Mail in rebates are a sneaky way to make things look cheaper than they actually are at the point of sale, since many consumers never actually get any cash back. Now New Jersey’s state Assembly is considering legislation that would require retailers to charge shoppers the after-rebate price on goods, instead of forcing them to mail in or submit online requests. If the retailer still wants to take advantage of the rebate, that’s no problem; he’ll just have to mail it in himself. [More]
Government Policy
They Foreclosed On Our Landlord And May Leave Us Homeless
By 5.10.10
Jennifer says her apartment’s landlord suffered a foreclosure, which will leave the rooms uninhabitable if the utilities have been shut off. Her horror story is probably more common than you’d like to believe in this era of rapid foreclosures, and a cautionary tale of signing a lease in which utilities are included. [More]
The 3 Kinds Of American Business
By 5.7.10
According to Tom, there are three basic types of American business. If that’s too many to remember, you can also organize them under them under the umbrella concept known as “screwed up.”
The Three Classes of American Business [4-Block World]
Drop-Side Cribs Have Killed At Least 32 Kids
By 5.7.10
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the results of its investigation of drop-side cribs and has concluded that they are not as safe as regular cribs and have caused or contributed to at least 32 deaths since January 2000. [More]
BoA Sued For Taking TARP $ But Not Helping Foreclosures
By 5.7.10
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Bank of America for taking $25 billion in federal TARP bailout money but intentionally failing to live up to its part of the bargain. The deal was that banks were supposed to use use the money to allow struggling homeowners to reduce their payments to affordable levels. “Bank of America came up with every excuse to defer the Kahlo family from a home loan modification, from stating they ‘lost’ their paperwork to saying they never approved the new terms of the mortgage agreement,” said the plaintiff’s attorney. “And we know from our investigation this isn’t an isolated incident.” Bank of America declined to comment.
Washington homeowners file class action against Bank of America [Seattle PI]
Wall Street's Biggest Drop Ever Caused By Typo?
By 5.7.10
The AP says that a computerized selloff that may have been caused by a typo (the theory is that someone typed $16 billion when they meant $16 million) caused the biggest ever drop during a trading day. How could one typo result in such massive turmoil? The idea is that the erroneous trade triggered other computers to sell. [More]
Freshway Foods Lettuce Recalled In 23 States Following E. Coli Outbreak
By 5.7.10
Freshway Foods has recalled shredded romaine lettuce distributed in 23 states and the District of Columbia due to possible E. coli contamination. The affected lettuce was packaged for food service, wholesale, and salad bar consumption–not directly to consumers, except in salad kits sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh. [More]
Do Not Mock Your Co-Worker's Tiny Penis While Testing Full-Body Scanners
By 5.7.10
If you’ve been wondering how much of your body airport full-body scanners actually do reveal, a recent TSA training session in Miami shows the answer: enough for your co-workers to mock the size of your genitals. The target of the mockery eventually found it unbearable, and police say that he “could not take the jokes anymore and lost his mind,” attacking one of his colleagues in the parking lot. He was arrested for aggravated battery. [More]
If The Economy Added 290,000 New Jobs, Why Did The Unemployment Rate Go Up?
By 5.7.10
You might have noticed a few headlines this morning about the good jobs news — 290,000 new jobs were added in March — coupled with the rather grim realization that the unemployment rate climbed to 9.9%. What’s up with that? [More]
FDA Wants To Know Which Labels You Read When You Shop
By 5.7.10
The Food and Drug Administration is looking into adjusting labeling regulations and wants to know what you’re looking for to ensure a food item’s healthiness when you’re digging through supermarket shelves. [More]
Map: Is Your Local Pot Store About To Be Shut Down?
By 5.6.10
Earlier this week, Los Angeles authorities announced that 439 currently legal marijuana dispensaries would have to shut their doors by June 7 or face fines of up to $2,500 a day and possible jail time. Only about 130 dispensaries will remain open after the June 7 deadline. And thanks to the folks at the L.A. Times, citizens of L.A. now have an interactive map showing where the stores to be shuttered are located. [More]
Goldman Riskier Than Citigroup
By 5.6.10
Bond markets slammed Goldman Sach this week, making the firm pay more for cashizzle then even the bailed-out Citigroup. Goldman’s yield rose to 2.79 percentage points over Citigroups’ 2.29. At the end of March, before the legal and regulatory headaches began, Citigrouop’s spread was wider than Goldman’s by .45 percentage points. Higher yields on debt usually indicate a higher risk of default or other negative credit events. Concerns continue to mount over how long and how deep the firm will be tainted by the SEC’s civil lawsuit and the investigation by federal prosecutors, and what other skeletons the scrutiny might shake out.
Blankfein’s Bonds Are Riskier Bet Than Pandit’s: Credit Markets [Bloomberg]
Congress Opens Investigation Into Children's Tylenol Recall
By 5.6.10
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — the same crew behind the Toyota recall hearings — has announced that it has opened an investigation into the recent recall of Children’s Tylenol and several other brands of kids’ medicine. [More]
Obama Administration Turning Out To Be Quite Expensive For Airlines
By 5.6.10
ABCNews has an article that contrasts the Obama administration’s handing of the airlines with the previous one — and one thing is for certain — it’s getting much more expensive to mess with consumers. [More]
Senate Agrees To Ban Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts
By 5.6.10
An amendment to the financial overhaul bill banning the use of taxpayer funds for bank bailouts has been agreed upon in the Senate, says the LA Times. [More]
FCC May Step In To Restore Net Neutrality
By 5.6.10
Fighting back against a court ruling that found the FCC has no authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks, the commission has proposed regulating broadband under rules designed for phone networks, the Wall Street Journal reports. [More]
Banks Gone Amok, Unlawfully Foreclosing
By 5.5.10
“Darnit, where was that mortgage modification paper? I knew I put it somewhere. Oh well, let’s just foreclose on these people’s house. STAMP! Whoo, that was tough. Time to treat myself to a Diet Coke.” That’s an imaginative reenactment at what’s going on inside the mortgage departments of the biggest banks in America: total disorganization, the right hand not knowing what the left is doing, a bureaucratic and document-strewn nightmare that can swallow up people’s homes right from under them. [More]
FDA: McNeil Plant That Made Recalled Tylenol Is A Dirty Stinkpot With No Quality Control
By 5.5.10
One of the implied promises of a brand name, especially when it comes to drugs, is you can expect higher quality, but maybe that doesn’t apply when it comes to McNeil products.The FDA says the plant that produced the recently recalled children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl, was using raw materials that were contaminated with bacteria. The plant also lacked adequate quality-control procedures and was dirty. So far none of the recalled medicine has tested positive for bacterial contamination, but the FDA report suggests that the contaminated material was used to make the recalled lots. The plant has been shut down indefinitely. [More]
