Things we should be aware of.

[Noble Work]

www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6412572n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

[Bunny Hop]

WOOOOOWWWW. I have totally learned a lesson today. We have some copiers at the house that I was looking to recycle but I'll definitely find out about wiping their hard drives before doing so.

[Noble Work]

May 3, 2010 12:34:17 GMT -5 Bunny Hop said:

WOOOOOWWWW. I have totally learned a lesson today. We have some copiers at the house that I was looking to recycle but I'll definitely find out about wiping their hard drives before doing so.

shyt serious ain't it B?

Your printer is a computer.....lolol

[Oldskool]

As if we didn't have enough worry about.

[Bunny Hop]

May 3, 2010 14:48:23 GMT -5 Noble Work said:

May 3, 2010 12:34:17 GMT -5 Bunny Hop said:

WOOOOOWWWW. I have totally learned a lesson today. We have some copiers at the house that I was looking to recycle but I'll definitely find out about wiping their hard drives before doing so.

shyt serious ain't it B?

Your printer is a computer.....lolol

LOL and I get it (now). It totally makes sense. Something has to capture and save the image. And if you think about when the copier messes up...you've taken your original papers and it gets fixed minutes or hours later and prints out that document like you just hit the copy button. Very creepy.

[Noble Work]

May 3, 2010 23:43:27 GMT -5 Bunny Hop said:

May 3, 2010 14:48:23 GMT -5 Noble Work said:

shyt serious ain't it B?

Your printer is a computer.....lolol

LOL and I get it (now). It totally makes sense. Something has to capture and save the image. And if you think about when the copier messes up...you've taken your original papers and it gets fixed minutes or hours later and prints out that document like you just hit the copy button. Very creepy.

like when you sold your digital camera in the garage sale, not know your memory card was STILL in it. Yea the one you took to the Ladies only trips to Marti Gras and Vegas...yea that one. ;D

[T-Rex91]

Man, I had to stop watching Dateline because it was making me too paranoid. Now this!

[Noble Work]

What to Buy and Not Buy at Walmart
by Catherine Holahan


Despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that Walmart (NYSE: WMT - News) is the nation's largest retailer, there are plenty of people who wouldn't be caught dead in one. To these folks, Walmart conjures images of a rapacious juggernaut of stadium-sized stores offering low-quality merchandise, spotty service, and mistreating employees and the environment — while driving small local retailers out of business.

But many of those misgivings are starting to fade, partly as a result of some well-timed improvements to the company's product line-up and its environmental record. What's more, there's nothing like the worst recession in 80 years to nudge "low prices" a little higher on the collective priority list. And while Walmart may not be making its employees rich, the chain handed out very few pink slips in the downturn and remains the country's largest private employer.

To be sure, there are plenty of reasons to remain wary of the retail behemoth. Whether you are concerned about the threat to a downtown business district, object to the retail culture, or just have a mental picture of the Walmart shopper that you can't square with your own self image, it may not be for you. But it's worth keeping in mind that, when it leverages its enormous scale for good, Walmart can make a difference in a hurry. It's one thing when a boutique sells fair-trade coffee, but when Walmart gets into the game, a lot of sustainable farmers benefit. Here are five product categories where you can comparison shop in good conscience at the nation's "low-price leader."

1. Moderately Priced Consumer Electronics

Dying to get the latest hi-definition TV from Vizio or Viore? We thought not. Those low-priced brands are what Walmart has focused on in the past, but recently the retailer has expanded its offerings to include high-def TVs from top makers such as Samsung (Other OTC: SSNLF.PK - News), Sony (NYSE: SNE - News), Philips (NYSE: PHG - News), and Sharp (Other OTC: SHCAY.PK - News). It also now offers digital cameras made by the likes of Nikon and Canon.

