Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word fed. 4 news.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Credit-market turbulence, interest-rate intrigue, record high oil and a deflated U.S. dollar made for a white-knuckle quarter that capped a volatile year for bond mutual-fund managers. Their jobs may not get any easier in 2008.

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.

The Fed needs to slash interest rates -- and fast.

AP - As 2007 comes to a close, Wall Street is almost as jittery as it was over the summer, when worries about the housing slump and banks' losing bets on mortgages first came to a head.