News

2008

November

04

• Los jubilados vuelven al mercado laboral. Con la crisis financiera, la caída de los ahorros en la bolsa y el fuerte aumento del costo de vida en Estados Unidos, los jubilados y hasta los aspirantes al retiro deben revisar sus planes…

03

• The 'Catch 22' of consumer credit. Renting an apartment, securing a home mortgage, seeking employment, buying a car, even turning on utilities – each of these life experiences will demand a review of your credit history. Nearly 1 in 3 purchases…

• Bargain hunters help shrink housing glut. wer home prices are luring some buyers back into the U.S. housing market, but foreclosures and a weakening economy are likely to keep downward pressure on prices for at least another year, economists say. A…

• Gouging women on health insurance. As tens of thousands of workers lose their jobs — and their group health insurance — in a worsening economy, they will have to scramble to find affordable insurance policies in the open market. The…

• Car deals a plenty, but bring good credit. CAR dealerships have been lonely places this fall, with many customers driven away by the economic tsunami of 2008. Sales have plummeted, and no one knows when these customers will be back. “Because of all…

• FCC could free up 'white space' for broadband. You've heard of Wi-Fi, WiMax and 3G wireless technologies. Add another (oddly named) wireless creation to the list: white space. White space is industry lingo for the unused airwaves that abut TV spectrum and provide…

• Huge shifts in bank deposits. The exodus of money from the stock market and troubled banks is reshaping the financial industry as quickly as any government bailout. Amid unrelenting economic turmoil, investors are pulling billions of dollars out of the…

• La crisis golpea a los ancianos. La crisis económica que vive Estados Unidos tiene un gran impacto en la población anciana, cuya situación, ya de por sí difícil, se agrava al tener que usar sus ingresos para pagar el alquiler, comprar…

• Compra sin dejar de ahorrar. ¿Te imaginas qué bueno sería ir poniendo desde ahora dinero en el nido que guardas para los estudios de tus hijos... cada vez que compras? Eso te lo ofrecen tres programas espectaculares que ya tienen…

02

• Mutual fund managers have to say, I'm Sorry. Being a stock market fund manager or strategist these days means always having to say you're sorry. Unlike other apologies, this is a special art form. When stock managers or strategists say they are sorry,…

• Shouldn't have to show 'em no stinkin' SSNs. For 43 trouble-free years, John Murray never left home without his American Express card. The retired data coordinator dutifully paid an annual fee every year and diligently paid his balance in full every month. When…

• Beware promises to scrub bad credit reports. With foreclosures, short sales and credit card defaults at record levels, an aggressive breed of firms has sprung up offering to power-wash consumers' damaged credit files and boost credit scores, thereby eliminating records of bankruptcies…

• 10 ways to protect your home investment. You flip the switch and the heat goes on. You make your mortgage payments and your lender is not threatening you. So all's right with the house. Or not. The furnace needs professional maintenance to…

• Women pay a premium on health insurance. Striking new evidence has emerged of a widespread gap in the cost of health insurance, as women pay much more than men of the same age for individual insurance policies providing identical coverage, according to…

• Opening the tap on home equity. Many homeowners who have taken out home equity lines of credit have learned in recent months that these loans are not as useful as they initially seemed. Lenders are struggling to minimize risk, and because…

01

• Home improvement shows skip drudgery. Thea Rudland knows how hard it can be to buy and sell a house, no matter what you see on television. She and her husband, Dave, closed on their new home in Frederick in late…

October

31

• What a treat; Candy makers tricked by sales. With a big pullback evident in consumer spending, candy makers were a bit spooked about this year’s Halloween season. They introduced fewer new Halloween-themed products for their third-biggest selling season of the year, but analysts…

• CVS slashes generic drug costs, escalates price war. One of the nation's largest drugstore chains ratcheted up a price war Thursday, offering deep discounts on generic prescriptions amid national concern about the spiraling cost of healthcare. Drugstore giant CVS Caremark Corp. announced it…

• Banks seek help to forgive some credit card debt. To head off surging credit card defaults, banks and consumer groups are lobbying regulators to make it easier to forgive a portion of struggling consumers' credit card debt. The proposal — and the unusual partnership…

• In tightfisted turn, economy contracts. Through recession, countless natural disasters and a major terrorist attack, there has been one constant in the U.S. economy: American consumers have bought more stuff in any given quarter than they did in the previous…