Walmart still isn't the best place to shop for a top-of-the-line television or digital SLR camera. But its focus on bringing in more big brands has made it an attractive option for shoppers seeking consumer electronics in the sub-$1,000 price range. This year, for example, some WalMart stores offered a 50-inch Samsung plasma television for less than $700 during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

What Walmart doesn't have is an army of educated sales people ready to explain all the settings on the back of that SLR or the subtle differences between a high-def TV with a resolution of 1080i versus one with 1080p. But such service has become less important now that 90 percent of consumers turn to the Internet for detailed product reviews, says James Russo, Nielsen's vice president of global consumer insights.

"Consumers will do their research outside the store," says Russo. "So if Walmart has the right selection and price point, consumers will go there.

2. Smart Phones

In the past year, Walmart has beefed up its offerings of higher-end cell phones, especially Blackberries. This is good news if you've reached the end of your phone contract and are looking to compare new phones and carriers all in one place, since Walmart sells phones and service plans from each of the four largest U.S. carriers: Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News), AT&T (NYSE: T - News), Sprint (NYSE: S - News), and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT - News). So if you want to see how T-Mobile's G1 phone, which uses Google's Android operating system, matches up against Apple's iPhone, Walmart is the place for you. You can't do that at an AT&T store, or even at one of Apple's fancy boutiques.

3. Coffee

While Walmart has been criticized in the past for being more concerned with price than environmental or labor issues when sourcing its goods, one area where it's improving its record is with coffee. This year, the company partnered with TransFair USA, an independent certifying agency, to offer fair trade-certified coffee in its Walmart and Sam's Club stores. The coffee is sustainably grown by farmers who receive a living wage and is thus more expensive than competing coffees — roughly $5.88 for a 10 to 12 ounce bag, compared with less than $5 for supermarket brand Eight O'Clock Coffee. But it tastes better (or at least it should), and by selling fair-trade coffee, Walmart vastly expands the market for such goods.

Carmen K. Iezzi, executive director of the Fair Trade Federation, a North American association for such products, says Walmart's expansion of fair trade certified items like coffee was promising, although she cautioned that it's too early to tell how much impact Walmart's efforts will have. Still, coffee is a good start. "When any major corporation begins to move in the direction of more sustainable practices, that is a positive sign," says Iezzi.

4. Video Game Bundles

Of course, Walmart's primary appeal has always been its low prices, but it makes sense for shoppers to do a cost/benefit analysis: Is it worth it to save $10 on a book, when you could be supporting an independent bookseller instead? On the other hand, you can save a lot more money if you're in the market for video game systems, which Walmart often bundles with starter games. For example, Walmart was recently selling the Xbox 360 Elite gaming system, along with two games, including this season's blockbuster title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, for just $259. The game console alone sells for upward of $249 at stores such as Sears, while Call of Duty typically retails for $60. And buying video game consoles and products at Walmart is arguably a guilt-free purchase. After all, Sears (NasdaqGS: SHLD - News) isn't known for standing up against suburban sprawl.

5. Laundry Detergent

When it comes to the environment, Walmart's suppliers have often fallen far short of best practices. Now the chain is trying to clean up its act by offering more eco-friendly products. One area where it's done the most is laundry detergent. The company recently switched to selling only concentrated laundry detergent in its U.S. stores — these products use up to 50 percent less packaging and require less fuel to transport than the earlier versions. Once again, scale matters: Walmart has a serious carbon footprint, so cutting laundry detergent containers by half can have a big impact.

Walmart has taken steps to combat phosphates, which pollute the water and lead to an explosion of the algae population that destroys fish habitats and plants. The company already says there are no phosphates in detergent it sells in the U.S., and earlier this year, it announced plans to choose more eco-friendly suppliers for the laundry and dish detergent it sells in its Americas region, cutting phosphates by 70 percent by 2011. The Americas region includes Canada, Mexico, and countries in Central and South America.

And Walmart has unveiled broader initiatives to improve its eco-image. In July, the company began developing a sustainability index that will eventually rank all of its suppliers and products based on their environmental impact. "Walmart is taking some important steps, although they've still got a long way to go," says Honor Schauland, a campaign assistant at the Organic Consumers Association, a Minnesota-based consumer advocacy group.

