Financial news on April 25, 2008

Business and Financial news
Companies Return Criticism From Darfur Group

After taking criticism from activist groups over the last few months, some Olympic sponsors are starting to criticize right back. Read more..

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD - The New York Times

Fault-Finding in Dallas Between Controllers and Pilots Becomes a Problem for the F.A.A.

Aviation officials said some instances of planes that passed too close to each other in Dallas were the fault of air traffic control supervisors, who blamed pilots. Read more..

By MATTHEW L. WALD - The New York Times

Generics and Job-Cutting Costs Lower Drug Makers’ Profits

The drug maker AstraZeneca, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Bayer reported declines in first-quarter profit on generic competition and costs from cutting jobs. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

New-Home Sales Fall to Low Last Seen in Early 1990s

Buyers vanished from the housing market in March, as sales of new homes plummeted to the lowest level since the housing recession of the 1990s. Read more..

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM - The New York Times

Pain of Foreclosures Spreads to the Affluent

But the few homeowners in trouble in affluent Greenwich, Conn., are tapping into other resources that most people cannot call upon to help prevent the ultimate indignity. Read more..

By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY - The New York Times

Peltz Offer Is Accepted by Wendy’s

After more than two years of bickering, Wendy’s International and Nelson W. Peltz have tied the knot for about $2.3 billion. Read more..

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

Plastic-Bottle Scare Is a Boon for Some

Canada’s decision to label as toxic a chemical that is used to make a popular form of plastic has created headaches for some bottle makers but it may prove a bonanza for others. Read more..

By IAN AUSTEN - The New York Times

S.E.C. Accuses Trader of Spreading Rumors

The charges are the first the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought against traders accused of being rumormongers and short sellers. Read more..

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

U.S. Allows Sale of Drug to Treat Constipation

Progenics Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth have won federal approval for the first drug to treat constipation caused by powerful opioid painkillers like morphine. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Wachovia to Pay as Much as $144 Million in Marketing Case

The settlement ends a federal investigation into accusations that the bank allowed telemarketers to use its accounts to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting victims. Read more..

By CHARLES DUHIGG - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Microsoft MSFT 30,02 30,39 29,60 29,83 145M
Pfizer PFE 20,18 20,45 20,16 20,43 55M
Cisco Systems CSCO 26,10 26,13 25,10 25,60 53.4M
Intel INTC 22,61 22,64 22,06 22,56 47.6M
General Electric GE 33,03 33,39 32,81 33,33 41.5M
Apple AAPL 170,60 171,10 166,42 169,73 35.4M
Altria MO 21,80 21,90 21,20 21,70 30.2M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 21,96 21,98 21,25 21,59 28.7M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 30,06 30,80 29,56 30,59 25.8M
Visa V 76,00 76,08 73,91 75,10 25.4M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 47,29 47,87 46,54 47,79 24.3M
ExxonMobil XOM 93,21 93,40 91,71 92,46 23.4M
Home Depot HD 29,01 29,81 28,80 29,78 19.7M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 50,78 51,55 50,69 51,28 17.9M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 57,93 58,04 57,14 57,65 17M
AT&T Inc. T 38,77 38,99 38,15 38,58 16.2M
Verizon Communications VZ 36,51 37,04 36,38 37,04 15.2M
ConocoPhillips COP 83,53 84,20 83,15 83,57 14.1M
Comcast CMCSA 19,77 19,90 19,28 19,53 14M
Merck MRK 40,08 40,94 40,00 40,72 13.8M
Procter & Gamble PG 67,27 67,27 66,17 66,55 13.7M
Chevron CVX 92,66 93,24 91,23 92,69 12.7M
HP Inc. HPQ 48,30 48,30 46,77 47,45 12.3M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 32,04 32,45 31,95 32,36 11.9M
Amgen AMGN 42,29 42,43 41,55 42,25 11.6M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 22,39 22,55 21,88 22,15 11.5M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 33,81 34,29 33,57 33,99 10.1M
Amazon AMZN 78,00 81,32 77,26 80,86 9.46M
Coca-Cola KO 60,25 60,50 58,96 59,33 9.4M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 67,57 67,70 66,94 67,31 9.18M
Pepsico PEP 68,30 68,35 67,21 67,62 8.43M
Boeing BA 83,38 85,25 83,38 84,84 8.36M
Alphabet GOOGL 548,70 553,00 542,73 544,06 8.32M
McDonald's MCD 59,75 59,98 59,26 59,67 7.97M
Schlumberger SLB 102,65 103,59 100,52 102,74 6.96M
International Business Machines IBM 124,50 124,50 122,06 123,08 6.31M
Gilead Sciences GILD 51,22 52,48 51,20 51,40 5.82M
3M MMM 78,85 78,87 76,46 77,82 5.55M
Union Pacific UNP 138,69 141,25 135,22 140,59 3.78M
United Technologies UTX 73,00 73,11 72,09 72,68 3.4M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 4225,00 4238,00 4220,00 4230,00 15.4K
Exchange Rates of April 25, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 104,410 JPY 1 JPY = 0,010 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1,014 CAD 1 CAD = 0,986 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1,034 CHF 1 CHF = 0,967 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7,010 CNY 1 CNY = 0,143 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 163,210 JPY 1 JPY = 0,006 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0,787 GBP 1 GBP = 1,271 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,674 AUD 1 AUD = 0,597 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,584 CAD 1 CAD = 0,631 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1,616 CHF 1 CHF = 0,619 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0,482 GBP 1 GBP = 2,075 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1,025 AUD 1 AUD = 0,976 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0,970 CAD 1 CAD = 1,031 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 0,990 CHF 1 CHF = 1,010 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,127 AUD 1 AUD = 0,470 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,013 CAD 1 CAD = 0,497 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2,053 CHF 1 CHF = 0,487 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0,946 CAD 1 CAD = 1,057 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0,965 CHF 1 CHF = 1,037 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1,020 CHF 1 CHF = 0,981 CAD

See what else happened on April 25, 2008