Financial news on May 28, 2008

Business and Financial news
As Home Prices Drop Low Enough, a Committed Renter Decides to Buy

As housing prices slowly come back to reality, buying has again started to make sense for more people. Read more..

By DAVID LEONHARDT - The New York Times

Brazil: Oil Company Planning to Sell Shares

The Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, below, is planning a 5.59 billion real ($3.37 billion) initial public offering of OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes. Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

For Coors Light, a Night Out That Begins on MySpace

Coors Light is extending its presence in the new media with efforts on the social networking Web sites Facebook and MySpace. Read more..

By STUART ELLIOTT - The New York Times

Housing Prices Fall 14.1% in Sign of Continuing Slump

The home-buying season is shaping up to be even worse than expected, with few signs of a turnaround. Read more..

By VIKAS BAJAJ - The New York Times

In an Uncertain Market, Hotels May Be Ripe Buys

While the number of hotel deals during the first quarter plummeted by more than 40 percent, some hotel industry experts see fire sales on the horizon. Read more..

By J. ALEX TARQUINIO - The New York Times

Investors Criticize French Bank Chairman for Loss

At Société Générale’s annual meeting, several investors called for the resignation of the chairman, Daniel Bouton, and accused management of transforming the bank into a casino. Read more..

By KATRIN BENNHOLD - The New York Times

Major San Francisco Development Faces a Ballot Test

A measure asks residents to give the go-ahead to turn 496 acres into a neighborhood of homes, research and office buildings, retail space and a new stadium. Read more..

By KEITH SCHNEIDER - The New York Times

Realtors Agree to Stop Blocking Web Listings

The deal frees Internet brokers and other real-estate agents offering heavily discounted commissions to operate on a level playing field with traditional brokers. Read more..

By ERIC LICHTBLAU - The New York Times

With Bold Steps, Fed Chief Quiets Some Criticism

After rewriting the rulebook at the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke appears to have quieted many of his critics. Read more..

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
General Electric GE 30.55 30.68 30.21 30.55 63.4M
Microsoft MSFT 28.56 28.57 28.04 28.18 52.3M
Intel INTC 23.80 23.81 23.14 23.47 50.3M
Cisco Systems CSCO 26.00 26.04 25.32 25.54 45.7M
Pfizer PFE 19.42 19.47 19.16 19.30 43.5M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 27.71 27.87 26.63 27.47 39.7M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 43.39 43.43 41.90 42.86 31.7M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 22.80 22.95 22.64 22.79 26.8M
Apple AAPL 187.49 187.95 183.72 187.01 26.6M
ExxonMobil XOM 89.10 90.58 88.88 90.43 22.3M
AT&T Inc. T 39.01 39.54 39.01 39.51 22.1M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 56.91 57.24 56.56 57.09 20.4M
ConocoPhillips COP 90.01 92.56 89.86 92.56 18.3M
HP Inc. HPQ 46.00 46.65 45.94 46.52 17.9M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 34.93 35.24 34.21 34.23 15.4M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 65.19 65.31 64.64 64.88 14.8M
Comcast CMCSA 21.93 21.99 21.51 21.74 14.6M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 33.66 34.15 33.66 33.86 14.2M
Altria MO 22.68 22.70 22.01 22.33 13.7M
Visa V 80.29 81.95 79.55 81.92 13.2M
Home Depot HD 27.67 27.85 27.22 27.43 13.2M
Coca-Cola KO 58.84 58.84 57.34 57.44 12M
Merck MRK 38.80 38.86 38.23 38.66 11.8M
Verizon Communications VZ 37.45 37.88 37.29 37.77 11.7M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 22.02 22.19 21.78 22.09 11M
Chevron CVX 98.86 100.58 98.57 100.42 10.5M
Procter & Gamble PG 65.32 65.42 64.76 64.87 10.2M
International Business Machines IBM 127.50 129.54 126.99 129.54 9.88M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 54.83 54.83 53.75 54.10 9.73M
Alphabet GOOGL 567.96 571.49 561.10 568.24 8.09M
Amgen AMGN 42.62 42.88 42.47 42.82 7.62M
Schlumberger SLB 100.07 103.00 98.85 102.89 6.92M
Amazon AMZN 80.54 80.79 78.99 80.08 6.7M
Union Pacific UNP 158.85 159.00 156.24 157.58 6.62M
Pepsico PEP 69.00 69.00 67.80 67.93 6.48M
McDonald's MCD 58.37 59.05 58.35 58.69 5.48M
United Technologies UTX 71.03 71.22 69.73 70.23 4.96M
Gilead Sciences GILD 53.70 53.81 53.12 53.57 4.7M
Boeing BA 83.25 83.25 81.08 82.13 4.14M
3M MMM 76.34 77.01 76.31 76.90 3.68M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 4295.00 4340.00 4273.00 4338.00 47K
Exchange Rates of May 28, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 104.670 JPY 1 JPY = 0.010 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 0.990 CAD 1 CAD = 1.011 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.037 CHF 1 CHF = 0.964 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.944 CNY 1 CNY = 0.144 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 163.780 JPY 1 JPY = 0.006 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.790 GBP 1 GBP = 1.266 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.626 AUD 1 AUD = 0.615 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.548 CAD 1 CAD = 0.646 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.623 CHF 1 CHF = 0.616 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.482 GBP 1 GBP = 2.074 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.992 AUD 1 AUD = 1.008 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.945 CAD 1 CAD = 1.058 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 0.991 CHF 1 CHF = 1.009 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.058 AUD 1 AUD = 0.486 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.959 CAD 1 CAD = 0.510 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2.054 CHF 1 CHF = 0.487 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.952 CAD 1 CAD = 1.051 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.998 CHF 1 CHF = 1.002 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.048 CHF 1 CHF = 0.954 CAD

See what else happened on May 28, 2008