Walmart didn't become the world's largest retailer by accident. Executives in Bentonville, Ark., are well aware that stocking sustainable products was a good way to attract a more affluent consumer. And those consumers like low prices on recognizable brands as much as anyone, especially in the current economy, says Doug Conn, a managing director at Hexagon Securities who focuses on the retail sector.

"They have picked up on trends like organics and natural products, and that has helped get new customers," says Conn. "But the key theme is that customers are more value-oriented than they have ever been this holiday season, and Walmart is the default place to go for low prices."

In other words, new customers are coming for the deals. But if they shop the categories mentioned above, they can feel good about being thrifty without worrying that they've abandoned their ideals just to save a buck.

What Not to Buy at Walmart

While Walmart has recently burnished its reputation among upscale shoppers, there are still some product categories where you'd be better off going elsewhere — either because you're straying beyond Walmart's core competency, or to avoid supporting the giant retailer's bad behavior. Here are three of them.

1. High-End Electronics

Though Walmart has expanded its selection of name-brand electronics, it's still focused on value-oriented products in the sub-$1,000 price range. And its sales staff tend not to be experts in the finer points of multimedia interface. So if you want to splurge on a top-of-the-line television or digital SLR camera — and get the accompanying level of service and accessories — you'll want to visit a specialty electronics store. Best Buy (NYSE: BBY - News), for example, has a customer support team (the Geek Squad) capable of explaining why, for instance, you may need a television with several HDMI ports.

2. Books

This year, Walmart slashed prices aggressively to establish itself as the low-price leader for best-selling books. The store cut the cost of popular novels such as Stephen King's Under the Dome by 70 percent to $13.99, sparking a price war with Amazon (NasdaqGS: AMZN - News).

The Walmart/Amazon rivalry translates into incredibly low prices for consumers on some of the most popular book titles. But Walmart's prices come at a cost, say local business advocates. In the long-run, such deep discounts can drive independent booksellers out of business. And without these stores, consumers will have difficulty finding all but the most well-known authors, says Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a non-profit that advocates for local businesses.

3. Wood Furniture

Despite Walmart's increased focus on sustainability, the retailer has a long way to go in the furniture category. In December 2007, an environmental group published a report tracing furniture from Walmart suppliers to wood illegally logged in protected Russian habitats for Siberian tigers and other wildlife. Several months later, Walmart promised to investigate its suppliers and joined the Global Forest & Trade Network, an organization dedicated to eliminating illegal logging. Environmental activists have applauded Walmart's promise to purge environmentally rotten wood, but Walmart could take until a self-imposed deadline of 2013 to phase out the products. Until then, consumers can't be certain that Walmart's wood furniture comes from well-managed forests.

[Noble Work]

......#3 and #6 yall. Number 3 a lot of people (NOT my OO family though right ;D) don't take this serious enough. But number 6, this means that the repo man CAN find you....lolo.


7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook


Using a Weak Password

Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word "houses": hO27usEs!

Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile

It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.

Overlooking Useful Privacy Controls

For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.

Posting Your Child's Name in a Caption

Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.

Mentioning That You'll Be Away From Home

That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.

Letting Search Engines Find You

To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.

Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised

Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings.

[Noble Work]

20 things that may rip you off.

10-20 is goooood.

www.forbes.com/2010/05/07/getting-ripped-off-entrepreneurs-finance-rip-off_slide.html?partner=yahoo

[nsync]

OMGarsh me too. Dateline is so depressing.

May 5, 2010 8:26:53 GMT -5 T-Rex91 said:

Man, I had to stop watching Dateline because it was making me too paranoid. Now this!

[nsync]

Ima book mark this thread.

[G Money$CMB$]

Dateline is a bit scary.

Something else we women should be aware of is purchasing undergarments. The Today Show did a piece that showed some customers RETURNING USED UNDERWEAR and the chains actually taking the merchandise?! Victoria Secrets, Walmart, Target- just NASTY?! My mouth was on the FLOOR watching that mess?!?!?!!!!

[Sapphire]

Good lawd! I had no idea about the copier. I guess i sort of knew it stored info, but figured it was wiped clean when it got shipped to other places. Dag. I gots ta be more careful!

