Financial news on April 29, 2010

Business and Financial news
Amadeus Raises $1.74 Billion in I.P.O.

With $1.74 billion raised, Amadeus IT Holding has completed the largest initial public offering in Western Europe since 2008, Bloomberg News reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Bringing an Innovative Razor to the Masses

How two brothers in Florida invented a razor and tried to take shelf space from Gillette and Schick. Read more..

By MICKEY MEECE - The New York Times

E.U. Says, ‘Greece’s Needs Will Be Met on Time’

José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said that European Union officials were doing all they could to ensure that loans were soon provided to Greece. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Ex-McDonald’s Visionary Beats His Investment Drum

When it comes to understanding U.S. sensibilities, Mats Lederhausen, the former McDonald’s wunderkind, has always been ahead of the curve. Now he is forging his own investment agenda. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Goldman and Its Lobbyists Spurned in Finance Fight

Last week, White House officials quietly approached leading financial firms seeking formal letters of support for a Congressional overhaul of financial regulations. One Wall Street powerhouse was left off the list: Goldman Sachs. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Goldman Stock ‘Dead Money’ at Best, Calamos Says

Calamos Investments sold its Goldman Sachs holdings when the news of the civil fraud charges against the bank hit, fearing the stock was at best “dead money,” Nick Calamos told Reuters on Wednesday. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Irish Official Calls Markets 'Irrational'

A top Irish finance official criticized the soaring borrowing costs many European governments are facing and played down any comparison of Ireland’s financial situation to that of Greece. Read more..

By DAVID JOLLY - International Herald Tribune

Omers Said to Cut Out Middlemen in Talks for I.S.S.

The Canadian pension fund is close to edging out four private equity firms by acquiring the port and shipping group Inchcape Shipping Services, The Financial Times reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

PPL to Buy 2 Kentucky Utilities for $6.7 Billion

The big American power company agreed to acquire Kentucky’s two largest utility companies from E.ON of Germany for $6.7 billion in cash. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Republicans Allow Debate on Financial Overhaul

With political pressure mounting, Senate Republicans relented on Wednesday and agreed to let Democrats open debate on legislation that would impose the most far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s financial regulatory system since the aftermath of the Depression. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
General Electric GE 19.04 19.49 19.03 19.49 70.1M
Pfizer PFE 16.63 17.01 16.63 16.86 67.5M
Intel INTC 23.33 23.51 23.30 23.49 59.1M
Microsoft MSFT 30.93 31.43 30.67 31.00 52.7M
Comcast CMCSA 18.84 20.09 18.84 20.00 48.1M
ExxonMobil XOM 68.45 69.66 68.24 68.66 47.2M
Cisco Systems CSCO 27.10 27.64 27.10 27.53 41.9M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 43.89 44.33 43.60 44.00 36.5M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 32.79 33.40 32.73 33.23 31M
Schlumberger SLB 72.27 73.99 71.30 73.15 28M
Procter & Gamble PG 62.28 62.97 60.83 62.20 27.3M
AT&T Inc. T 26.08 26.30 25.94 26.14 25.6M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 25.28 25.93 25.00 25.37 20.7M
Apple AAPL 263.02 270.00 262.01 268.64 20M
HP Inc. HPQ 52.61 53.00 52.55 52.88 19.5M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 50.51 51.13 50.34 50.75 19.3M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 25.99 26.14 25.71 25.97 18.6M
Merck MRK 34.98 35.61 34.98 35.25 18.2M
ConocoPhillips COP 59.00 60.15 59.00 59.10 18M
Gilead Sciences GILD 40.76 41.08 40.32 40.40 16.8M
Home Depot HD 35.45 35.96 35.41 35.56 16.3M
Verizon Communications VZ 29.22 29.32 29.12 29.22 15.9M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 30.81 31.74 30.79 31.30 13.6M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 53.66 54.23 53.55 53.70 13.3M
Chevron CVX 81.19 82.99 81.19 82.29 12.3M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 36.50 37.39 36.50 37.22 10.6M
Altria MO 21.08 21.30 21.07 21.18 10.3M
Coca-Cola KO 53.62 54.19 53.56 53.74 8.72M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 64.85 65.34 64.85 65.01 7.93M
Pepsico PEP 64.95 65.50 64.83 65.20 7.71M
McDonald's MCD 70.58 71.70 70.58 71.52 7.36M
Visa V 93.77 94.60 92.10 92.82 7.35M
Amazon AMZN 140.09 142.45 139.79 141.73 6.31M
Alphabet GOOGL 533.37 536.50 526.67 532.00 6.11M
International Business Machines IBM 130.55 131.21 130.15 130.46 5.79M
3M MMM 88.94 90.00 88.64 89.33 5.28M
Boeing BA 73.00 74.00 72.67 73.79 5.2M
United Technologies UTX 75.31 76.35 75.16 76.02 4.97M
Amgen AMGN 58.38 59.05 58.07 58.59 4.34M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 77.71 78.14 77.64 78.09 4.33M
Union Pacific UNP 76.87 78.09 76.37 77.65 3.55M
Exchange Rates of April 29, 2010
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 94.020 JPY 1 JPY = 0.011 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.006 CAD 1 CAD = 0.994 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.083 CHF 1 CHF = 0.923 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.826 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 124.510 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.864 GBP 1 GBP = 1.158 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.428 AUD 1 AUD = 0.700 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.332 CAD 1 CAD = 0.751 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.434 CHF 1 CHF = 0.697 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.044 CNY 1 CNY = 0.111 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.693 GBP 1 GBP = 1.444 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.144 AUD 1 AUD = 0.874 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.069 CAD 1 CAD = 0.936 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.151 CHF 1 CHF = 0.869 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.653 AUD 1 AUD = 0.605 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.542 CAD 1 CAD = 0.648 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.661 CHF 1 CHF = 0.602 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.461 CNY 1 CNY = 0.096 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.933 CAD 1 CAD = 1.072 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 1.004 CHF 1 CHF = 0.996 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.334 CNY 1 CNY = 0.158 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.076 CHF 1 CHF = 0.929 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.785 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.305 CNY 1 CNY = 0.159 CHF

See what else happened on April 29, 2010