News
2007
September
06
- FCC may ban cable exclusivity deals. ederal regulators appear set to crack down on cable companies that sign exclusive deals with apartment and condominium buildings, denying residents the fruits of emerging pay-TV competition. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is recommending…
- Home-equity loans dry up. When James Chou's credit card debt began to spin out of control a few years ago, he turned to a home-equity loan to pay it off. It proved to be a wise choice. Interest rates…
- No free lunch for investors. I'm not quite ready for membership in AARP, but increasingly I've been getting invitations in the mail for me and my husband to attend investment seminars that promise to help us ensure we have enough…
- SEC sues alleged timeshare swindlers. The Securities and Exchange Commission, cracking down on scams targeting retirees, sued 26 people and companies for their roles in a $428 million fraud involving Mexican timeshare rentals, the agency said. The ring duped thousands…
05
- No more credit line sharing. A sea change in credit scoring could deflate your magic number: Fair Isaac, which calculates the widely used FICO score, recently announced that it would no longer recognize authorized-user accounts. Popular with families, the accounts…
- Confessions of a credit-card pusher. It all started as a way to make some quick cash. In 2002, at the beginning of his freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh, Ryan Rhoades needed some extra spending money. So when his…
- Majoring in credit card debt. Seth Woodworth stood paralyzed by fear in his parents' driveway in Moses Lake, Wash. It was two years ago, during his sophomore year at Central Washington University, and on this visit, he was bringing home…
- Elderly ensnared by investment pitches. Less than a year before he died, Arthur Moyer converted his $500,000 life savings into a complex investment he could not tap for a decade without incurring steep fees. The 79-year-old former machinist from Pennsylvania…
- Piden flexibilidad a prestamistas. La Reserva Federal y otras agencias reguladoras pidieron ayer a las empresas prestamistas que sean flexibles con sus acreedores, para evitar que éstos se declaren insolventes en el pago de sus hipotecas. Las entidades emitieron…
03
- Savers may feel fallout from a Fed rate cut. People with money in the bank may soon help foot the bill to stabilize Wall Street. Many investment pros are betting that the Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark short-term interest rate this month to…
- Companies try to retain older workers. Every time John Remore steps up to his workstation to form a piece of sheet metal, he brings an intangible asset to the job: 42 years of experience, dating to lessons from his father. Remore,…
02
- Lock out 'mortgage protection' pitches. The meltdown among sub-prime mortgage lenders shows a particularly ugly side of the housing market - the business of selling high-risk financial products to people who may not be that financially savvy. Here's another: the…
- Tax hit could follow home loss. In a package of proposals aimed at easing foreclosure worries for homeowners having trouble making their mortgage payments, President Bush called last week on Congress to temporarily make some borrowers exempt from a little-known tax…
- Don't rush to sell mutual funds that fell. Sometimes you just can't win. Lately, that's been the case for people who own mutual funds that invest in stocks. If you have the average fund that invests in large U.S. company stocks, you probably…
- Food prices are soaring. If you haven't noticed rising prices at the supermarket lately, you haven't been paying close attention to your spending. Food prices are soaring. Over the past year, prices for some basic grocery staples are rising…
- Not your parents' mortgage market. A generation ago, banks took on deposits and lent that money to homebuyers who took out 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. That changed when Wall Street got involved in recent decades. Investment banks provided capital to mortgage…
- $5 overdraft ends up costing $350. Joseph Rizk, 20, figures it was one trip to Taco Bell that sent his checking account over the edge. When he was a senior at Wayne State University, Rizk pulled out his Chase debit card…
- Even low-risk borrower suffering. Now that homeowners can no longer easily use their homes as ATM machines, they are turning back to credit cards. The latest figures from the Federal Reserve show that consumers increased their amount of outstanding…
01
- Fed finds no bias in credit scores. In a report to Congress that is certain to generate controversy, the Federal Reserve Board says that credit scores vary "substantially" among racial and ethnic groups but that their use has made credit more available…
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