Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word plan. 15 news.

As the new year dawns, and the frenetic holiday season recedes, it's a good time to take stock of how well you're doing in search. There's no better time than the post-holiday lull to do some hard thinking, and some thoughtful planning, about how you might improve your organization's search visibility in 2008 by using best practices -- both in terms of SEO and paid search.

Farrah Gray, author of "Get Real, Get Rch: Conquer the 7 Lies Blocking You From Success" says that consumers and investors making New Year's resolutions should start the process by exchanging hopes and dreams for a plan. In a radio interview, Gray said that most people let themselves get sidetracked from their goals because they don't have a plan to reach them, so they keep hoping to reach their targets without actually plotting the course to take to make good things happen.

Nasdaq said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. cleared Borse Dubai's plan to buy a stake in Nasdaq.

Question: I'm 46 and have about $350,000 set aside in my workplace retirement savings plan in what I would call a moderately aggressive mix of stock and bonds funds.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- IDM Pharma Inc. said Monday that Sanofi-Aventis has decided to stop participating in the development of investigational melanoma therapy Uvidem. As a result, IDM Pharma, an Irvine, Calif.-based biotechnology company, said it expects to restructure, cut its workforce and review the assets and costs associated with products under development. The board is expected to approve the final restructuring plan during the first quarter of 2008. Shares of IDM Pharma closed Friday at 94 cents.

The Halifax bar where 38 people were arrested after a brawl last week may become the first in Canada to allow police and liquor inspectors to monitor its security cameras over the internet, a plan that worries privacy experts.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Philips Electronics said it's completed the sale of 800 million Taiwan Semiconductor , part of a staged plan to reduce its stake in the chipmaker to zero before the end of 2010. After the sale, which will result in a 530 million euro gain in the fourth quarter, Philips will still hold 5% of Taiwan Semi's shares.

Written document can focus efforts Like many other small entrepreneurs, you may not have the budget to hire an advertising or marketing firm to promote your business.

A new market-based experiment aims to tackle the lack of research on vaccines needed primarily by poor countries and the long distribution time. The plan, called the advance market commitment, is promising but the theory behind it has serious holes in it.

WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP -- Brad Bartlett moved from Rochester six years ago because of what he considered overdevelopment, but now he's worried the same thing may be happening in White Lake Township.

Chinese leaders set a timetable for directly electing Hong Kong's leader, but reaching consensus among the city's political camps on the next steps will likely prove a challenge.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Tokyo-listed supermarket and department store operator Seiyu Ltd. will undergo a restructuring that will see the firm refurbish stores and open new ones, while targeting a return to profitability within two years, according to the Nikkei business daily. As part of its transformation to a wholly-owned subsidiary Wal-Mart Stores Inc. this spring, the firm will consolidate five regional units, up the pace of its refurbishment plans to include more than 70 stores in 2008 and make other adjustments to its supply chain and payroll procedures, the Nikkei reported. Seiyu will open about 60 new stores by 2012 and target annual group sales of more than 1.2 trillion yen. The report said the strategy set out the goals as part of five-year plan.

A plan to give investors the right to a vote over the sale of Northern Rock or its assets has received the backing of the UK Shareholders' Association

Ireland's Merrion Pharmaceuticals withdrew its initial public offering with the SEC because of "unfavorable market conditions."

The oil major Shell is thought to be preparing to shed around 3,200 jobs, mostly in its information technology division. As with many other public and private sector concerns, the plan is to hive the jobs off to external specialist contractors.