | Swiss Franc | 1 EUR = 1.474 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.679 EUR |
| Euro | Chinese Yuan | 1 EUR = 8.640 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.116 EUR |
| Japanese Yen | Pound Sterling | 1 JPY = 0.666 GBP | 1 GBP = 1.501 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Australian Dollar | 1 JPY = 1.700 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.588 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Canadian Dollar | 1 JPY = 1.354 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.738 JPY |
| Japanese Yen | Swiss Franc | 1 JPY = 1.237 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.809 JPY |
| Pound Sterling | Australian Dollar | 1 GBP = 2.563 AUD | 1 AUD = 0.390 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Canadian Dollar | 1 GBP = 2.034 CAD | 1 CAD = 0.492 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Swiss Franc | 1 GBP = 1.859 CHF | 1 CHF = 0.538 GBP |
| Pound Sterling | Chinese Yuan | 1 GBP = 10.889 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.092 GBP |
| Australian Dollar | Canadian Dollar | 1 AUD = 0.793 CAD | 1 CAD = 1.262 AUD |
| Australian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 AUD = 0.725 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.380 AUD |
| Australian Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 AUD = 4.252 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.235 AUD |
| Canadian Dollar | Swiss Franc | 1 CAD = 0.913 CHF | 1 CHF = 1.095 CAD |
| Canadian Dollar | Chinese Yuan | 1 CAD = 5.357 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.187 CAD |
| Swiss Franc | Chinese Yuan | 1 CHF = 5.864 CNY | 1 CNY = 0.171 CHF |
See what else happened on October 24, 2008