Financial news on May 31, 2006

Business and Financial news
Bush Nominates Wall Street Chief for Treasury Job

Henry M. Paulson Jr. is expected to face immediate international challenges, which include increased uncertainty in global financial markets. Read more..

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and JIM RUTENBERG - The New York Times

Canadian Mining Giant in a No-Layoff Labor Pact

Inco has agreed with a labor union to preserve all jobs at its main operations even if the company is acquired. Read more..

By IAN AUSTEN - The New York Times

Is It Tableware or a Leading Indicator?

A boom in gold and silver may be a sign that the U.S. is finally going to pay for years of easy money, mounting debt and trillion-dollar budget deficits. Read more..

By DAVID LEONHARDT - The New York Times

Paulson Comes Full Circle

Henry M. Paulson Jr., President Bush's pick for Treasury secretary, is a deficit hawk with White House experience. Read more..

By LANDON THOMAS Jr - The New York Times

Recycling a Big Urban Navy Yard

A Philadelphia tract offers a suburban campus feel with city advantages and drawbacks. Read more..

By LISA CHAMBERLAIN - The New York Times

Russian Entrepreneur Says Arcelor Deal Is Misunderstood

The chief of Russian steel company Severstal, was baffled that his 13 billion euro ($16.5 billion) deal with the steel giant Arcelor had set off such a stir. Read more..

By HEATHER TIMMONS and JAMES KANTER - The New York Times

Supreme Court to Weigh Award in a Smoker's Death

Opening a new chapter in its effort to establish constitutional boundaries for punitive damages, the court will hear a cigarette maker's appeal. Read more..

By LINDA GREENHOUSE - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Microsoft MSFT 23.26 23.35 22.65 22.65 120M
Intel INTC 17.89 18.19 17.77 18.02 76M
Cisco Systems CSCO 19.81 20.03 19.51 19.68 57M
Apple AAPL 61.76 61.79 58.69 59.77 45.7M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 14.01 14.25 13.97 14.22 34.3M
General Electric GE 34.15 34.26 33.97 34.26 30.3M
ExxonMobil XOM 60.21 61.06 59.76 60.91 25.9M
Pfizer PFE 23.66 23.80 23.52 23.66 23.9M
AT&T Inc. T 25.85 26.50 25.68 26.06 17M
Alphabet GOOGL 373.80 378.25 366.78 371.82 15.9M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 30.30 30.78 30.13 30.50 14.5M
Merck MRK 33.25 33.34 32.75 33.29 12.7M
Chevron CVX 58.50 59.83 58.47 59.79 12.3M
Comcast CMCSA 31.93 32.20 31.82 32.13 12.2M
Home Depot HD 37.77 38.14 37.61 38.12 12.1M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 48.39 48.72 48.10 48.45 12M
Altria MO 71.85 72.45 71.21 72.35 12M
ConocoPhillips COP 62.00 63.33 61.76 63.29 11.9M
HP Inc. HPQ 31.95 32.43 31.76 32.38 11.9M
Procter & Gamble PG 54.58 54.69 54.00 54.25 11.6M
Verizon Communications VZ 30.94 31.25 30.76 31.21 11.5M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 42.66 42.97 42.17 42.64 11.3M
Amgen AMGN 67.11 67.83 66.80 67.59 11.2M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 42.56 42.76 42.33 42.70 11M
Schlumberger SLB 64.10 65.60 63.55 65.57 9.76M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 43.75 44.15 43.46 43.96 9.25M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 60.14 60.28 59.88 60.22 8.26M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 66.54 66.74 65.78 66.37 7.4M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 24.52 24.70 24.35 24.55 7.38M
Coca-Cola KO 43.70 44.09 43.56 44.03 7.3M
International Business Machines IBM 80.15 80.83 79.61 79.90 6.38M
McDonald's MCD 32.78 33.28 32.72 33.17 6.09M
Amazon AMZN 34.74 34.94 33.73 34.61 5.2M
Pepsico PEP 60.33 60.52 60.02 60.46 4.41M
United Technologies UTX 62.74 63.06 62.23 62.52 4.26M
Gilead Sciences GILD 56.01 57.35 55.75 57.33 4.13M
Boeing BA 82.50 83.44 81.21 83.25 3.96M
3M MMM 83.70 84.62 83.15 83.66 3.36M
Union Pacific UNP 90.97 93.69 90.95 92.80 1.7M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3082.00 3082.00 3060.00 3069.00 11.4K
Exchange Rates of May 31, 2006
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 112.600 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.101 CAD 1 CAD = 0.909 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.218 CHF 1 CHF = 0.821 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 8.022 CNY 1 CNY = 0.125 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 144.290 JPY 1 JPY = 0.007 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.685 GBP 1 GBP = 1.461 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.704 AUD 1 AUD = 0.587 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.410 CAD 1 CAD = 0.709 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.561 CHF 1 CHF = 0.641 EUR
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.488 AUD 1 AUD = 0.402 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.060 CAD 1 CAD = 0.486 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2.280 CHF 1 CHF = 0.439 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.828 CAD 1 CAD = 1.208 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.916 CHF 1 CHF = 1.092 AUD

See what else happened on May 31, 2006