Financial news on October 31, 2006

Business and Financial news
$6 Billion Bid for American Power Conversion

Schneider Electric, a French manufacturer, said Monday that it would buy American Power Conversion for $6.1 billion. Read more..

By HEATHER TIMMONS - The New York Times

A $700 Million Hedge Fund, Down From $3 Billion, Says It Will Close

The closing of the fund highlights how sensitive hedge fund investors have become to weak performance after last month’s blow-up of Amaranth Advisors. Read more..

By LANDON THOMAS Jr - The New York Times

A Home Valuation Web Site Is Accused of Discrimination

Zillow.com, which provides free home valuations, has been accused of undervaluing the homes in black and Latino neighborhoods. Read more..

By DAMON DARLIN - The New York Times

And You Think That You Worry About Your Bags Spilling Open

Free condoms from the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, stuffed into all my bags as gifts for friends, turned the routine trip home to New York into an adventure. Read more..

By THE NEW YORK TIMES - The New York Times

Free to a Good Country

The Pentagon runs a little-publicized giveaway and tag sale program to clean out excess equipment that ranges from jets to battleships, often free to America's allies. Read more..

By LESLIE WAYNE - The New York Times

Memo Pad

BUSINESS TRAVEL IN 2007 Get ready to hear more from your corporate travel manager next year. As airlines fill more seats and raise fares and hotels in business centers continue raising already high rates, companies are being advised by American Ex... Read more..

By JOE SHARKEY - The New York Times

Merck Buys Maker of Gene-Silencing Drugs

Merck & Company will pay $1.1 billion to acquire Sirna Therapeutics, one of the leading companies pursuing technology to inactivate particular genes. Read more..

By ANDREW POLLACK - The New York Times

Newspaper Circulation Falls Sharply

The decline, one of the steepest on record, adds to the woes of a mature industry beset by layoffs and the possible sale of some of its flagships. Read more..

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE - The New York Times

Profit at Verizon Bolstered by Wireless Unit

Verizon Wireless overtook Cingular Wireless as the nation’s largest mobile phone carrier ranked by revenue. Read more..

By KEN BELSON - The New York Times

S.E.C. Sues Ex-Officials of Delphi

The civil fraud charges were filed against nine former executives, but the Delphi Corporation itself will not be fined because of a settlement reached with the S.E.C. Read more..

By NICK BUNKLEY - The New York Times

Stock Markets

Values are reported in US Dollars

Stock Ticker symbol Open High Low Close Volume
Pfizer PFE 26.94 27.06 26.38 26.65 80.7M
Microsoft MSFT 28.66 28.85 28.56 28.71 61.9M
Intel INTC 21.32 21.43 21.19 21.34 55.5M
Cisco Systems CSCO 24.16 24.39 24.02 24.13 45.2M
Verizon Communications VZ 37.36 37.41 36.20 37.00 31.7M
Oracle Corp. ORCL 18.54 18.68 18.41 18.47 28.3M
General Electric GE 35.28 35.35 34.92 35.11 26.6M
AT&T Inc. T 34.10 34.31 33.57 34.25 24.7M
ConocoPhillips COP 59.73 60.35 58.83 60.24 21.4M
ExxonMobil XOM 70.70 71.48 70.01 71.42 20.3M
Apple AAPL 81.45 81.68 80.23 81.08 17.9M
Wal-Mart Stores WMT 49.60 49.78 49.12 49.28 17.6M
Procter & Gamble PG 62.38 63.53 62.21 63.39 14.9M
Home Depot HD 37.25 37.47 36.95 37.33 14.5M
HP Inc. HPQ 38.93 39.10 38.50 38.74 12.6M
JPMorgan Chase JPM 47.78 48.08 47.43 47.44 12.6M
Alphabet GOOGL 478.06 482.16 473.84 476.39 12.6M
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 67.80 67.80 67.23 67.40 12M
Comcast CMCSA 40.55 40.75 40.11 40.67 11.7M
Merck MRK 45.50 45.64 45.13 45.42 11.5M
Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 36.49 36.73 36.18 36.29 11.5M
Abbott Laboratories ABT 47.50 47.60 47.08 47.51 11.4M
Chevron CVX 66.10 67.35 65.76 67.20 10.7M
McDonald's MCD 42.18 42.24 41.60 41.92 10M
Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY 24.41 24.81 24.25 24.75 9.8M
International Business Machines IBM 91.50 92.68 91.50 92.33 9.27M
Schlumberger SLB 61.62 63.15 61.33 63.08 9.21M
Altria MO 81.90 82.20 81.20 81.33 8.13M
Walt Disney & Co. DIS 31.83 31.88 31.33 31.46 7.54M
Amgen AMGN 76.28 76.50 75.39 75.91 7.53M
UnitedHealth Group UNH 49.10 49.29 48.55 48.78 6.35M
Amazon AMZN 38.22 38.59 37.80 38.09 6.21M
Coca-Cola KO 46.82 46.94 46.51 46.72 6.08M
United Technologies UTX 65.82 66.11 65.53 65.72 4.16M
Boeing BA 80.60 80.60 79.31 79.86 3.94M
Pepsico PEP 63.71 63.74 63.06 63.44 3.63M
Gilead Sciences GILD 69.20 69.85 68.51 68.90 2.88M
3M MMM 78.99 79.60 78.11 78.84 2.68M
Union Pacific UNP 90.93 91.52 90.06 90.63 2.08M
Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 3510.00 3522.00 3496.00 3515.00 16K
Exchange Rates of October 31, 2006
CurrenciesExchange Rates
US Dollar Japanese Yen 1 USD = 116.960 JPY 1 JPY = 0.009 USD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 USD = 1.122 CAD 1 CAD = 0.891 USD
US Dollar Swiss Franc 1 USD = 1.244 CHF 1 CHF = 0.804 USD
US Dollar Chinese Yuan 1 USD = 7.879 CNY 1 CNY = 0.127 USD
Euro Japanese Yen 1 EUR = 149.260 JPY 1 JPY = 0.007 EUR
Euro Pound Sterling 1 EUR = 0.669 GBP 1 GBP = 1.495 EUR
Euro Australian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.649 AUD 1 AUD = 0.607 EUR
Euro Canadian Dollar 1 EUR = 1.432 CAD 1 CAD = 0.699 EUR
Euro Swiss Franc 1 EUR = 1.588 CHF 1 CHF = 0.630 EUR
Japanese Yen Pound Sterling 1 JPY = 0.448 GBP 1 GBP = 2.232 JPY
Japanese Yen Australian Dollar 1 JPY = 1.104 AUD 1 AUD = 0.906 JPY
Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar 1 JPY = 0.959 CAD 1 CAD = 1.043 JPY
Japanese Yen Swiss Franc 1 JPY = 1.063 CHF 1 CHF = 0.940 JPY
Pound Sterling Australian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.465 AUD 1 AUD = 0.406 GBP
Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 1 GBP = 2.140 CAD 1 CAD = 0.467 GBP
Pound Sterling Swiss Franc 1 GBP = 2.372 CHF 1 CHF = 0.422 GBP
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar 1 AUD = 0.868 CAD 1 CAD = 1.152 AUD
Australian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 AUD = 0.962 CHF 1 CHF = 1.040 AUD
Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc 1 CAD = 1.108 CHF 1 CHF = 0.902 CAD

See what else happened on October 31, 2006