[Sapphire]

And the sad part is, you can't control what other companies do with their copy machines.

[Noble Work]

8 Phony 'Bargains' and Better Alternatives

Big discounts! Big sales! Big freebies! Enticing deals abound, but you need to distinguish those from the raw deals masquerading as bargains. Many of them come with so many strings attached that they could cost you plenty. (Those frequent-flier rewards cards, for example? They often cost you a bundle -- and the airline miles are often more restrictive and harder to use than what you'd get from a cash-back credit card.)

For consumers, a little homework goes a long way. Here are eight would-be deals to steer clear of, as well as our suggestions for better options.

1. Unlimited Long Distance

Many telephone plans bundle "free" unlimited long-distance service with local calling service. If you don't make a lot of long-distance calls -- or if you make a lot of them from your cell phone -- these plans may not be cost effective. A bundled plan typically costs about $20 more than a local plan, but the average American consumer makes fewer than two hours of long-distance phone calls a month, according to the Federal Communications Commission. That's about 17 cents per minute.

Better Deal: Skip the extra fees, and buy your long-distance service from a reseller such as ECG or Pioneer Telephone. These companies buy their long-distance service wholesale from the larger telecommunications firms but offer the same general quality for far lower prices, billing by the minute or fraction thereof. (ECG charges 2.5 cents a minute for interstate phone calls; Pioneer's price is 2.7 cents.)

Alternately, sign up for a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) plan from a carrier like Vonage, whose plans start at $15 a month (climbing to $26 after a six-month trial) for both local and long distance. Calls travel over the Internet, though, so you need a stable, active cable or DSL Internet connection for this to work.

2. Frequent-Flier Rewards Cards

Credit card rewards tied to airline miles or gift points were the earliest players in the sector, but it's time to dump them. For one thing, the benefits have shrunk, particularly on airlines: They've increased the number of miles needed for a free flight; reduced flight schedules, making free seats harder to find; and, in some cases, imposed a booking fee on rewards flights.

On certain rewards cards, annual fees may also outweigh the benefits. The perks-laden American Express Platinum, which costs $450 a year, offers a complimentary airline ticket for every first- or business-class fare purchased on select international flights, plus a business-class fare purchased on plus a concierge service, free access to airport lounges, and other bonuses. It all sounds great, especially if you are booking lots of international business-class travel. But if not, you just paid $450 to have someone else make your restaurant reservations.

Better Deal: Try cash-reward cards instead. Airline miles and gifts are fine, but if you have the cash in your wallet, you can make your own purchasing decisions. Peter Flur of Credit Card Goodies, a 10-year-old Web site that monitors rewards cards, recommends Blue Cash from American Express, which offers up to 5 percent cash back on purchases at gas, groceries, and drugstores, as well as 1.25 percent on all other purchases once a cardholder rings up $6,500 in purchases any given year.

3. Checking Accounts That Pay Interest

Interest-bearing checking accounts at traditional brick-and-mortar banks often pay only 0.13 percent interest but require high minimums to avoid a monthly maintenance fee. On, for instance, a deposit of $3,400 -- the average minimum required to avoid monthly fees, according to Bankrate.com data -- that amounts to just $4.42 in annual interest.

Better Deal: In this low-interest environment, forget about getting any interest from your checking account, advises Richard Barrington, an analyst with MoneyRates.com. Instead, look for a no-fee checking account -- and "be sure to check the minimum balance requirement," Barrington says. "These minimums have been rising, so make sure it's a minimum balance you can realistically maintain."

Meanwhile, if you have extra cash, shop around for banks and credit unions that offer good deals. Mike Moebs, an economist whose firm surveys bank fees says there are a few banks and credit unions that combine checking and money-market deposit accounts into one, offering a high rate on balances over $2,500.

4. Overdraft Protection

Many banks used to offer it automatically when you opened an account, making it sound like a valuable safeguard. After all, if you bounced a check or tried to withdraw more cash from the ATM than you had in your account, you wouldn't suffer any embarrassment when the bank refused to process a transaction.

