Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word growth. 19 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.

Funds dedicated to growth companies had surprisingly solid gains for 2007, withstanding market turbulence that usually pummels ...

AFP - US stocks ended a tumultuous 2007 with a whimper Monday, retreating in the face of a new year fraught with worries about economic growth, a housing meltdown and tight credit.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, online sales rose 21 percent in 2007, slower than the 26 percent growth recorded in 2006.

Pinal County's debt got a boost from A- to A from Standard & Poor's.

Is the desktop metaphor dead? Or is Vista just really bad?

The stockbroker said it expected tough conditions in the IPO market to continue.

World-wide semiconductor sales rose 2.3% in November compared with a year ago in the face of steep price cutting, and sales may fall short of previous full-year predictions for growth.

Asian stock markets had a strong, if volatile, year with China leading the pack as investors bet on the region’s continued growth prospects.

AP - Asian stock markets had a strong, if volatile, year with China leading the pack as investors bet on the region's continued growth prospects.

Figures from the Central Bank show that lending growth slipped again in November, with the adjusted annual rate of private sector credit growth dropping to 17.1% from 18.5% in October.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda is going to buy 35% of Delta Petroleum for $684 million, or $19 a share, the companies said Monday. The investment is at 23% premium to Friday's close. This transaction will allow Delta Petroleum to accelerate development drilling activities in its core areas, including the Piceance and Paradox Basins. "Under (CEO) Roger (Parker's) leadership, Delta Petroleum has become a very important company in the industry, with valuable resource plays, a strong asset base and well-positioned exploration projects that we believe hold significant growth potential," Tracinda said.

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.

The Bank of Japan is considering slashing the nation's economic growth forecast for the fiscal year to March to as low as 1.3 percent from its current 1.8 percent, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Sunday.

Though price growth is slowing, it's one of the few big markets in the nation that hasn't experienced a decline. Yet. It's the kind of house that a year or two ago would have been snapped up in days: a refurbished rambler in a woodsy residential neighborhood minutes from downtown.

The film industry was the brightest spot in economic development in 2007, say state experts, and despite layoffs at Intel and the national labs, New Mexico continues to have low unemployment and healthy growth.

Internet sales by U.S. retailers rose at the slowest pace on record as $3-a-gallon gasoline and rising mortgage defaults weighed on holiday...

China's surging yuan could help cool red-hot growth, a possible indication of Beijing's confidence as it shifts its policy toward market economics.

Asian stock markets had a strong, if volatile, year with China leading the pack as investors bet on the region's continued growth prospects.