Financial news on March 25, 2009

Business and Financial news
A Hollywood Pitch: Bring the Junkets Back

A new hotel and condominium complex is aimed at luring press junkets back to the historic Hollywood and Vine address. Read more..

By MORRIS NEWMAN - The New York Times

Europe Cautious About Any Trade Deal With Korea

The European Commission backed away from reports of a tentative deal and said that significant issues remain to be resolved. Read more..

By STEPHEN CASTLE - The New York Times

Insurers Offer to Soften a Key Rate-Setting Policy

The health insurance industry said it was willing to stop charging higher premiums to sick people if Congress were to require that all Americans carry insurance. Read more..

By ROBERT PEAR - The New York Times

Sweden: Maker of Air Bags Cuts Jobs

Autoliv, the world’s largest maker of air bags for cars, said it had cut 3,000 jobs in the first two months of the year, eliminating 2,600 permanent and 400 temporary positions. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

Top Hedge Fund Managers Do Well in a Down Year

Alpha magazine’s rankings show that the top earners took in $11.6 billion by trading above the pain in 2008. Read more..

By LOUISE STORY - The New York Times

Wall Street Gives Back Some of Monday’s Gains

A day after posting their biggest gains in five months in response to details of the government’s bank-rescue plans, shares fell in late afternoon trading. Read more..

By JACK HEALY - The New York Times

Weak Pound Pushes Up Prices in Britain

The deepening recession provided no respite on inflation for British consumers last month, as the weak pound pushed up prices for food and other imported goods. Read more..

By JULIA WERDIGIER - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 16.30 17.19 14.87 16.42 218M
General Electric GE 10.74 11.09 10.09 10.49 210M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 27.19 28.71 25.93 28.56 149M
Intel INTC 15.08 15.71 14.71 14.94 94.5M
Microsoft MSFT 17.98 18.31 17.52 17.88 73.9M
Pfizer PFE 13.98 14.60 13.89 14.26 69M
Cisco Systems CSCO 16.50 17.05 16.28 16.57 64.2M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 46.88 47.00 45.04 46.03 41M
AT&T Inc. T 26.47 26.59 25.64 26.18 39M
ExxonMobil XOM 69.70 71.17 68.76 70.16 36.7M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 18.03 18.34 17.70 18.09 34.7M
Home Depot HD 23.27 23.95 22.77 23.28 33.4M
Verizon Communications VZ 30.72 30.75 29.40 30.15 31.5M
HP Inc. HPQ 30.99 31.50 30.14 31.01 24.9M
Comcast CMCSA 13.93 14.38 13.53 13.94 23.7M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 51.27 52.29 50.64 51.68 23.4M
Apple AAPL 107.58 108.36 103.86 106.49 23.1M
ConocoPhillips COP 39.64 40.43 38.62 39.70 20.1M
Merck MRK 27.96 28.02 26.81 27.50 17.4M
Chevron CVX 69.35 70.18 67.84 69.70 16.7M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 18.34 18.88 17.86 18.53 16M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 52.98 53.27 52.01 52.86 15.8M
Schlumberger SLB 45.94 46.64 43.71 45.34 15.6M
Procter & Gamble PG 47.70 48.60 47.20 48.06 15.3M
Visa V 53.95 54.75 51.28 52.75 14.7M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 21.29 21.67 20.61 21.18 14M
Altria MO 17.20 17.40 17.01 17.27 13.4M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 21.02 21.45 20.75 21.06 13.1M
Boeing BA 36.03 37.79 35.97 37.06 12.4M
Coca-Cola KO 44.40 44.89 44.03 44.75 12.2M
International Business Machines IBM 98.47 99.86 96.09 97.95 12M
McDonald's MCD 54.06 55.04 53.25 55.01 10.9M
United Technologies UTX 43.49 44.71 42.72 43.69 10.6M
Gilead Sciences GILD 44.02 45.16 43.22 43.88 10M
Amgen AMGN 49.48 50.43 48.75 49.82 8.72M
Pepsico PEP 52.21 52.79 51.67 52.47 8.71M
Alphabet GOOGL 350.40 351.34 336.25 344.07 8.66M
Amazon AMZN 73.09 73.95 69.84 72.40 7.9M
3M MMM 48.85 50.76 47.75 49.02 7.85M
Union Pacific UNP 42.11 42.81 39.48 40.95 6.29M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 2938.00 2984.00 2855.00 2900.00 50.6K
Exchange Rates of March 25, 2009
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 97.660 JPY 1 JPY = 0.010 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.231 CAD 1 CAD = 0.812 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.122 CHF 1 CHF = 0.892 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.831 CNY 1 CNY = 0.146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 132.610 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.933 GBP 1 GBP = 1.072 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.946 AUD 1 AUD = 0.514 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.672 CAD 1 CAD = 0.598 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.523 CHF 1 CHF = 0.657 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.281 CNY 1 CNY = 0.108 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.703 GBP 1 GBP = 1.422 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.467 AUD 1 AUD = 0.682 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.260 CAD 1 CAD = 0.793 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.148 CHF 1 CHF = 0.871 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.085 AUD 1 AUD = 0.480 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.792 CAD 1 CAD = 0.558 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.632 CHF 1 CHF = 0.613 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 9.930 CNY 1 CNY = 0.101 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.859 CAD 1 CAD = 1.164 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.782 CHF 1 CHF = 1.278 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 4.767 CNY 1 CNY = 0.210 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.910 CHF 1 CHF = 1.098 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 5.541 CNY 1 CNY = 0.180 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.093 CNY 1 CNY = 0.164 CHF

See what else happened on March 25, 2009