Financial news on July 29, 2008

Business and Financial news
A New Way to Generate Mortgages

Regulators, bankers and traders, led by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., all pledged to do their best to get a “covered bond market” going in the U.S. Read more..

By FLOYD NORRIS - The New York Times

Clearing Up a Blurry Work Life

Gina Trapani, an expert on navigating the demands and complexities of modern technology, discusses how to be more productive at work. Read more..

By MARCI ALBOHER - The New York Times

Ex-Manager at Siemens Is Convicted in Bribe Case

A German court convicted a former manager at Siemens of misuse of funds in the first verdict stemming from a bribery scandal at the company. Read more..

By CARTER DOUGHERTY - The New York Times

Lax Lending Standards Led to IndyMac’s Downfall

The collapse of IndyMac, one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, was the most vivid example to date of the dangers confronting banks and their investors. Read more..

By VIKAS BAJAJ - The New York Times

New Brand Logos Reflect Shift at G.M.

Opel and Vauxhall, General Motors’ biggest-selling brands in Europe, are getting new logos that aim to “send a message that something is happening with these brands.” Read more..

By ERIC PFANNER - The New York Times

Write-Down Is Planned at Merrill

Merrill Lynch said it expected to take a $5.7 billion write-down because of losses on its mortgage assets. Read more..

By LOUISE STORY - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Microsoft MSFT 25.52 26.19 25.40 26.11 66.4M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 28.17 30.46 27.73 30.46 62.3M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 37.94 40.75 37.18 40.75 50.5M
Intel INTC 21.95 22.25 21.64 22.23 47.5M
General Electric GE 27.78 28.40 27.75 28.40 45.7M
Cisco Systems CSCO 22.19 22.52 22.07 22.42 43.1M
Comcast CMCSA 19.05 19.60 18.83 19.18 35.1M
Amgen AMGN 63.19 64.00 61.75 62.28 33M
Pfizer PFE 18.42 18.61 18.34 18.53 32.5M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 20.85 21.57 20.84 21.43 31.8M
AT&T Inc. T 30.68 31.10 30.56 30.70 28.9M
ExxonMobil XOM 80.83 81.20 79.75 80.90 25.9M
Apple AAPL 156.55 159.45 153.65 157.08 24.4M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 21.94 22.11 21.02 21.53 20.6M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 56.92 57.09 55.66 55.94 19M
ConocoPhillips COP 81.80 82.40 79.30 80.27 17.7M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 56.40 57.50 56.09 57.45 17.7M
HP Inc. HPQ 43.22 44.50 43.02 44.13 16.9M
Verizon Communications VZ 33.79 34.42 33.69 34.13 16.6M
Procter & Gamble PG 63.95 65.61 63.80 65.54 16.5M
Home Depot HD 23.30 24.44 23.24 24.33 15.5M
Chevron CVX 82.62 83.69 81.46 82.84 14.1M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 30.60 31.12 30.41 30.92 13.3M
Merck MRK 32.08 32.47 31.56 32.41 13.1M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 68.55 69.00 68.30 68.48 13M
Visa V 71.03 75.97 71.01 75.97 12.3M
Altria MO 20.92 21.47 20.87 21.37 11.2M
Schlumberger SLB 97.86 98.13 95.54 96.23 10.7M
McDonald's MCD 58.30 60.00 57.97 59.70 10.2M
Pepsico PEP 66.75 67.25 66.54 66.98 8.21M
Coca-Cola KO 51.21 51.81 51.12 51.57 8.12M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 26.85 27.66 26.62 27.53 7.62M
Gilead Sciences GILD 53.61 54.05 53.17 53.98 7.61M
Union Pacific UNP 76.84 81.21 76.02 81.01 6.78M
Amazon AMZN 76.49 78.80 76.16 78.21 6.77M
International Business Machines IBM 126.54 128.17 126.25 127.66 5.98M
United Technologies UTX 64.04 65.63 64.00 65.52 5.7M
Boeing BA 62.64 63.50 62.32 63.21 5.62M
Alphabet GOOGL 479.30 487.26 478.00 483.11 5.6M
3M MMM 69.77 70.57 69.55 70.49 3.6M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3750.00 3750.00 3707.00 3715.00 23.1K
Exchange Rates of July 29, 2008
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 108.150 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.024 CAD 1 CAD = 0.977 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.047 CHF 1 CHF = 0.955 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.826 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 168.550 JPY 1 JPY = 0.006 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.787 GBP 1 GBP = 1.271 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.636 AUD 1 AUD = 0.611 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.595 CAD 1 CAD = 0.627 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.631 CHF 1 CHF = 0.613 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.467 GBP 1 GBP = 2.143 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.970 AUD 1 AUD = 1.031 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.946 CAD 1 CAD = 1.057 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 0.968 CHF 1 CHF = 1.034 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.079 AUD 1 AUD = 0.481 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.027 CAD 1 CAD = 0.493 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2.072 CHF 1 CHF = 0.483 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.975 CAD 1 CAD = 1.026 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.996 CHF 1 CHF = 1.004 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.022 CHF 1 CHF = 0.978 CAD

See what else happened on July 29, 2008