Headline News Archive

2012

January

24

• Change.org emerges as influential advocate. Ben Rattray knows that revolution does not always happen spontaneously. The 31-year-old entrepreneur rattles off a list of populist actions over the past year: the…

• Settlement with mortgage lenders "inadequate". As Obama administration officials pushed Monday toward finalizing a deal with the nation’s largest banks over widespread foreclosure abuses, they encountered a fresh wave of…

23

• All 2011 unemployment insurance benefits taxable. The jobless rate is dipping, but millions of people are still out of work. And that could have implications when they file their income tax…

22

• Five tips to remember when you ask for a raise. Asking for a raise in a weak economy may seem like a long shot. Or maybe even job suicide. But experts say that if you're…

21

• Blacks face bias in bankruptcy, study suggests. Blacks are about twice as likely as whites to wind up in the more onerous and costly form of consumer bankruptcy as they try to…

20

• New rules for international money transfers. Customers who send international money transfers will soon be entitled to clearer cost disclosures. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday issued new rules governing…

19

• Who do you trust more with your data: Facebook or a bank?. If you want to know how much Web companies know about you, talk to Max Schrems. The Austrian law student used European Union privacy laws…

• Mortgage settlement deal "very close". The federal government is "very close" to a settlement with mortgage servicers that could help a million homeowners by reducing what they owe on their…

• NHTSA ill-equipped to assess cars' high-tech systems. The nation's top auto safety regulator is ill-equipped to detect problems with high-tech electronics that are increasingly commonplace in today's cars, a new government study…

18

• Options for 401(k) plans get more affordable. As employers prepare for new federal rules requiring them to explain how fees affect 401(k) returns, industry providers are rolling out better, lower-cost plans. The…

17

• Credit card debt drops. Consumers whacked down credit card debt by 11% last year, and average debt loads dropped in every state. The average credit card balance for 2011…

• AT&T: 'measured' phone rate up; Wells: money transfer fees coming. With bills for pretty much everything steadily rising, some people try to keep a lid on monthly costs by opting for "measured" phone service. What…

• Wikipedia to go offline to protest anti-piracy bill. Most people probably haven't paid much attention to the huge corporations waging war in Washington over legislation designed to crack down on online theft of…

• Tips for 2011 tax-filing season. This year, the deadline for filing your federal tax return is April 17. Taxpayers get an extra two days to file because April 15 is…

15

• Apply for financial aid to determine if college is affordable. Dear Liz: I have an 18-year-old daughter who wants to attend a private, out-of-state school. I don't have any money saved for her education and…

• How entrepreneurs can cut costs of deadbeat clients. Cathy Alinovi, a veterinarian and owner of Hoofstock Vet Service in rural Pine Village, Ind., advises her clients to tend their animals' health needs as…

13

• Credit score zealots pursue fool’s errand over 800. eff Rose, a 33-year-old financial planner, is trying to improve his credit score even though it’s 780, which is 69 points above the median score.…

• California imposes energy-efficiency standards on battery chargers. California's cellphones, tablet computers, power tools and hundreds of other portable electronic devices will be required to have energy-stingy battery chargers beginning next year. The…

• Consumer bureau chief looks into Buy Here Pay Here auto dealers. The new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking into the practices of Buy Here Pay Here auto dealers and the rapid growth…

• Foreclosure reviews to take longer than expected. Reviews of hundreds of thousands of foreclosure cases ordered by regulators last year will take months longer to complete than first expected, according to documents…

• Few options available to help pay off private student loans. Last October, President Obama announced a broad initiative to provide relief for college graduates struggling to repay student loans. In a speech at the University…

12

• Foreclosures expected to rise, pushing home prices lower. California and other states are likely to see an enormous wave of long-delayed foreclosure action in the coming year as banks deal more aggressively with…

• 'Hactivists' decried as new breed of censor. Global affairs website Stratfor relaunched Wednesday, three weeks after hacktivists put it in the dark. The Statfor caper serves notice about a troublesome new strain…

• Toxic metal jewelry removed from stores. More than a dozen of the most popular retailers have stopped selling jewelry that contains more than trace levels of a toxic metal called cadmium,…

10

• Suze Orman’s new prepaid card makes questionable claims. Renowned financial advisor and author Suze Orman is the latest in a long line of celebrities to release a branded prepaid debit card. The “Approved…