US Financial News

It’s no secret the nation’s economic woes have forced millions of Americans out of work. For many, long-term unemployment has meant falling behind on credit card payments, running up debts, or even losing their homes. As a result, their credit scores have plummeted.But here’s the worst part — when these individuals try to turn things around by applying for a job, some employers are rejecting them based on these poor credit reports. Thankfully, some state governments have stepped in to prevent this financial discrimination. Most recently, California has passed a law which would restrict the practice of pulling the credit reports of job applicants. Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington have similar laws on their books as well.In the case of the Golden State, it is important to note that the new law does not completely prohibit employers from looking at the credit reports of potential employees. E

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| Tags: Credit, Credit Reports
Posted October 30, 2011 by Hanna Silver under Global Finance

European leaders have announced a final deal for resolution of two-year debt crisis in the Eurozone is finally coming into focus, and investors piled into gold on the news. The precious metal closed up $24.20 to $1,747.70 per ounce since the announcement, with silver also showing gains. The deal will require Greek bondholders to take a 50% hit on bonds, but will allow Greece to dip into the European Financial Stability Facility fund while European banks raise even more money to cover losses. Experts agree that more liquidity in the global market translates to higher gold prices, and value is expected to run well beyond $1,700 an ounce if the plan holds and things continue on their current track. For more on this continue reading the following article from TheStreet. European leaders finally decided on some kind of plan to lift Europe out of an almost two year old debt crisis and investors voraciously bought up stocks and >gold. Gold for December delivery closed $24.20 higher at $1,747.70 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,749 and as low as $1,707.20 an ounce while the spot gold price was popping $19, according to Kitco’s gold index.
Silver prices jumped $1.80 to close at $35.11 an ounce while the U.S. Read more…

| Tags: News
Posted October 30, 2011 by Oliver Blake under Financial News

I investigated a couple of prime bank frauds at the SEC. We made both cases, filing charges that stuck. And I naively thought that the publicity about the scam would bury that type of swindle forever. But that was before I knew what I know now about how the human brain operates. Had I understood the limits of human perception in the investment context and the cognitive biases that come as standard equipment with every healthy human brain, I’d have been much more pessimistic. This week, prosecutors in Illinois indicted a man for taking $4 million from investors in what sounds like a classic prime bank scam. There’ve been hundreds of such cases between my first encounter with this type of scam and the one reported here. According to the Rockford Register Star:

The defendant, James Pantazelos, 61, was charged Tuesday with six counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud alleged to have occurred from May 2007 through December 2010.

According to the indictment, Pantazelos was the owner and CEO of an investment company called Destiny’s Partners Inc. The indictment says he and associates invited individuals to attend conferences around the country to learn about investment opportunities. Pantazelos and his associates allegedly told the potential investors Destiny’s Partners placed its investors’ funds in “Private Investment Trading Platforms,” which traded bank notes in foreign markets.

Pantazelos claimed Destiny’s Partners donated a substantial portion of its profits to charitable and humanitarian causes. In addition, the indictment states Pantazelos promised investors their funds would be safe because the investments would be kept in an escrow account. It is further alleged that he offered the investors a variety of investment “options,” for periods ranging from 90 to 365 days, and promised returns of up to 200 percent.

The indictment states Pantazelos used a substantial amount of the investors’ funds to pay for personal expenses, including buying homes for himself and a family member, remodeling a family member’s home, buying expensive automobiles for himself and family members, and attempting to open a restaurant.

Notice two things about this case. First, notice that the defendant claimed that the investment had a charitbale tie in. I’ve yet to investigate a legitimate investment that made such a claim. You can see why scamsters would use that tactic. It tends to short circuit the inquiry into whether the venture is legitimate or a scam.

Notice also the extravagant spending. We’ll say it again: If the person who has your assets spends money like a trust fund baby on a weekend shopping bender, he is spending your money, not his own.

Please read the SEC’s materials on prime bank frauds. And please read what we reveal about that species of fraud inThe Vigilant Investor. Once you understand what we explain about how the human brain processes information in the investment context, you’ll understand them better and be better able to protect yourself and others.

There is no other area of the law in which ordinary citizens can be so involved in bringing criminals to justice. Consider yourself deputized to help clean up an investing landscape crowded with very dangerous people.

| Tags: Public
Posted October 29, 2011 by John Wane under Financial Guru

There are several significant items in our weekly report today, so let’s jump right in with the first one.

