Financial news on March 31, 2010

Business and Financial news
An Empty Warehouse Holds Dreams of Industrial Jobs

New York is trying to sell the former Federal Building No. 2 in Brooklyn, a 1.1-million-square-foot structure. Read more..

By JOTHAM SEDERSTROM - The New York Times

Business Schools Respond to Demand for Use of Social Media

Courses study the power of such media -- and the hazards. Read more..

By FIONA MACKAY - International Herald Tribune

Chrysler Says It Expects to Break Even This Year

The company also said it would present a five-year plan in April that would outline its steps to get back to sustained growth. Read more..

By MICHELINE MAYNARD - The New York Times

How to Choose a Financial Planner

A key to financial success is making decisions with your money that produce solid, long-term returns. Those decisions include whether to hire a financial planner and, if the answer is yes, how to go about it. Read more..

By CONRAD DE AENLLE - International Herald Tribune

Ireland Lays Out a Plan to Help Banks

The plan includes helping the banks raise $30 billion and a “bad bank” to handle failing loans. Read more..

By MATTHEW SALTMARSH - The New York Times

Marketers in Warm-Up for World Cup

Campaigns to run during the World Cup highlight how advertisers are stepping up support for marquee televised events, known as big event TV. Read more..

By STUART ELLIOTT - The New York Times

Mixed Report on January Home Prices

While the Case-Shiller index showed prices were slightly higher in January, the rebound seems to be fading. Read more..

By DAVID STREITFELD - The New York Times

Mortgage Bonds Present New Risks

The Fed’s decision not to buy mortgage-backed bonds after Wednesday raises hazards for investors thinking of picking up the slack. Read more..

By AGNES T. CRANE and ANTONY CURRIE - The New York Times

Weak Rules on Toxins and Safety

America has not been as aggressive as it could be in alleviating toxic risks in everyday products. Read more..

By DAVID LEONHARDT - The New York Times

With Hirings, Yahoo Steps Up Its News Coverage

The company is bringing in journalists, some from traditional outlets, to create more original content. Read more..

By MIGUEL HELFT - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Microsoft MSFT 29.64 29.72 29.17 29.29 63.8M
General Electric GE 18.21 18.36 18.13 18.20 59.2M
Pfizer PFE 17.18 17.27 17.09 17.15 59M
Cisco Systems CSCO 26.52 26.61 25.96 26.03 54.7M
Intel INTC 22.32 22.50 22.20 22.29 46M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 44.31 45.00 44.25 44.70 39M
AT&T Inc. T 25.90 26.04 25.75 25.84 36.7M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 30.58 31.16 30.58 31.12 28.4M
Comcast CMCSA 18.60 18.94 18.57 18.83 27.4M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 25.33 25.79 25.30 25.71 27.2M
Verizon Communications VZ 31.21 31.23 30.89 31.02 22.9M
ExxonMobil XOM 66.94 67.19 66.60 66.98 22.4M
ConocoPhillips COP 51.21 51.43 50.97 51.17 16.1M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 52.56 52.99 52.21 52.68 15.9M
Apple AAPL 235.49 236.61 234.46 235.00 15.4M
Merck MRK 37.49 37.59 37.06 37.35 13M
HP Inc. HPQ 52.89 53.39 52.82 53.15 12.9M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 26.65 26.81 26.29 26.70 12.6M
Schlumberger SLB 63.43 63.56 62.94 63.46 12M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 64.84 65.31 64.70 65.20 11.9M
Coca-Cola KO 54.79 55.29 54.50 55.00 11.5M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 35.07 35.20 34.81 34.91 10.8M
Home Depot HD 32.54 32.64 32.20 32.35 10.3M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 55.81 55.91 55.50 55.60 9.97M
Chevron CVX 75.47 76.14 75.08 75.83 9.88M
Altria MO 20.60 20.65 20.46 20.52 9.62M
Procter & Gamble PG 63.53 63.67 63.18 63.27 8.19M
Pepsico PEP 66.68 66.71 66.06 66.16 8.12M
Gilead Sciences GILD 45.52 45.75 45.33 45.47 7.05M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 33.06 33.06 33.06 33.06 6.96M
Alphabet GOOGL 565.05 569.74 562.81 567.12 6.06M
Boeing BA 72.92 73.06 71.95 72.61 5.88M
McDonald's MCD 67.15 67.39 66.63 66.72 5.77M
Amgen AMGN 60.00 60.22 59.69 59.84 4.98M
International Business Machines IBM 128.23 128.75 127.65 128.25 4.9M
Amazon AMZN 136.00 136.80 134.48 135.77 4.6M
3M MMM 84.05 84.46 83.35 83.57 4.34M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 81.20 81.49 80.81 81.27 4.31M
United Technologies UTX 73.93 74.33 73.42 73.61 3.76M
Visa V 90.70 92.20 90.52 91.03 3.13M
Union Pacific UNP 73.36 73.61 72.54 73.30 2.73M
Exchange Rates of March 31, 2010
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 93.440 JPY 1 JPY = 0.011 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.015 CAD 1 CAD = 0.985 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.054 CHF 1 CHF = 0.949 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 6.827 CNY 1 CNY = 0.146 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 126.200 JPY 1 JPY = 0.008 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.890 GBP 1 GBP = 1.124 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.472 AUD 1 AUD = 0.679 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.371 CAD 1 CAD = 0.729 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.424 CHF 1 CHF = 0.702 EUR
Euro Chinese Yuan 1 EUR = 9.223 CNY 1 CNY = 0.108 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.705 GBP 1 GBP = 1.419 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.167 AUD 1 AUD = 0.857 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.086 CAD 1 CAD = 0.921 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.128 CHF 1 CHF = 0.887 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.655 AUD 1 AUD = 0.604 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 1.541 CAD 1 CAD = 0.649 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 1.599 CHF 1 CHF = 0.625 GBP
Pound Sterling Chinese Yuan 1 GBP = 10.354 CNY 1 CNY = 0.097 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.931 CAD 1 CAD = 1.075 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.966 CHF 1 CHF = 1.036 AUD
Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 AUD = 6.262 CNY 1 CNY = 0.160 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.038 CHF 1 CHF = 0.964 CAD
Canadian Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 CAD = 6.722 CNY 1 CNY = 0.149 CAD
Swiss Franc Chinese Yuan 1 CHF = 6.477 CNY 1 CNY = 0.154 CHF

See what else happened on March 31, 2010