But consumer advocates long argued that overdraft protection was just a way for banks to earn money at your expense, charging $20 to $35 per overdraft -- a substantial penalty, considering the typical transaction prompting the overdraft fee is $20. That's why the government has ordered new rules to take effect this summer that will require banks to get your approval before enrolling you in overdraft protection.

Better Deal: If you want back-up protection without the overdraft fees, consider setting up a savings account linked to your checking account so funds can be transferred in case of an overdraft. There may still be a fee to transfer funds between accounts, but it's typically lower -- only $10.

Meanwhile, keep a careful tab on your bank account balance: If you opt out of overdraft protection and then make an ATM or debit-card transaction that exceeds your balance, your transaction could be denied.

5. Extended-Warranty Protection

Don't buy additional warranty coverage for electronics and major appliances. For one thing, some repairs are already covered by the standard manufacturer warranty. And Consumer Reports' researchers have found that products seldom break within the extended-warranty window -- and that when electronics and appliances do break, average repair costs are about as much as an extended warranty.

Better Deal: Check the fine print on your existing Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Many of these cards, particularly if they are platinum or gold, will extend the warranty for a year. "It's one of the greatest freebies from credit card companies ever," says Edgar Dworsky, a consumer lawyer and founder of the Consumer World Web site. The warranty protection varies, so review the policies on your existing cards before you make a purchase -- then use the one offering the best warranty protection.

6. Going-Out-of-Business Sales

They don't offer the bargains you'd expect -- at least at the outset, when the promoted discounts are usually off the full retail price. That "30 percent off" sale may not be any better than the deals you could get before the liquidation process started. In some cases, you may actually be better off buying from a rival store that is trying to compete with the bankrupt retailer -- and will be around to take care of any problems after the liquidating store is out of business.

Better Deal: Shopping robots, such as PriceGrabber.com and Shopping.com, are good places to comparison shop and may be particularly useful before visiting any liquidation sale, says Dworsky. One of his favorite sites, PriceSpider.com, posts historical prices; the range of prices should help you determine whether the price is likely to hold or continue to drop.

7. Paying for a Credit Report

Despite its name, FreeCreditReport.com is not gratis. Here's what the fine print really says: Order your free report and you get a seven-day free trial membership in a credit-monitoring service. If you don't cancel within seven days, you'll be billed $14.95 a month until you bail out. Be wary of other sites making similar come-ons.

Better Deal:Visit AnnualCreditReport.com instead -- the government-approved Web site where you can get a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year. It won't give you your actual credit score, but most people don't need it. (The exception: If you're actively shopping for a loan right now, go to myFICO.com to get your current score -- and a report from Equifax or TransUnion -- for $16.)

If you're merely curious about how lenders perceive your credit record, you can get a good estimate of your credit score for free at CreditKarma.com. You can also try the credit score estimator at Credit.com; you will probably need your actual credit report to answer some of the site's key questions, such as the age of your oldest credit account and the number of outstanding loans and credit cards.

8. Fraud Alerts

Don't pay for identity-theft-protection services that automatically put fraud alerts on your credit report. You can do that yourself; it's easy -- and free. But be careful: Don't put a fraud alert on your credit report as a general matter, because that means you can't easily open new accounts. You should use fraud alerts only if you've had your wallet stolen or something else has happened to put you at real risk.

Better Deal: Review your monthly credit card and bank statements regularly to make sure there are no unauthorized charges. Also, don't forget to obtain a copy of your free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus -- using AnnualCreditReport.com, of course.

[Noble Work]

FTC Says Scammers Stole Millions, Using Virtual Companies


The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has disrupted a long-running online scam that allowed offshore fraudsters to steal millions of dollars from U.S. consumers -- often by taking just pennies at a time.

The scam, which had been run for about four years, according to the FTC, provides a case lesson in how many of the online services used to lubricate business in the 21st century can equally be misused for fraud.

"It was a very patient scam," said Steve Wernikoff, a staff attorney with the FTC who is prosecuting the case. "The people who are behind this are very meticulous."

