Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word closing. 7 news.

One of the world's biggest cement companies, Italcementi, has announced it is closing its subsidiary in Sicily in protest at mafia extortion.

TEMASEK Holdings Pte, the biggest shareholder in Standard Chartered Plc, increased its stake in the UK bank by one percentage point to 18 percent, helping it boost banking investments in its US$100 billion portfolio. The Singapore sovereign wealth fund has been raising its stake in Standard Chartered since it first bought a 12 percent holding more than a year ago, Bloomberg News reported. Temasek bought 12 million shares to lift its stake to 253.7 million shares, the bank said in a filing on December 21. The additional shares are worth 220 million pounds (US$437 million) at that day's closing price of 1,835 pence. Set up in 1974 to run state assets, Temasek's financial services investments now include India's ICICI Bank Ltd and Bank of China Ltd, as well as a controlling stake in DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia's biggest bank. It may also invest US$5 billion in Merrill Lynch & Co, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. "Most of Temasek's investments in the

APPLIANCE maker Sichuan Changhong Electrical Co yesterday bid for a 29.92-percent stake in Huayi Compressor Co to expand its business. The TV company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday that it would acquire 91.7 million shares from Huayi's parent Huayi Electrical Appliance General Co via an auction. The Jiangxi-based Huayi, which produces compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators, was suspended from trading in the Shenzhen stock market since December 14 when it announced the auction plan. The 91.7 million shares are valued at 956 million yuan (US$129 million) based on its closing share price of 10.42 yuan per share on December 13. Changhong wasn't traded yesterday, and its closing price on Friday was 8.45 yuan. Share price of the Shanghai-listed company has doubled this year. Changhong's net profit in the first nine months of this year totaled 340 million yuan, jumping 39 percent from a year earlier on the booming electronics market.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks finished higher in Monday's shortened trading session, aided by a flurry of M&A deals that included a $2.7 billion sale by Alcoa Inc. of its packaging and consumer businesses. In preliminary closing figures, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 106 points to 13,555, the S&P 500 Index gained 12 points to end at 1,497 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 22 points to 2,713, with shares of Apple Inc. approaching the $200-a share mark. Apple's stock ended up 2.8% at $198.80.

Today, WiseOrb.com sent e-mails to members announcing the website's closing. In its stead they are directing members to another site, "Wish and Vote," a site that is not an affiliate of Wise Orb.

CLOSING "The Sparrow"2540 N. Lincoln Ave.(773) 935-6100www.apollochicago.com7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 5:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. SundayTickets: $34.50-$49.50After runs at the Viaduct and Steppenwolf, "The Sparrow" finishes out its stint at the ...

APPLIANCE maker Sichuan Changhong Electrical Co today bid for a 29.92 percent stake in Huayi Compressor Co. China's second-biggest TV maker said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today that it would acquire 91.7 million shares from Huayi's parent Huayi Electrical Appliance General Co via an auction. The Jiangxi-based Huayi, which produces compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators, has been suspended from trading on the Shenzhen stock market since December 14 when it announced the auction plan. The 91.7 million shares are valued at 956 million yuan based on its closing share price of 10.42 yuan a share on December 13. Changhong wasn't traded yesterday and its closing price on Friday was 8.45 yuan. The share price of the Shanghai-listed company has doubled this year. Changhong's net profit in the first nine months of this year was 340 million yuan, jumping 39 percent from a year earlier on the booming electronics market and investment income. The