Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word major. 20 news.

Stocks wrapped up 2007 on a glum note as the major indexes declined on volume that was up from Friday's pace, according to preliminary data.The...

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

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

Internet grocer Ocado is planning an offensive against the major supermarkets by branching out into new areas such as baby clothes and flowers

A major supermarket chain has outraged human rights activists by flying fish 5,000 miles from starving Zimbabwe

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar was mixed Monday, gaining on the euro but slipping against the yen and British pound sterling on the last trading day of the year. "The U.S. dollar continues to trade with a soft tone on the last day of 2007 in keeping with the past year's trend," wrote currency analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 76.210, up from 76.190 in late U.S. trading Friday. The dollar was buying 111.53 yen, down from 112.55 yen late Friday. The euro was trading at $1.4677, down from $1.4715 Friday and the pound was at $2.0027, up from $1.9932 Friday.

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.

QANTAS boss Geoff Dixon is in St Vincent's Private Hospital after major surgery - understood to be a heart bypass.

The dollar remained under pressure against its major trading partners following weak housing data on Friday which which added to investors' fears that the American economy may sink into recession

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Arizona puts into effect on Jan. 1 a law that punishes businesses that knowingly employ illegal workers, the toughest such law in the U.S., the Arizona Republic reported. Only about 6% of the state's 150,000 employers have so far signed up for E-Verify, an Internet database the U.S. federal government operates to enable employers to determine whether a person is eligible to work, the paper reported. Arizona's new law requires employers to use E-Verify; the database is voluntary at the federal level, the paper reported. While the new law has survived two legal challenges, many employers are waiting to see whether the law is ultimately upheld, the paper reported. Arizona has more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants, and many employers are reluctant to use the database, the Republic reported, because screening out the workers cuts off a major supply of low-cost labor.

SOUTH BAY Jan. 2 HomeBuyer Workshop Seminar. Steps on locating, loan programs, inspections and difference in minor and major repairs.

Though Digital Signage has been in vogue for decades in the past it has however, not yet become a major public medium.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The Financial Services Authority is probing a jump in the share price of U.K. waste services group Biffa ahead of an announcement in November that it had received a 1.2 billion pound ($2.4 billion) takeover bid, according to a report in the Times (of London) newspaper. The report said the FSA has written to various parties involved in the talks to ask what they knew about any possible bid before buyout groups HgCapital and Montagu Private Equity revealed their offer. The inquiry is a part of a continuing focus at the regulator on insider trading ahead of major announcements, the newspaper added.

A-listers in politics and government are in MPAA's audience. The previews you see in movie theaters are approved for all audiences by the Motion Picture Assn. of America. But the trade group for the major Hollywood studios saves one type of sneak peek for a more select crowd.

Real estate booms in Egypt, including major suburban projects being built on scrubland. A quick glance at the advertisements crowding the pages of many Egyptian newspapers is enough to reveal that real estate is one of the most active sectors of the economy.

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is moving closer to a run for president, as he schedules bipartisan meetings with major U.S. political figures and his aides study how to mount independent campaigns in the 50 states, The New York Times reported. The mayor has suggested that he might be a viable candidate if, for example, the Democratic and Republican nominees come from the furthest poles of their respective parties, the Times reported. And Bloomberg has developed his own domestic platform on gun control, the environment and other issues while being briefed on foreign policy by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and by Nancy Soderberg, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration, the Times reported.

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.

A broad energy law signed by President Bush this month requires a major increase in corn-based ethanol and other biofuels to ...

The world's major banking groups are facing unprecedented pressure to repair balance sheets and restore their liquidity as the ongoing credit crisis shows few signs of easing. Conventional commercial pressures are also refusing to go away.

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.