Financial news on August 25, 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

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
General Electric GE 14.46 14.68 14.25 14.57 76.8M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 23.41 23.65 23.02 23.60 55.6M
Cisco Systems CSCO 20.99 21.35 20.82 21.21 54.3M
Pfizer PFE 15.77 16.06 15.66 15.99 49.4M
Microsoft MSFT 24.00 24.22 23.87 24.10 47.4M
AT&T Inc. T 26.58 26.99 26.44 26.89 38.1M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 35.95 36.44 35.67 36.23 36.1M
HP Inc. HPQ 38.14 38.57 38.03 38.24 26.2M
Comcast CMCSA 16.81 17.48 16.76 17.33 26.1M
Verizon Communications VZ 29.34 29.75 29.19 29.66 23.6M
Altria MO 22.69 22.90 22.51 22.85 21.6M
Apple AAPL 238.04 243.99 237.20 242.89 21.3M
ExxonMobil XOM 58.69 59.40 58.42 58.91 20.9M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 22.22 22.55 22.03 22.42 18.7M
Intel INTC 18.25 18.59 18.18 18.48 16.9M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 25.90 26.15 25.74 26.08 16.8M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 49.18 50.05 49.15 49.82 15.7M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 51.25 51.79 51.09 51.55 14.8M
Home Depot HD 27.59 28.50 27.59 28.33 14.4M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 31.87 32.24 31.55 32.11 14.1M
Gilead Sciences GILD 32.13 32.83 32.03 32.82 12.6M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 58.00 58.20 57.84 57.98 11.7M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 30.93 32.25 30.82 31.96 10.9M
Merck MRK 34.42 34.72 34.02 34.54 10.6M
ConocoPhillips COP 53.00 53.69 52.33 53.46 10.6M
Procter & Gamble PG 59.79 59.90 59.40 59.67 10.4M
Chevron CVX 73.32 74.30 72.57 74.07 9.71M
Schlumberger SLB 54.71 54.92 53.95 54.69 9.07M
Coca-Cola KO 55.42 55.71 55.06 55.39 7.93M
McDonald's MCD 72.30 73.45 72.30 73.19 6.7M
United Technologies UTX 65.14 65.75 64.57 65.26 6.61M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 76.24 77.04 75.62 76.80 5.9M
Visa V 70.31 72.14 70.27 70.86 5.6M
Amazon AMZN 123.85 127.37 123.83 126.85 5.34M
Pepsico PEP 64.37 64.85 64.20 64.57 5.32M
International Business Machines IBM 124.57 125.60 124.00 125.27 5.24M
Alphabet GOOGL 450.00 457.81 450.00 454.62 5.18M
Boeing BA 60.49 61.11 59.48 60.76 5.14M
Amgen AMGN 50.88 52.02 50.71 51.84 5.13M
Union Pacific UNP 71.16 73.05 70.57 72.17 4.73M
3M MMM 80.01 81.10 79.47 80.75 3.58M
Exchange Rates of August 25, 2010
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 84.590 JPY 1 JPY = 0.012 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.059 CAD 1 CAD = 0.944 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.030 CHF 1 CHF = 0.971 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.801 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 107.120 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.818 GBP 1 GBP = 1.222 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.430 AUD 1 AUD = 0.699 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.342 CAD 1 CAD = 0.745 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.304 CHF 1 CHF = 0.767 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 8.609 CNY 1 CNY = 0.116 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.764 GBP 1 GBP = 1.310 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.335 AUD 1 AUD = 0.749 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.252 CAD 1 CAD = 0.799 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.217 CHF 1 CHF = 0.822 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.748 AUD 1 AUD = 0.572 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.639 CAD 1 CAD = 0.610 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.594 CHF 1 CHF = 0.628 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.511 CNY 1 CNY = 0.095 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.938 CAD 1 CAD = 1.067 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.911 CHF 1 CHF = 1.098 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.016 CNY 1 CNY = 0.166 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.971 CHF 1 CHF = 1.030 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.417 CNY 1 CNY = 0.156 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.599 CNY 1 CNY = 0.152 CHF

See what else happened on August 25, 2010