Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word europe. 11 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, a subsidiary of IntercontinentalExchange , will be known as ICE Futures Canada, effective Jan. 1, IntercontinentalExchange said Monday. The name change is in line with ICE's other futures subsidiaries, ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Futures Europe, the exchange operator said.

Europe stocks endeda half-session of trading flat, but finished the year with the first losses since 2002 as worries about the credit crunch and rising energy prices stymied action.

AFP - Europe's main stock markets fell in shortened trade on Monday -- the final dealing day of a year in which gains for equities have been curtailed by worries about the troubled US economy.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Europe stocks on Monday ended a half-session of trading steady, but finished the year with the first losses since 2002 as worries about the credit crunch and rising energy prices stymied action.

Lehman Brothers' Aaron Gurwitz, advisor to the wealthy, likes munis, Europe and Japan.

Greece, Romania and Canada had the best privacy records of 47 countries surveyed by the rights group Privacy International.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Strategists at Citigroup expect double-digit returns in 2008, according to a note published Monday. "European equities should be supported by lower rates, macro resilience, earnings growth, reasonable valuations and liquidity," the strategists said. They are sellers of sectors exposed to financial or consumer leverage, but buyers of food and beverage, industrial goods and services, personal and household goods, telecoms and technology.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Europe stocks weakened out of the gate on Monday, a half-day of trade ahead of the New Year's holiday. Air France-KLM shares rose 1% in early trading Monday, following Friday's news that it's the preferred bidder to buy Alitalia . Cairn Energy , the Scottish oil explorer that surged last week on the back of deal speculation, strong oil prices and its re-entry into the FTSE 100, slipped 1.6%. London Scottish Bank tumbled over 16% after taking a provision and warning it won't be able to pay its final dividend. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 6,462.70 in London and the CAC 40 dipped 0.2% to 5,616.79 in Paris. German and Swiss markets were shut.

Italy's decision to let Air France enter exclusive talks with Alitalia may lead to creating a behemoth that could alter Europe's aviation industry.

One of Scotland's oldest distilleries is to be acquired by a consortium of buyers from Eastern Europe in the latest vote of confidence for the booming Scotch whisky industry.

Cyprus and Malta will tomorrow embrace the euro, boosting Europe's monetary union to 15 states and adding another two Club Med votes to the policy board of the European Central Bank.