Financial news on August 31st, 2010

Business and Financial news
Acquisitions Up in U.S. Power Industry

Acquisitions in the United States power industry surged more than 20-fold by value in the first eight months of the year. Advisers say expect more deals as buyers such as Blackstone Group bet electricity prices will rise with economic recovery, Bloomberg News reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Candover Investments to Sell Off Portfolio

Private equity firm Candover Investments said it will wind itself up, sealing the fate of one of the buyout industry’s highest-profile victims of the credit crunch, Reuters reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Chaos and Stranded Tourists After Mexicana Shutdown

Tour operators said that they were confident they could reschedule flights, but many customers feared they would not get promised refunds. Read more..

By ELISABETH MALKIN - The New York Times

Drug Makers on the Trail of an Alternative to Steroids

Drug makers are trying to develop medicines that possess the muscle-building ability of testosterone without its side effects. Read more..

By ANDREW POLLACK - The New York Times

Exelon to Buy Wind Power Firm John Deere Renewables

The American power producer Exelon said on Tuesday that it had agreed to buy John Deere Renewables, a wind power company, in a deal that may be worth up to $900 million. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Failed Banks No Longer at Bargain Prices

The days of investors being able to pick up failed financial institutions on the cheap are coming to an end, despite a high number of bank failures this year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Google Buys Mobile Networker SocialDeck

In its effort to challenge Facebook, Google has become a social butterfly. The latest proof of that is Google’s acquisition of SocialDeck, a maker of social games for mobile phones, VentureBeat reported. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

H.P. to Pay $55 Million to Settle Kickback Inquiry

Hewlett-Packard has agreed to pay $55 million to settle kickback allegations related to federal government contracts, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Saks Shares Surge on Buyout Talk

Saks shares surged on a British newspaper report of a possible buyout offer. Read more..

By DEALBOOK - The New York Times

Tax Cuts That Make a Difference

Republicans and President Obama are open to tax cuts. The question is what kind can put people back to work. Read more..

By DAVID LEONHARDT - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

StockTicker symbolOpenHighLowCloseVolume
IntelINTC17.8817.9217.6017.67112M
Cisco SystemsCSCO20.1120.3719.8219.9994.4M
MicrosoftMSFT23.6023.7323.3223.4766.1M
General ElectricGE14.3614.5814.3114.4859.2M
PfizerPFE15.8916.1015.7915.9144.7M
Oracle Corp.ORCL21.9221.9321.6621.8541.7M
Wells Fargo & Co.WFC23.1823.6823.0323.5535.7M
JPMorgan ChaseJPM35.9436.6435.7336.3634.8M
AT&T Inc.T26.5427.0326.5027.0332.9M
HP Inc.HPQ38.3738.9838.0338.4530.2M
ExxonMobilXOM58.7559.5458.5059.1127M
Wal-Mart StoresWMT50.5151.1050.1250.1425.4M
ComcastCMCSA16.8917.2816.8517.1021.9M
Verizon CommunicationsVZ29.4429.9829.2129.5321M
AltriaMO22.4522.5322.2622.3219.9M
Gilead SciencesGILD32.3132.5231.7631.8319.2M
MerckMRK34.6635.3634.5135.1616.6M
Berkshire HathawayBRK.B77.8179.0377.4878.7816.3M
AppleAAPL241.85244.56240.35243.1015M
Abbott LaboratoriesABT49.2049.4549.0249.3414.7M
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ57.2557.4457.0057.0214.6M
Bristol-Myers SquibbBMY26.1126.3425.9726.0813.4M
SchlumbergerSLB53.9154.0152.9153.3313.1M
Procter & GamblePG59.3159.7559.2559.6712.6M
Walt Disney & Co.DIS32.2032.8331.9132.5412.5M
Home DepotHD27.6328.0827.5527.8212.4M
ConocoPhillipsCOP52.2652.8152.0052.4311.3M
Coca-ColaKO55.2056.0455.0055.889.28M
ChevronCVX73.5174.5373.2374.089.23M
UnitedHealth GroupUNH31.8132.2131.4231.728.65M
AmgenAMGN51.3951.6650.8551.046.64M
PepsicoPEP63.4964.3463.1864.186.62M
VisaV69.5470.1068.0168.985.8M
International Business MachinesIBM123.31123.99122.28123.135.62M
McDonald'sMCD72.5673.3272.5573.065.6M
BoeingBA62.0062.1860.8061.135.31M
United TechnologiesUTX65.1265.7364.6765.215.2M
3MMMM79.5680.2078.4078.554.96M
AmazonAMZN122.85125.90122.50124.834.23M
AlphabetGOOGL450.11454.87448.00450.023.89M
Union PacificUNP71.9373.5371.6972.942.37M
Exchange Rates of August 31st, 2010
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US DollarJapanese Yen1 USD = 84.170 JPY1 JPY = 0.012 USD
US DollarCanadian Dollar1 USD = 1.065 CAD1 CAD = 0.939 USD
US DollarSwiss Franc1 USD = 1.014 CHF1 CHF = 0.986 USD
US DollarChinese Yuan1 USD = 6.808 CNY1 CNY = 0.147 USD
EuroJapanese Yen1 EUR = 106.800 JPY1 JPY = 0.009 EUR
EuroPound Sterling1 EUR = 0.826 GBP1 GBP = 1.210 EUR
EuroAustralian Dollar1 EUR = 1.421 AUD1 AUD = 0.704 EUR
EuroCanadian Dollar1 EUR = 1.351 CAD1 CAD = 0.740 EUR
EuroSwiss Franc1 EUR = 1.287 CHF1 CHF = 0.777 EUR
EuroChinese Yuan1 EUR = 8.636 CNY1 CNY = 0.116 EUR
Japanese YenPound Sterling1 JPY = 0.774 GBP1 GBP = 1.293 JPY
Japanese YenAustralian Dollar1 JPY = 1.330 AUD1 AUD = 0.752 JPY
Japanese YenCanadian Dollar1 JPY = 1.264 CAD1 CAD = 0.791 JPY
Japanese YenSwiss Franc1 JPY = 1.205 CHF1 CHF = 0.830 JPY
Pound SterlingAustralian Dollar1 GBP = 1.720 AUD1 AUD = 0.581 GBP
Pound SterlingCanadian Dollar1 GBP = 1.634 CAD1 CAD = 0.612 GBP
Pound SterlingSwiss Franc1 GBP = 1.557 CHF1 CHF = 0.642 GBP
Pound SterlingChinese Yuan1 GBP = 10.441 CNY1 CNY = 0.096 GBP
Australian DollarCanadian Dollar1 AUD = 0.950 CAD1 CAD = 1.053 AUD
Australian DollarSwiss Franc1 AUD = 0.905 CHF1 CHF = 1.105 AUD
Australian DollarChinese Yuan1 AUD = 6.074 CNY1 CNY = 0.165 AUD
Canadian DollarSwiss Franc1 CAD = 0.952 CHF1 CHF = 1.050 CAD
Canadian DollarChinese Yuan1 CAD = 6.394 CNY1 CNY = 0.156 CAD
Swiss FrancChinese Yuan1 CHF = 6.709 CNY1 CNY = 0.149 CHF

See what else happened on August 31st, 2010