Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word york. 36 news.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Choppy markets will likely remain the norm at least through the first half of 2008 as investors weigh the potential of a U.S. recession against what is hoped to be resilient global growth, analysts and strategists say.

MERRILL Lynch is in talks with Chinese and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds that could lead to the sale of another big stake in the US bank, British newspaper The Observer reported, citing sources in London and New York.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home builders and financial issues, the biggest casualties of the subprime lending meltdown, were hit again by tax-motivated selling in recent weeks but could rebound a bit early in the new year, money managers said on Monday.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Horizon Bancorp said Monday that it increased its provision for loan and lease losses expense by $1.4 million in December, citing credit quality deterioration in its wholesale mortgage and indirect auto loan portfolios. The commercial bank-holding company expects its fourth-quarter provision expense to total $1.77 million, compared to the third-quarter provision of $550,000. However, Horizon still sees 2007 full-year earnings exceeding those of 2006.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co were the world's top underwriters of stocks and bonds in 2007, measured by volume and reported fees, despite being at the epicenter of the global credit crisis.

A behind-the-scenes look at the cost of throwing New York City's annual New Year's Eve bash.

Stocks that were moving substantially or trading heavily Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Projections for S&P 500 companies' fourth-quarter earnings swung to a 6.1 percent drop on Monday from an 11.5 percent rise on October 1, in the biggest quarterly move since Reuters Estimates started compiling analysts' forecasts in 1999.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve added $17.5 billion in temporary reserves to the banking system Monday through overnight repurchase agreements, or repos, through the New York Fed's Open Market Desk. "The large operations this morning are intended to offset the drain to reserves arising from an elevated balance in the Treasury's account at the Fed," the New York Fed said in a statement on its Web site. The Fed injected $13.5 billion through a 4-day repo, and $4 billion through a 2-day repo. "Clearly the Desk is looking to provide a lot of liquidity into the system for the turn of the year," wrote analysts at Action Economics.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Defaults on privately insured mortgages rose 34.7 percent in November to the highest level on record, reflecting the inability of a growing number of homeowners to keep current on their loan payments.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq are observing regular trading hours Monday, but both will close Tuesday in observance of New Year's Day. However, the bond markets are closing at 2 p.m. Monday ahead of the holiday.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell for the first time in six days on Monday, as the dollar, which tends to move in the opposite direction of gold, rose for the first day in six against a basket of major currencies. Gold futures for February delivery lost $3.7, or 0.4%, to $839 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell to an intraday lower of $836.1 earlier. The dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, moved up for the first time in six days. The dollar also gained against the euro.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose modestly on Monday, boosted by continued concerns on political tensions in Pakistan and tight supplies in the U.S. Crude futures for February delivery gained 60 cents, or 0.6%, to $96.6 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose to an intraday high of $96.78 earlier in electronic trading. "The geopolitical upheaval triggered by the [former Pakistani prime minister Benazir] Bhutto assassination could get stirred up again ahead of the January 8th elections," said Edward Meir, an analyst at futures brokerage MF Global, in a research note.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Vonage Holdings Corp. said Monday that it has agreed in principle with Nortel Networks Corp. to end the pending litigation between them. According to a release from Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage, the contemplated settlement involves a limited cross license to three Nortel and three Vonage patents and does not call for monetary payments by any party. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nortel filed a lawsuit against Vonage, alleging that Vonage violated nine patents related to Internet phone services, countering Vonage's claims that Nortel had violated three of its patents. Shares of Vonage, which closed Friday at $2, were up about 9% in premarket trading Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to push a little higher on the last trading day of the year on Monday, but data on existing home sales could limit any advance.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Single-family home builder M/I Homes Inc. said on Monday it has sold land in its Florida markets to help reduce debt, and is exiting the West Palm Beach market, where its assets included about 500 lots in four communities.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As more banks report write-downs tied to the global credit crunch, analysts say Wachovia Corp may have losses lurking in an area that has garnered less investor attention.

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.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Workstream Inc. said Monday it received an unsolicited offer from a U.S.-based payroll business to determine the viability of a merger between the two companies. Any deal will be subject to the standard conditions including the completion of due diligence, regulatory approval, shareholder approval, board approval and the required valuations, Workstream said. Shares last traded at about 65 cents each.