Financial news on August 31, 2006

Business and Financial news
Alcatel Battles Criticism of Its Lucent Deal

Alcatel disputed criticism about its planned takeover of Lucent and insisted that the deal would be good for shareholders. Read more..

By JAMES KANTER - The New York Times

Clorox Names Coke Official to Be Chief

The president of Coke’s North American unit, Donald R. Knauss, resigned to become chairman and chief executive of Clorox. Read more..

By ALEX BERENSON - The New York Times

Fill Up on Corn if You Can

Even in the Midwest where ethanol is most popular, its success as an alternative fuel is far from assured. Read more..

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO - The New York Times

Films That Come Over the Net Don’t Come Easy

While the idea of downloading movies from the Internet to your computer sounds simple, carrying it out is anything but. Read more..

By JOHN R. QUAIN - The New York Times

Fully Loaded PC, but Small Enough to Slip Between Books on a Shelf

Shuttle’s latest PC is so small it could fit into a cereal box. Read more..

By JOHN BIGGS - The New York Times

Genzyme to Make Offer for AnorMed

In a rare hostile bid, Genzyme said it would make an offer for AnorMed, a Canadian company that had spurned previous acquisition approaches. Read more..

By ANDREW POLLACK - The New York Times

G.M. Drops ‘Survivor’ but Says Racial Format Isn’t the Reason

General Motors, which accounts for roughly one-fifth of the advertising on “Survivor,” said its decision was unrelated to the show’s race-based format. Read more..

By EDWARD WYATT and STUART ELLIOTT - The New York Times

Judge Rules Damage Award in Vioxx Case Is Excessive

A federal judge said that a $51 million damage award over Merck’s Vioxx painkiller was “grossly excessive.” Read more..

By BLOOMBERG NEWS - The New York Times

No Quarters for the Meter? No Problem

Parcxmart Technologies has developed a smart card for parking that would send coin-operated parking meters the way of pay phones. Read more..

By ELLEN ROSEN - The New York Times

When the Rich-Poor Gap Widens, ‘Gatsby’ Becomes a Guidebook

With income and wealth disparities rising sharply, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tale of wealthy Americans has experienced a resurgence of interest. Read more..

By ROBERT H. FRANK - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Cisco Systems CSCO 21,65 22,15 21,65 21,99 85.4M
Intel INTC 19,82 19,84 19,53 19,57 46.2M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 15,68 15,75 15,50 15,66 27.5M
Microsoft MSFT 25,87 25,98 25,68 25,70 26.4M
Pfizer PFE 27,73 27,83 27,51 27,56 23M
Apple AAPL 67,28 68,30 66,66 67,85 20.5M
ExxonMobil XOM 68,05 68,26 67,60 67,67 19.2M
General Electric GE 34,31 34,32 34,01 34,06 18.5M
HP Inc. HPQ 35,80 36,70 35,80 36,56 14.4M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 34,89 34,90 34,69 34,75 11.1M
Home Depot HD 34,11 34,45 33,96 34,29 10.6M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 48,33 48,75 48,15 48,70 9.97M
AT&T Inc. T 31,28 31,37 31,06 31,13 9.48M
ConocoPhillips COP 63,25 63,75 62,91 63,43 9.42M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 44,93 44,98 44,52 44,72 8.78M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 21,99 22,00 21,74 21,75 7.16M
Merck MRK 40,81 40,97 40,35 40,55 6.92M
Schlumberger SLB 61,50 62,77 61,23 61,30 6.86M
Chevron CVX 65,19 65,19 64,35 64,40 6.61M
Procter & Gamble PG 61,57 62,03 61,55 61,90 6.51M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 45,70 45,87 45,58 45,66 6.25M
Altria MO 84,50 84,52 83,53 83,53 6.22M
Amazon AMZN 30,75 30,99 30,47 30,83 5.95M
Alphabet GOOGL 381,49 382,15 378,20 378,53 5.91M
Verizon Communications VZ 35,36 35,45 35,17 35,18 5.76M
Comcast CMCSA 35,00 35,19 34,81 35,04 5.43M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 29,50 29,71 29,31 29,65 5.31M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 64,66 64,74 64,42 64,66 4.61M
Amgen AMGN 68,63 68,76 67,86 68,03 4.52M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 51,75 52,03 51,25 51,95 4.33M
International Business Machines IBM 81,30 81,50 80,78 80,97 3.79M
Coca-Cola KO 45,12 45,14 44,80 44,81 3.65M
Boeing BA 74,75 75,58 74,75 74,90 3.06M
United Technologies UTX 62,16 62,97 62,01 62,71 2.79M
McDonald's MCD 36,16 36,19 35,77 35,90 2.54M
Pepsico PEP 65,40 65,73 65,27 65,28 2.5M
Gilead Sciences GILD 63,91 63,91 63,03 63,40 2.44M
Union Pacific UNP 80,36 80,66 80,03 80,35 2.28M
3M MMM 71,80 71,97 71,45 71,70 1.78M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3193,00 3206,00 3190,00 3203,50 16.8K
Exchange Rates of August 31, 2006
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 117,380 JPY 1 JPY = 0,009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1,104 CAD 1 CAD = 0,906 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1,231 CHF 1 CHF = 0,812 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7,953 CNY 1 CNY = 0,126 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 150,310 JPY 1 JPY = 0,007 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0,673 GBP 1 GBP = 1,487 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,676 AUD 1 AUD = 0,597 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1,413 CAD 1 CAD = 0,708 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1,577 CHF 1 CHF = 0,634 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0,447 GBP 1 GBP = 2,236 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1,115 AUD 1 AUD = 0,897 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0,940 CAD 1 CAD = 1,064 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1,049 CHF 1 CHF = 0,953 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,492 AUD 1 AUD = 0,401 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2,102 CAD 1 CAD = 0,476 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2,344 CHF 1 CHF = 0,427 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0,843 CAD 1 CAD = 1,187 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0,940 CHF 1 CHF = 1,064 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1,115 CHF 1 CHF = 0,897 CAD

See what else happened on August 31, 2006