Consumerist
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credit
Taking Credit Card Offers Hurts Your Credit
Last week, I wrote about how to turn your good credit into cash. I purposely excluded credit card offers from the list because I wanted things that, should you implement them, wouldn't hurt your credit. Today, I want to warn to the overzealous. More » -
Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Let's Perma-Ban Consumer Predators
Regulating consumer predators is a bit like Whac-a-Mole. No matter how many times you put the bad guys out of business, they keep popping up again and again. Maybe it is time to consider a lifetime ban from financial services for the worst offenders. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by the President may be just the right watchdog for the job of handing out such banishments. More »
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td ameritrade
Deposit $75,000 With TD Ameritrade And Get A Free iPod! OMG!
We guess there's really no point at which you're "comfortable" enough to not be tempted by a FREE iPOD! OMG! Reader Jonathan forwarded this email from TD Ameritrade in which they tried to entice him to deposit either $75,000 or $50,000 in order to get himself a free iPod Touch. More » -
money
Personal Finance Roundup
5 Simple Steps to a Successful Cover Letter [Yahoo Hotjobs] "[Here's] an easy-to-follow, five-step formula for cover letter success"
What to do if your broker fails [CNN Money] "There is a system in place to protect your portfolio - at least a good chunk of it."
Party Peer Pressure, and Why You Shouldn't Succumb to It [New York Times] "It is not the amount of money spent that makes an event fun."
Lending to a friend? Look out [MSN Money] "A close buddy or a loved one asks you for money and swears he'll pay you back. Yeah, right. There are ways you can help, but first cover your own caboose."
Ten Ways to Protect Your Finances From the Crisis [The Wall Street Journal] "As the country's financial system teeters on the brink of disaster, you need a game plan to minimize the damage."
— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: donbuciak)
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indiana mortgage brokers
Oh Sh*t! 40% Of Indiana's Mortgage Brokers Lose Their Licenses
40% of Indiana's mortgage brokers have lost their licenses because they did not comply with a new law aimed at "raising the standards" of the mortgage lending industry. The law requires mortgage brokerages to "name a principal broker with at least three years experience who has passed a state exam and will oversee his company's business affairs," says BusinessWeek. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? More » -
securitization
Why Few Seem To Be Able To Work Out Better Loan Terms
Call it what you will, the borrower bailout/rescue/whatever does not seem to be working. Foreclosures are still on the rise along with defaults and sad stories. And while those numbers go up, the economy continues to worsen. More » -
crime
FBI Starts Investigating The Entire Mortgage Industry
The New York Times says that the FBI has begun an investigation that includes almost the entire mortgage industry—from the lenders to the brokers to the Wall Street banks who packaged the loans as securities. They're cooperating with the SEC and wouldn't name which firms they're targeting, but the Times said that it includes 14 companies. More » -
advice
Retirement Investment Scams And How To Avoid Them
People who are about to retire often find themselves faced with a million different brokers who have a million different great ideas about what they should do with their savings. It can be overwhelming, but Kiplinger has a great article about shady investment scams and how to avoid them. More » -
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The FTC sued Milwaukee Multiple Listing Service for shutting out the homes of consumers who used non-traditional listing contracts, illegally restraining competition. [FTC]
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personal finance
Call For Advice: Reader Wants Discount Brokerage Recommendations
Onoodles writes, "I've managed to put away 20k into a Roth IRA. I started it directly through one mutual fund and now I'm looking to move it to a discount brokerage firm to diversify. So my question is, which one is the best?!" For a general overview and comparison of leading brokerages, we suggest looking into SmartMoney's 2007 Broker Survey from a few months ago. And note that by going with a discount brokerage firm, you'll likely be trading better customer service, research tools, and trading tools for cheaper fees. More » -
secrets & lies
Investigate Neighborhoods Online With Real Estate Gossip Sites
You find a home you love, and the asking price makes it practically a steal. But you wonder: how do you know it wasn't built on top of a "relocated" cemetery? Or what if it's only a few blocks away from the city's longest-running crackfest? Thanks to several websites and blogs, new home shoppers can now collect "real world" data about prospective neighborhoods and real estate from actual residents, other buyers, and anonymous brokers out to sabotage the competition. More » -
foreclosures
The Case Of The Man Who Should Have Known Better
Back in 2005, my wife and I bought our first condo. We live in the Central Coast of California, in San Luis Obispo, where the property values were skyrocketing, and were not supported by the wage base, similar to Monterey and Santa Barbara. It was the top of the market and I knew it, but we had a very slick mortgage broker who got us qualified (it wasn't a no-doc loan, but it was a 100% finance, 80/20 with a first and a second, the first was a 6.5% 2/28 ARM, the second a 9% fixed.) We were assured at the time and up to as recently as this Summer, that we would have no problem re-fi-ing that loan (and even paying off our lower-interest student loans by taking some cash out in the process=wtf???) by the same broker. Of course that didn't happen...
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subprime meltdown
Mortgage Industry Lays Off More Workers
The mortgage industry isn't just hemorrhaging money anymore, it's hemorrhaging jobs. Two more mortgage lenders (Lehman Brothers Holdings and the National City Corporation) announced that they would be laying off 2,000 employees. More » -
mortgages
Foreclosure Spike Due To Natural Economic Forces, Not "Risky Lending?"
NYT has a sobering counterpoint to the recent gangbanging of the subprime mortgage market in the press and in Washington. It's main points: More » -
brokers
Your Broker Is Just As Confused As You Are
Ever wonder if your broker really knows more than you do about investing? SmartMoney Magazine did, that's why they sent a reporter to 8 brokers within walking distance... just to see what advice she'd get. From SmartMoney (emphasis added): More » -
charles schwab
Charles Schwab's Bad Computer Costs Customer $17,500
Has someone's temerity ever cost you? How much? How about $17,500? Jeffrey writes: More » -
housing
FTC Forces Listing Services To Stop Blocking Discount Brokers
- "NYT: The Federal Trade Commission said yesterday that five regional real estate listing services had agreed to treat listings from discount brokers no differently than those from traditional agents.
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the news
The News; Home-Wreckers
• Add up the savings and now you can get a candy bar every time you fill up. "Gasoline Prices Decline Again" [LAT] More »
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1-18 of 18 for "Brokers"
