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

StockTicker symbolOpenHighLowCloseVolume
MicrosoftMSFT30,0230,3929,6029,83145M
PfizerPFE20,1820,4520,1620,4355M
Cisco SystemsCSCO26,1026,1325,1025,6053.4M
IntelINTC22,6122,6422,0622,5647.6M
General ElectricGE33,0333,3932,8133,3341.5M
AppleAAPL170,60171,10166,42169,7335.4M
AltriaMO21,8021,9021,2021,7030.2M
Oracle Corp.ORCL21,9621,9821,2521,5928.7M
Wells Fargo & Co.WFC30,0630,8029,5630,5925.8M
VisaV76,0076,0873,9175,1025.4M
JPMorgan ChaseJPM47,2947,8746,5447,7924.3M
ExxonMobilXOM93,2193,4091,7192,4623.4M
Home DepotHD29,0129,8128,8029,7819.7M
Abbott LaboratoriesABT50,7851,5550,6951,2817.9M
Wal-Mart StoresWMT57,9358,0457,1457,6517M
AT&T Inc.T38,7738,9938,1538,5816.2M
Verizon CommunicationsVZ36,5137,0436,3837,0415.2M
ConocoPhillipsCOP83,5384,2083,1583,5714.1M
ComcastCMCSA19,7719,9019,2819,5314M
MerckMRK40,0840,9440,0040,7213.8M
Procter & GamblePG67,2767,2766,1766,5513.7M
ChevronCVX92,6693,2491,2392,6912.7M
HP Inc.HPQ48,3048,3046,7747,4512.3M
Walt Disney & Co.DIS32,0432,4531,9532,3611.9M
AmgenAMGN42,2942,4341,5542,2511.6M
Bristol-Myers SquibbBMY22,3922,5521,8822,1511.5M
UnitedHealth GroupUNH33,8134,2933,5733,9910.1M
AmazonAMZN78,0081,3277,2680,869.46M
Coca-ColaKO60,2560,5058,9659,339.4M
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ67,5767,7066,9467,319.18M
PepsicoPEP68,3068,3567,2167,628.43M
BoeingBA83,3885,2583,3884,848.36M
AlphabetGOOGL548,70553,00542,73544,068.32M
McDonald'sMCD59,7559,9859,2659,677.97M
SchlumbergerSLB102,65103,59100,52102,746.96M
International Business MachinesIBM124,50124,50122,06123,086.31M
Gilead SciencesGILD51,2252,4851,2051,405.82M
3MMMM78,8578,8776,4677,825.55M
Union PacificUNP138,69141,25135,22140,593.78M
United TechnologiesUTX73,0073,1172,0972,683.4M
Berkshire HathawayBRK.B4225,004238,004220,004230,0015.4K
Exchange Rates of April 25, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US DollarJapanese Yen1 USD = 104,410 JPY1 JPY = 0,010 USD
US DollarCanadian Dollar1 USD = 1,014 CAD1 CAD = 0,986 USD
US DollarSwiss Franc1 USD = 1,034 CHF1 CHF = 0,967 USD
US DollarChinese Yuan1 USD = 7,010 CNY1 CNY = 0,143 USD
EuroJapanese Yen1 EUR = 163,210 JPY1 JPY = 0,006 EUR
EuroPound Sterling1 EUR = 0,787 GBP1 GBP = 1,271 EUR
EuroAustralian Dollar1 EUR = 1,674 AUD1 AUD = 0,597 EUR
EuroCanadian Dollar1 EUR = 1,584 CAD1 CAD = 0,631 EUR
EuroSwiss Franc1 EUR = 1,616 CHF1 CHF = 0,619 EUR
Japanese YenPound Sterling1 JPY = 0,482 GBP1 GBP = 2,075 JPY
Japanese YenAustralian Dollar1 JPY = 1,025 AUD1 AUD = 0,976 JPY
Japanese YenCanadian Dollar1 JPY = 0,970 CAD1 CAD = 1,031 JPY
Japanese YenSwiss Franc1 JPY = 0,990 CHF1 CHF = 1,010 JPY
Pound SterlingAustralian Dollar1 GBP = 2,127 AUD1 AUD = 0,470 GBP
Pound SterlingCanadian Dollar1 GBP = 2,013 CAD1 CAD = 0,497 GBP
Pound SterlingSwiss Franc1 GBP = 2,053 CHF1 CHF = 0,487 GBP
Australian DollarCanadian Dollar1 AUD = 0,946 CAD1 CAD = 1,057 AUD
Australian DollarSwiss Franc1 AUD = 0,965 CHF1 CHF = 1,037 AUD
Canadian DollarSwiss Franc1 CAD = 1,020 CHF1 CHF = 0,981 CAD

See what else happened on April 25, 2008