Financial news on October 29, 2010

Business and Financial news
A Flood of Challenges in Building for a Changing Climate

Severe weather in Britain is forcing developers to take extra steps, like flood-proofing homes. Read more..

By ABIGAIL SALTMARSH - International Herald Tribune

A Novel Whose Plot Seems Oddly Familiar

An International Monetary Fund employee has written an intriguing book that seems to borrow from the financial crisis — but was written before it. Read more..

By SEWELL CHAN - The New York Times

Daimler Beats Expectations With Strong Profit

The German maker of Mercedes-Benz cars also said it was revising upward its 2010 forecasts. Read more..

By DAVID JOLLY - International Herald Tribune

Ex-Currency Traders in Boston Accused of Fraud

A federal indictment charges the co-founder of a now-defunct company that traded in foreign currency with defrauding investors out of more than $30 million. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

For Daimler, A Big Jump In Both Profit And Revenue

The company, which makes Mercedes-Benz cars, credited strong sales of cars in China and in the United States, as well as exchange rate gains. Read more..

By DAVID JOLLY - The New York Times

Hands Sees Possible Citigroup Damages Cut

Terra Firma chairman, Guy Hands, had one of the theories on which his legal team built its damages case against Citigroup ruled out by the judge, The Financial Times reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Macquarie Profit Slips, but Beats Forecasts

The Macquarie Group of Australia kept its full year outlook, defying fears of an earnings downgrade after one-offs helped first-half profit beat forecasts, Reuters reports. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Nomura Profit Tumbles for Quarter

Nomura Holdings, the brokerage and investment bank based in Japan, said Friday that its quarterly profit had dropped 96 percent from the previous year as the company pursues a costly program of expansion in the United States. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Romancing the ‘Stone

Blackstone has had a good run, and Reuters Breakingviews considers why. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Solar Power Projects Face Potential Hurdles

Without two crucial government programs that reduce investor risk, solar power projects may begin to dry up. Read more..

By TODD WOODY - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Microsoft MSFT 27.15 27.20 26.48 26.67 114M
Intel INTC 20.45 20.56 20.01 20.05 60.8M
Cisco Systems CSCO 23.12 23.22 22.82 22.86 44.6M
Pfizer PFE 17.57 17.57 17.29 17.42 40.2M
General Electric GE 16.07 16.13 15.98 16.02 38.2M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 29.36 29.71 29.30 29.38 35.1M
Comcast CMCSA 20.83 20.87 20.56 20.63 25.9M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 25.82 26.13 25.67 26.06 24M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 51.78 51.86 50.93 51.32 21.3M
AT&T Inc. T 28.42 28.63 28.37 28.52 21.2M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 37.45 37.74 37.32 37.63 19.8M
ExxonMobil XOM 66.10 66.56 65.99 66.49 19.3M
HP Inc. HPQ 42.44 42.68 41.88 42.04 18.2M
Apple AAPL 304.23 305.88 300.87 300.98 15.4M
Merck MRK 36.73 36.74 36.02 36.31 15.2M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 36.51 36.51 35.83 36.13 12.9M
Schlumberger SLB 69.49 70.23 69.03 69.89 12.6M
Chevron CVX 82.89 83.23 81.98 82.60 12.5M
Verizon Communications VZ 32.37 32.56 32.21 32.48 12.1M
Altria MO 25.28 25.42 25.24 25.42 12M
Procter & Gamble PG 63.23 63.85 63.19 63.57 11.4M
ConocoPhillips COP 59.38 59.53 58.80 59.39 11.1M
Home Depot HD 31.09 31.18 30.87 30.90 9.5M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 63.64 63.84 63.32 63.74 9.31M
International Business Machines IBM 140.90 144.00 140.75 143.60 8.44M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 54.04 54.59 53.61 54.17 8.03M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 26.97 27.02 26.71 26.84 7.97M
Coca-Cola KO 61.15 61.50 61.03 61.32 7.12M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 36.40 36.93 35.81 36.05 6.7M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 80.04 80.18 78.72 79.56 6.11M
3M MMM 85.01 85.21 84.07 84.22 6.09M
Visa V 76.40 78.43 76.34 78.16 5.72M
Pepsico PEP 65.07 65.30 64.86 65.30 5.55M
Gilead Sciences GILD 39.61 39.90 39.57 39.67 5.12M
Amazon AMZN 165.80 168.50 164.81 165.23 5M
Alphabet GOOGL 617.07 619.00 612.99 613.70 4.55M
McDonald's MCD 77.60 79.90 77.40 77.77 4.34M
Amgen AMGN 56.95 57.46 56.80 57.19 3.38M
Boeing BA 71.15 71.46 70.36 70.64 3.19M
Union Pacific UNP 85.75 88.04 85.54 87.68 2.65M
United Technologies UTX 74.32 74.88 74.10 74.77 2.65M
Exchange Rates of October 29, 2010
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 80.310 JPY 1 JPY = 0.012 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.019 CAD 1 CAD = 0.981 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 0.982 CHF 1 CHF = 1.018 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.672 CNY 1 CNY = 0.150 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 112.100 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.870 GBP 1 GBP = 1.150 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.416 AUD 1 AUD = 0.706 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.422 CAD 1 CAD = 0.703 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.370 CHF 1 CHF = 0.730 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.302 CNY 1 CNY = 0.108 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.775 GBP 1 GBP = 1.290 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.264 AUD 1 AUD = 0.791 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.267 CAD 1 CAD = 0.789 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.222 CHF 1 CHF = 0.819 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.630 AUD 1 AUD = 0.613 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.635 CAD 1 CAD = 0.612 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.575 CHF 1 CHF = 0.635 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.688 CNY 1 CNY = 0.094 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 1.003 CAD 1 CAD = 0.998 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.964 CHF 1 CHF = 1.037 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.564 CNY 1 CNY = 0.152 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 0.962 CHF 1 CHF = 1.040 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.543 CNY 1 CNY = 0.153 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.790 CNY 1 CNY = 0.147 CHF

See what else happened on October 29, 2010