Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words agreed+sell. 8 news.

Merrill Lynch & Co, the world's biggest brokerage, agreed to sell most of its commercial finance business to General Electric Co's finance arm for an undisclosed price to free up capital after subprime losses. The sale of Merrill Lynch Capital's corporate, equipment, energy and healthcare finance units is expected to be completed in the first-quarter, the companies said yesterday in a Business Wire statement. The deal will add more than US$10 billion in assets to GE Capital. The transaction is part of New York-based Merrill Lynch's "strategic focus on divesting non-core assets," and will release about US$1.3 billion of capital to be redeployed elsewhere, said Chief Executive Officer John Thain in the statement. Merrill, on October 24, announced US$8.4 billion of writedowns on mortgage-related investments and corporate loans. The firm, which ousted Stan O'Neal as CEO in October, may report an additional US$8.6-billion writedown for the fourth quarter, according to David

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened higher Monday, with shares of blue-chip index component Alcoa Inc. up more than 1.6% after the aluminum giant agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses for $2.7 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 59 points, or 0.4%, at 13,509.39. The broader S&P 500 Index rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,489.06 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,697.17. Trading will end early, at 1 p.m. Eastern in observance of the Christmas holiday.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stock market futures help broadly steady ahead of a shortened Christmas Eve trading session Monday, with Alcoa Inc. among the stocks in focus after it agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses.

Merrill Lynch has agreed to sell most of its mid-market commercial finance business, Merrill Lynch Capital.

Merrill Lynch, in an effort to raise cash amid mounting mortgage losses, agreed Monday to sell the majority of its capital finance business to General Electric for an undisclosed amount. The deal will allow Merrill to reallocate about $1.3 billion of capital into other parts of its business, John A. Thain, the investment bank’s chief executive, [...]

The receivers of SIV Portfolio, formerly known as Cheyne Finance, agreed to sell the $7 billion portfolio of assets to Goldman Sachs as part of the SIV's restructuring.

This is the China century," says Jim Rogers, standing amid moving boxes in his opulent Manhattan townhouse. "It's time for them to rule the roost." In fact, the 65-year-old former investment partner of George Soros and globe-circling author of Investment Biker is such a believer in the capitalist momentum of the People's Republic that he recently agreed to sell his beloved home and relocate full-time to Singapore - not quite Shanghai, but close enough to the action. It's something he's been considering at least since 2004, when Fortune last wrote about his remarkable prescience in championing a China-driven, worldwide commodities boom. His new book, A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market (Random House, $26.95), is a how-to guide for investors interested in following him to the Far East. Fortune interrupted his packing for a chat about China, commodities, and the teetering U.S. economy.

News Corp., the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, agreed to sell eight of its Fox network-affiliated television stations in the U.S. to Oak Hill Capital Partners LP for about US$1.1 billion in cash.