Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word drop. 9 news.

Stocks drop in the final session of a tumultuous year. Still, the major averages close 2007 in the black.

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.

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.

An average of £20,000 will be wiped off the value of every home by next Christmas, it has been claimed

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Telecommunications stocks mostly edged lower on quiet Monday action, led by a 1% drop in Sprint Nextel Corp . Other notable decliners included Tellabs Inc. , Ciena Corp. and Juniper Networks Inc. , all down around 1% in the session before the New Year's holiday. Among the few gainers were Vonage Holding Corp. and Nortel Networks Corp. The two companies settled a patent dispute, although the agreement does not require payment from either side. Shares of Vonage were up 7% and Nortel rose 1.6%.

The housing market plunged deeper into despair last month, with sales of new homes plummeting to their lowest level in more than 12 years. The slump worsened even more than most analysts expected, heightening fears that the country might be thrust into...

AP - The housing market plunged deeper into despair last month, with sales of new homes plummeting to their lowest level in more than 12 years.

Pakistani shares tumbled today and the currency hit a six-year low as trading in Karachi resumed after a three-day mourning period for the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last week.

Battered sector braced for plunge in income with demand forecast to drop by up to 20pc.