The National Credit Card APR average jumped from 14.97% week before last to a full 15.00% last week. Note that it’s done nothing but stay level or increase since our reports began, so be sure to keep an eye on the APRs of your credit cards and consider switching over to get lower interest rates where possible.

Now onto a subject we don’t like to think about but can’t ignore: unemployment. The unemployment rate in this country has remained steady at about 9.1% for the last few months, meaning about 14 million Americans are jobless. But there are several states in our United States where the unemployment rate is much higher than the national average.

The state of Nevada is coming in at a staggering 13.4% rate of unemployment, over 4% higher than the nation’s percentage of unemployed persons. Next up is California at a significantly lower but still alarming 12.1%. Michigan drops to 11.2%, while Washington D.C. and South Carolina both have 11.1% unemployment.

The best states to live in for employment? Oklahoma l

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| Posted October 23, 2011 by John Wane under Financial Guru

With the announcement of a 3.6% COLA increase, many social security recipients were cheering. After two years without a COLA increase for their benefits, this much needed boost was a ray of sunshine to over 60 million retirees. However, the picture is not so great for the 160 million workers in America who are subject to Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.

Because of the COLA increase, the maximum taxable earnings subject to social security also increased from $106,800 to $110,100, or a 3% rise This will adversely affect about 10 million higher income workers who currently earn more than the 2011 wage base of $106,800. The actual social security OASDI tax and Medicare tax rate , deducted from most worker paychecks, will remain at 7.65% in total. Employers pay the same amount of payroll taxes as their workers. Though, the OASDI tax for employees is currently 2% lower, thanks to payroll tax cuts stimulus legislation. Self-employed individuals pay twice the payroll tax rate, or 15.30%, since they do not have an employer match component.

Higher taxes? Currently a worker earning over $106,800, will pay a maximum of $8,170 per year towards social security and Medicare payroll taxes. So,

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| Tags: Cola Increase, Increase
Posted October 22, 2011 by Oliver Blake under Financial News

A recent study from Gallup revealed that Americans are currently more negative about the personal finances that at any point in the past decade.

Gallup began asking the question “How would you rate your financial situation today — as excellent, good, only fair or poor?” in 2001, and, in the most recent survey (conducted between October 6 – 9), more rated their situation as “poor” (22 percent) than at any point in the past 10 years.

This 22 percent mark is even higher than during the recent recession, when between 16 percent and 19 percent rated their personal finance situation as “poor,” Gallup said.

In addition, 48 percent of respondents said that their personal finance situation is “getting worse.” This is but a tick lower than the record-high of 49 percent recorded for this measure in April 2008.

When asked to cite their most important financial problem, “lack of money/low wages” garnered the most response at 14 percent of respondents. “Too much debt” – whether from credit cards, mortgages or other loans – came in at second with a 13 percent mark.

Rounding out the top fi

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| Tags: Finances, Personal Finances
Posted October 19, 2011 by Hanna Silver under Global Finance

If you are a citizen of United States, then you would already be aware of the fact that in most states in the U.S. you need to have auto insurance in order to own a car. In fact, a minimum coverage is required to be possessed by an individual in all states which shows some basic financial responsibility. Do not shirk away from auto insurance by thinking it is an extra cost. You should remember that the auto insurance will protect you, your family and your vehicle in case of an accident no matter which party’s fault it is. Read on to know about the requirements of the coverage those are necessary.

Bodily injury liability – This coverage does not apply to you, but to the other party who gets injured in an accident that has been caused by you. It also covers you and your family members when you are driving the car of someone else with their permission. It is rather important that you have sufficient amount of liability insurance in case you get involved in a serious accident you may get sued for quite a large amount of money. You Read more…

| Tags: Auto Insurance
Posted October 13, 2011 by Admin under Financial Guru

“Several other Midwestern cities are among the metro areas with the best credit scores, Experian said. Compared with the rest of the nation, they tend to have lower unemployment rates and less debt.”

“The move is part of a broader effort by banks to lure more credit-card customers after many lenders retrenched from the subprime market. A surge in losses from soured loans during the recession and a regulatory overhaul prompted many of the largest credit-card issuers to focus exclusively on borrowers with the best credit.”

“Personal finance columnist Liz Weston says theres no credit card reward rich enough or healthy enough to offset the cost of carrying credit card debt. When youre carrying a balance, your primary concern should be getting the lowest possible interest rate so you can get out of debt faster, she says.”

| Tags: Credit, Credit 10142011
Posted October 11, 2011 by John Wane under Financial Guru