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(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Press Digest – New York Times business news – June 4
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June 4 – The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Wednesday.
* With no end in sight for elevated gas prices, General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) announced drastic cuts in production of sport utility vehicles and pickups on Tuesday and stepped up plans for smaller cars and engines.
* General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Chrysler combined for a record low market share of 44.4 percent, compared with 48.1 percent for 10 Asian brands, according to the Autodata Corporation, the industry statistics firm.
* Under fire for the high ratings they awarded to subprime mortgage securities, three large credit rating firms are close to announcing a broad deal with the New York attorney general to reform some of their core business practices, according to people briefed on the investigation.
* Resolving the global food crisis could cost as much as $30 billion a year and wealthier nations are doing little to help the developing world, United Nations officials said.
* The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, signaled on Tuesday that further interest rate cuts were unlikely because of concerns about inflation.
* The billionaire investor Carl Icahn [...] Continue Reading…
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Shopping With Credit Cards – Is It a Wise Choice?
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Have you been tossing around the idea of applying for a credit card? As with any decision you make in life, and especially one that has to do with your finances, it is wise to do a little bit of research on the subject and find out all of the information you can regarding this decision.
In this day and age, making things as simple as possible seems to be the favored choice among an increasing number of individuals. This can be especially true when it comes to the ability of being able to make purchases with a simple and smooth transaction. Credit Cards offer exactly that – the ability of being able to make fast and easy purchases, virtually anywhere in the world that you can possibly think of.
When you are at home or traveling abroad, having a credit card can be extremely convenient when you are out shopping and making purchases. A simple swipe of your credit card will have you on your way to your next stop, with all of your items in tow.
Is it safe to carry a large amount of money on you? Of course not! As a matter of fact, this is something that [...] Continue Reading…
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Woman and Two Men Arrested for Using Counterfeit Credit Cards
(From left) Jany Perez, Jaider Molina and Andersson Marquez.
Lakeland, Florida detectives have arrested a woman and two men Tuesday afternoon and charging them with using counterfeit credit cards to buy more than $22,000 in goods from Wal-Mart stores.Jany Perez (25), Andersson Marquez (30) and Jaider Molina(32) are being charged with grand theft and use and possession of counterfeit driver licenses and credit cards they bought in Tampa, an arrest affidavit said.Detectives were called to the Wal-Mart store at 3501 S. Florida Ave. in Lakeland on Tuesday afternoon as they were trying to make purchases.
Management had already been notified and had prior knowledge that the trio had made illegal purchases at other Wal-Mart stores before, reports said.
When the suspects’ cars were searched by detectives, computers, cameras, flat-screen televisions and other items purchased from stores in Bartow, Mulberry and Valrico were found, the report said.
The property was returned to the stores and the three individuals were arrested, reports said.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Using Credit Cards to Make Money
Making money off a credit card can seem impossible, but this is not true. There are many ways to make money or receive discounted prices on every day purchases. This can be difficult for those who do not have the will power to say no to the purchases that are not a necessity. Those are the people that most creditors will tell them to tear up all of their credit cards except for one to use for emergencies. They are told to hide it some where so they are tempted to spend money they really do not have.
That is the point of the credit cards. You spend money you do not have and the credit card companies make money off the interest you pay them. How it works is that they loan you this money just like a bank would, but you pay them almost 20% percent interest on money you do not even have. This is where the problem begins. You place too much money on the card and you never get it paid off because you make the minimum payment and it only pays the total down a few dollars at one time. There is [...] Continue Reading…
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Three out of four Americans say they aren’t saving enough
A new analysis of Americans shows that most people are not saving as much as they should at the same time people do not seem to be too concerned about it according to Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project.
Three out of four Americans say they are not saving enough, according to the survey which included 2,413 adults.
Even those that were in the list of country’s wealthiest acknowledge they are not saving enough, the survey found. Six in ten adults with family incomes of $150,000 or more say they are not saving enough for the future. Between those earning $100,000 and $150,000 a year the number increases to 79 percent.
This nationwide ”savings shortfall,” as Pew dubbed it, represents the majority situation of virtually every demographic group; rich or poor, male or female, black or white.
In another survey released last month by Pew and the Gallup organization, most of those surveyed said they had not improved their financial lives in the past five years. 25% said they had not moved forward while 31% said they had actually fallen backward.
For the past two decades, middle class Americans have been spending more and more while borrowing more and according to Pew [...] Continue Reading…
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Credit – How Important is it?
Everyday the television inundates us with commercial after commercial asking about your personal credit score. Is it good, bad, fair, or great? Do you know what it is? What does it really matter?
Daily advertisements tell the consumer to go to one place or another to obtain free credit scores. Unfortunately, once you are lured onto the site, you will normally discover that indeed you may obtain a free credit report, but the score itself costs a fee. This fee may require a one-time payment or a monthly fee to keep you up to date if there are any changes in your credit.
Regardless of the advertisement or which method you choose for obtaining a copy of your credit report and ultimately the score, it does you no good if you do not know how to read it or what it all means.
Most people do not know what all those mysterious codes next to each entry means or how the information posted weighs into the final calculation to reach that magical number known as your credit score.
Each institution uses a different scale to weigh each item. If [...] Continue Reading…
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Citi and Banamex USA launch co-branded credit card
Through an ongoing pilot program available through eight Citibank financial centers in Texas and working with Citi Microfinance and Banamex USA, Citibank customers can now grant a shared-credit card to a friend or relative in Mexico with Banamex USA’s bi-national card program.
Citi said that this pilot program offers cash-back rewards, 24-hour access to accounts, additional cards at no cost and introductory annual percentage rate (APR) on purchases or balance transfers for 12 months, depending on the type of credit card selected by individuals with established credit history.
You can read the full article here
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)Use a Meijer’s credit card and get 10 cents off a gallon of gas
Twin City drivers can save a little bit of money on their gas fill up, if they use a Meijer credit card at the store’s gas station.
Starting June 1st, Meijer will cut prices 10 cents per gallon for all of their customers who use a Meijer’s store card or the Meijer Platinum MasterCard, the company announced Tuesday.
The promotion will run through Labor Day and covers over 165 Meijer gas stations and is applicable to all grades of gas and also diesel, E85 ethanol and biodiesel. There is no minimum purchase required with this offer.
Previously this program had a 5cent per gallon discount for Meijer customers.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)38 Charged in Phishing Scams
Thirty-eight people were charged yesterday with stealing names, Social Security numbers, credit card data and other personal information from Internet users as part of a global crime ring.
The gang (Romanian-based) phishing scams used the internet to scam thousand of consumers and hundreds of financial institutions, according to indictments unsealed in Los Angeles and New Haven, Conn.
The practice known as phishing typically involves sending fraudulent e-mails that include links directing recipients to fake Web sites, where they are asked to submit sensitive data. Phishers may also include attachments that, when opened, secretly install “spyware” that can capture personal information and send it to third parties over the Internet.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)TD Banknorth’s customers cards compromised
TD Banknorth says it has notified its New Hampshire customers that their Visa debit or credit cards have been compromised, most likely because of the Hannaford supermarkets’ security breach.Bank spokeswoman Jennifer Carlson says the bank noticed the fraud cases. She said a privacy policy prevented her from saying how many customers were involved.
TD Banknorth says instead of having a mass cancellation and reissuing its Visa debit and credit cards, it’s relying on fraud-detection computer programs which it says can monitor for fraud and even decline transactions as they are being made.
In March, Hannaford announced that a security breach had compromised more than 4 million customer card numbers.
