Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with words major+market. 2 news.

Even with the last-day retreat, major indexes posted gains for the year. Data on existing home sales provided rare good news for the housing market

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Blue Oar , a U.K. stockbroker and investment bank, said underlying pretax profit for the year will be broadly in line with expectations, with "significant" net cash. "We are confident that the restructuring of the group and the investment made in our platform in 2007 will deliver major benefits in 2008 and beyond, subject of course to market conditions," said CEO Andrew Monk.