News

2008

September

11

• Microsoft and Google rewrite their browsers. Your Web browser is probably the most important program on your computer, and it's now getting the competition it deserves. Mozilla Firefox,the most successful challenger to Microsoft's incumbent Internet Explorer, is an outstanding piece of…

10

• Lose your house, lose your vote. The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the…

• Facing our debt addiction. Imagine if politicians talked about the huge debts facing Americans, instead of offering the usual platitudes about national unity and security. How would the conversation begin? "We want to make it easier for you to…

09

• Regulators fail to rein in credit card abuse. Janet Hard, a registered nurse and mother of two from Freeland, Mich., never understood why Discover hiked the rate on her credit card from 18% to 24% in 2006. Last year, she told a Senate…

• Will drivers trade privacy for discounts?. Of all the things that seem unfair about auto insurance, this is perhaps the worst: Infrequent drivers who log less than 5,000 miles a year, are charged roughly the same as long-distance commuters who cover…

• A few exceptions on IRA penalties. This is a tough job market and a rough economy. No one knows that better than Kim and Millicent Elsmo. The Crownsville couple lost their jobs last year. Kim Elsmo, 60, worked in shipping and…

• Mortgage giants’ future: rebuild or teardown. A day after the government seized control of the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, policy makers and Congress began what promises to be an epic political fight over how to revamp the companies once…

• Be skeptical with low-mileage used cars. High-tech digital odometers are making it easier for crooks to cheat unsuspecting used car buyers. The scam is even easier to pull than in the days of mechanical cables and reels, experts say."People don't realize…

08

• Federal Government to takeover Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Chinese). 【綜合報道】美國財長保爾森周日宣布，接管陷入財困危機的兩大半官方按揭貸款機構房利美與房貸美，準備注資2000億元，撐住兩房。消息透露，檢討過兩房帳目後，當局發現兩房原來大玩會計財技，誇大資本水平，手頭實際資本遠低官方要求，白宮逼於無奈，只好出手拯救。總統布殊表示，政府出手接管陷入困境的兩房，可望為美國經濟打了強心針。而受美國接管兩房消息影響，亞洲股市普遍造好。(相關新聞刊A2)

• What the takeover means for your mortgage. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the largest buyers of U.S. mortgages. Their takeover is expected to ripple through the economy, affecting U.S. home buyers directly and indirectly. Here are answers to common questions about…

• Gustav victims face insurance worries. As victims of Hurricane Gustav's fury turn to their insurance companies for help in recovering from the wind and water inflicted damage to their property, some are coming away with smiles while others may have…

• Four tips to save home energy and your money. Many Americans spent the summer struggling to fill their tanks as the price of gas topped $4 a gallon. Added to that worry this winter will be the increasing cost of home heating. The U.S.…

• Airlines get stingier with frequent fliers. Along with higher fares and new charges, fliers are now facing a growing number of changes that reduce the value of their frequent-flier miles. Continental Airlines said Friday that it is reducing the number of…

07

• How to determine your bank's financial health. How can you tell whether your bank is in hot water? More people have been asking that question since the collapse of Pasadena mortgage giant IndyMac Bank in July. After the government took over the…

• Take your time with time shares. You're vacationing in the Bahamas with your girlfriends when the charming man in the flowered shirt comes by with offers of a free bottle of rum, breakfast and access to exclusive beachfront property for the…

• Mortgage giants in government takeover. Federal officials said Sunday that they will take control of beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the government's most aggressive move to stabilize a financial industry reeling from a year-old mortgage and…

06

• Some states set to control payday loans. CINCINNATI — Tracey Minda needed cash to buy clothes and school supplies for her 6-year-old son before the 2006 school year. A preschool teacher and single mother, she was broke after making her mortgage and…

• New way to tap home equity. Improbable as it sounds at a time when U.S. homeowners have lost billions of dollars in equity, an industry is taking shape to help them tap portions of their equity wealth without incurring traditional mortgage…

• Study: 9% of homeowners late with bill or in foreclosure. An industry group says a record 9.2% of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of June, as damage from the housing crisis continued to…

05

• Part of California financial privacy law upheld. A federal appeals court reinstated part of California's financial privacy law Thursday, allowing consumers to prevent banks from sharing information with affiliated companies about a customer's savings account or buying habits. Central provisions of the…