(Dec 28, Yahoo)

Spider-Man 3
Total Gross: $336,530,303

Spidey's third spin shattered the wall-crawler's own previous box office records, grabbing the biggest opening weekend of all time.
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Shrek the Third
Total Gross: $321,012,359

The green one returned to reclaim his crown, drawing the largest opening weekend crowd ever for an animated movie.
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Transformers
Total Gross: $319,071,806

Autobots and Decepticons waged battle to break out as the biggest non-sequel moneymaker of the year. Naturally, a sequel is in the works.
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By Stanley White and Ron Harui

Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar is poised to end a two- year slide against the euro in 2008 as government-backed funds in Asia and the Middle East purchase U.S. assets, currency strategists say.

The currency will gain 4.4 percent to $1.40 per euro by the end of the third quarter, according to the median forecast of 43 strategists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The dollar is down 9.8 percent this year to $1.4638 per euro, after weakening more than 10 percent in 2006.

Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos., based in New York, sold $20 billion in stakes to bolster capital eroded by credit-market losses. International purchases of U.S. financial assets totaled $114 billion in October, the Treasury Department said Dec. 17, the fastest pace in five months.

``Sovereign wealth funds are getting cheap deals by buying some of these bombed-out assets,'' said Gerry Celaya, chief strategist at Aberdeen, Scotland-based research company Redtower Ltd., whose $1.23 per euro forecast is the most bullish. ``The U.S. economy is resilient and good at clearing out all the dead wood and bouncing back, and the dollar will follow...''

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RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Dec 2007, CNN) -- Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday after addressing a large gathering of her supporters.

The bomb explodes near Bhutto's vehicle following a political rally in Rawalpindi.

Bhutto died of a gunshot wound to the neck, the Pakistani Interior Ministry said. The attacker then blew himself up. The bomb attack killed at least 22 others, doctors said.

Video of the scene just moments before the explosion showed Bhutto stepping into a heavily guarded vehicle to leave the rally.
Watch how the tragedy unfolded

John Moore, a photographer for Getty Images, said Bhutto was standing through the sunroof of her vehicle, waving to supporters, when two shots rang out.

Bhutto fell back into the vehicle, and almost immediately a bomb blast rocked the scene, sending twisting metal and shrapnel into the crowd, he added.

Police sources told CNN the bomber, who was riding a motorcycle, blew himself up near Bhutto's vehicle.

Bhutto was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital -- less than two miles from the bombing scene -- where doctors pronounced her dead.

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CNN's Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this report

By Linda Stern

WASHINGTON (Dec 2007, Reuters) - Wondering where to put your money in 2008? It may seem like all the choices are bad, and I'm not talking about the presidential candidates. Stocks, bonds, real estate, and money market funds have all been underwhelming -- at best. Chinese stocks, gold, oil and India suggest bigger gains but also much bigger risks.

It could be a wild ride.

The year 2008 is an election year; they're usually bullish. But it could be a slow (or no) growth year; a year in which recession AND inflation are very real possibilities, and in which it's worth remembering that the worst times always precede the best times.

It's also worth remembering this caveat from Tim Swanson, chief investment officer at National City Bank: "Markets often move in the direction that the fewest people expect."

With that said, here are some observations and trends about where to put your money down in 2008...

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