Financial news on August 25th, 2010

Business and Financial news
Blackstone Urges Court to Reject I.P.O. Appeal

The Blackstone Group asked a federal appeals court not to revive an investor lawsuit accusing it of hiding bad investments before the private equity firm raised $4.7 billion in its initial public offering in 2007. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Buffett and Diller to Speak at Big Sky Summit

Senator Max Baucus, senior Democrat of Montana, said investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett is scheduled to participate in the Montana Economic Development Summit in Butte next month live via video Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Contender for Cairn India Hesitates

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp is divided over making a counterbid for Cairn India, which is the target of a $9.6 billion takeover offer by Vedanta, The Business Standard reported on Wednesday. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Five New Y Combinator Start-Ups to Watch

Y Combinator recently held its Demo Day, where the current class of startups gave demonstrations to investors and journalists. VentureBeat selected five companies from among the 36 startups in the current class that deserve a closer look. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Germany Plans Limits on Facebook Use in Hiring

The German government proposed new restrictions on employers’ use of Facebook profiles when recruiting. Read more..

By DAVID JOLLY - The New York Times

Irish Debt Downgraded on Eve of Bond Sale

Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the sovereign debt of Ireland with a negative outlook, citing the unexpectedly high costs of supporting the country’s banks — a move that could make it more expensive for Dublin to borrow. Read more..

By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON - The New York Times

Lloyd’s Aims to Void Stanford’s Insurance Policy

The jailed Texas financier R. Allen Stanford and three of his former executives have racked up millions of dollars in legal fees which have thus far been covered by an insurance policy. But Lloyd’s of London is trying to turn off the financial spigot by having the policy voided. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Wall Street Hit Again, This Time by Housing Data

A worse-than-expected report on existing homes sales was the latest indicator to cause concern. Read more..

By CHRISTINE HAUSER - The New York Times

What Has Dick Fuld Been Up To?

Richard S. Fuld, the former Lehman Brothers chief executive, has been busy working for a strategic advisory firm, Matrix Advisors, reports Fortune. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

When Feng Shui Helps Determine a Deal’s Fate

As the number of Asian buyers and lessees in New York has grown, commercial real estate brokers are quickly learning just how pervasive feng shui can be. Read more..

By JONATHAN VATNER - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

StockTicker symbolOpenHighLowCloseVolume
General ElectricGE14.4614.6814.2514.5776.8M
Wells Fargo & Co.WFC23.4123.6523.0223.6055.6M
Cisco SystemsCSCO20.9921.3520.8221.2154.3M
PfizerPFE15.7716.0615.6615.9949.4M
MicrosoftMSFT24.0024.2223.8724.1047.4M
AT&T Inc.T26.5826.9926.4426.8938.1M
JPMorgan ChaseJPM35.9536.4435.6736.2336.1M
HP Inc.HPQ38.1438.5738.0338.2426.2M
ComcastCMCSA16.8117.4816.7617.3326.1M
Verizon CommunicationsVZ29.3429.7529.1929.6623.6M
AltriaMO22.6922.9022.5122.8521.6M
AppleAAPL238.04243.99237.20242.8921.3M
ExxonMobilXOM58.6959.4058.4258.9120.9M
Oracle Corp.ORCL22.2222.5522.0322.4218.7M
IntelINTC18.2518.5918.1818.4816.9M
Bristol-Myers SquibbBMY25.9026.1525.7426.0816.8M
Abbott LaboratoriesABT49.1850.0549.1549.8215.7M
Wal-Mart StoresWMT51.2551.7951.0951.5514.8M
Home DepotHD27.5928.5027.5928.3314.4M
Walt Disney & Co.DIS31.8732.2431.5532.1114.1M
Gilead SciencesGILD32.1332.8332.0332.8212.6M
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ58.0058.2057.8457.9811.7M
UnitedHealth GroupUNH30.9332.2530.8231.9610.9M
MerckMRK34.4234.7234.0234.5410.6M
ConocoPhillipsCOP53.0053.6952.3353.4610.6M
Procter & GamblePG59.7959.9059.4059.6710.4M
ChevronCVX73.3274.3072.5774.079.71M
SchlumbergerSLB54.7154.9253.9554.699.07M
Coca-ColaKO55.4255.7155.0655.397.93M
McDonald'sMCD72.3073.4572.3073.196.7M
United TechnologiesUTX65.1465.7564.5765.266.61M
Berkshire HathawayBRK.B76.2477.0475.6276.805.9M
VisaV70.3172.1470.2770.865.6M
AmazonAMZN123.85127.37123.83126.855.34M
PepsicoPEP64.3764.8564.2064.575.32M
International Business MachinesIBM124.57125.60124.00125.275.24M
AlphabetGOOGL450.00457.81450.00454.625.18M
BoeingBA60.4961.1159.4860.765.14M
AmgenAMGN50.8852.0250.7151.845.13M
Union PacificUNP71.1673.0570.5772.174.73M
3MMMM80.0181.1079.4780.753.58M
Exchange Rates of August 25th, 2010
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US DollarJapanese Yen1 USD = 84.590 JPY1 JPY = 0.012 USD
US DollarCanadian Dollar1 USD = 1.059 CAD1 CAD = 0.944 USD
US DollarSwiss Franc1 USD = 1.030 CHF1 CHF = 0.971 USD
US DollarChinese Yuan1 USD = 6.801 CNY1 CNY = 0.147 USD
EuroJapanese Yen1 EUR = 107.120 JPY1 JPY = 0.009 EUR
EuroPound Sterling1 EUR = 0.818 GBP1 GBP = 1.222 EUR
EuroAustralian Dollar1 EUR = 1.430 AUD1 AUD = 0.699 EUR
EuroCanadian Dollar1 EUR = 1.342 CAD1 CAD = 0.745 EUR
EuroSwiss Franc1 EUR = 1.304 CHF1 CHF = 0.767 EUR
EuroChinese Yuan1 EUR = 8.609 CNY1 CNY = 0.116 EUR
Japanese YenPound Sterling1 JPY = 0.764 GBP1 GBP = 1.310 JPY
Japanese YenAustralian Dollar1 JPY = 1.335 AUD1 AUD = 0.749 JPY
Japanese YenCanadian Dollar1 JPY = 1.252 CAD1 CAD = 0.799 JPY
Japanese YenSwiss Franc1 JPY = 1.217 CHF1 CHF = 0.822 JPY
Pound SterlingAustralian Dollar1 GBP = 1.748 AUD1 AUD = 0.572 GBP
Pound SterlingCanadian Dollar1 GBP = 1.639 CAD1 CAD = 0.610 GBP
Pound SterlingSwiss Franc1 GBP = 1.594 CHF1 CHF = 0.628 GBP
Pound SterlingChinese Yuan1 GBP = 10.511 CNY1 CNY = 0.095 GBP
Australian DollarCanadian Dollar1 AUD = 0.938 CAD1 CAD = 1.067 AUD
Australian DollarSwiss Franc1 AUD = 0.911 CHF1 CHF = 1.098 AUD
Australian DollarChinese Yuan1 AUD = 6.016 CNY1 CNY = 0.166 AUD
Canadian DollarSwiss Franc1 CAD = 0.971 CHF1 CHF = 1.030 CAD
Canadian DollarChinese Yuan1 CAD = 6.417 CNY1 CNY = 0.156 CAD
Swiss FrancChinese Yuan1 CHF = 6.599 CNY1 CNY = 0.152 CHF

See what else happened on August 25th, 2010