The FTC has not identified those responsible for the fraud, but in March, it quietly filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Illinois. This has frozen the gang's U.S. assets and also allowed the FTC to shut down merchant accounts and 14 "money mules" -- U.S. residents recruited by the criminals to move money offshore to countries such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Estonia.

"We're going to aggressively seek to identify the ultimate masterminds behind this scheme," Wernikoff said. According to him, the scammers found loopholes in the credit card processing system that allowed them to set up fake U.S. companies that then ran more than a million phony credit card transactions through legitimate credit card processing companies.

Wernikoff doesn't know where the scammers obtained the credit card numbers they charged, but they could have been purchased from online carder forums, black market Web sites where criminal buy and sell stolen information.

Small Thefts Overlooked

The scammers stayed under the radar by charging very small amounts -- typically between $0.25 and $9 per card -- and by setting up more than 100 bogus companies to process the transactions.

U.S. consumers footed most of the bill for the scam because, amazingly, about 94 percent of all charges went uncontested by the victims. According to the FTC, the fraudsters charged 1.35 million credit cards a total of $9.5 million, but only 78,724 of these fake charges were ever noticed. Typically they floated just one charge per card number, billing on behalf of made-up business names such as Adele Services or Bartelca LLC.

As credit cards are increasingly being used for inexpensive purchases -- they're now accepted by soda machines and parking meters -- criminals have cashed in on the trend by running this type of unauthorized charging scam.

"They know that most of the fraud detection systems won't detect anything under $10 and they know that consumers won't complain about a 20 cent fee," said Avivah Litan, an analyst with the Gartner research firm who follows bank fraud. "What's different here is the scale, and that they got away with it for so many years," she said.

Similar Cases Show Trend

In March Alexsandr Bernik of Roseville, California, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for running a similar scam. He put tens of thousands of charges on Amex accounts, each ranging from $9 to $15. Neither federal authorities nor American Express would explain how Bernik obtained his card numbers.

Bernik made his charges on behalf of a fictional corporation called Lexbay Ltd., but in the FTC case, the scammers would mimic legitimate companies -- taking real federal tax I.D. numbers and then setting up fake businesses with nearly identical names that appeared to be located nearby. In a move that apparently tricked credit card processors into granting it a merchant account, Adele Services, for example, was set up to mimic a legitimate Bronx, New York group called Adele Organization.

When the scammers tried to register merchant accounts with credit card processors, the processors would do some investigating, but using tricks like these, the scammers were always one step ahead.

In fact, the FTC's description of their operation reads like a textbook on how to set up a fake virtual corporation in the Internet age.

The criminals used a range of legitimate business services to make it appear to credit card processors as though they were legitimate U.S. companies, even though the scammers may have never set foot in the U.S.

For example, using a company called Regus, they were able to give their fictional companies addresses that were very close to the companies whose tax IDs they were stealing. Regus lets companies operate "virtual offices" out of a number of prestigious addresses throughout the U.S. -- the Chrysler Building in New York for example -- forwarding mail for as little as US$59 per month.

Mail sent to Regus locations was then forwarded to another company, called Earth Class Mail, which scans correspondence and uses the Internet to deliver it to customers in pdf format.

They used another legitimate virtual business service -- United World Telecom's CallMe800 -- to have phone calls forwarded overseas. To further make it seem as though their companies were legitimate, the scammers would set up fake retail Web sites. And when credit card processors asked them to provide information about company executives, they handed over legitimate names and social security numbers, stolen from ID theft victims.

When they had to log into payment processor Web sites, they would do this from IP addresses that were located near their virtual offices, again evading payment processor fraud detection services.

One of the largest payment processors in the U.S., First Data, was a favorite of the scammers. Of the 116 fake merchant accounts the FTC uncovered, 110 were with First Data. The scammers also set up bogus accounts with Elavon and BBVA Compass.

First Data would not comment on the measures it had taken to improve its merchant vetting process, but the company did confirm that it cooperated with the FTC investigation.

Aided by 'Mules'

To get the money out of the U.S., the scammers had to recruit money mules. These were U.S. residents who were recruited online, often with spam e-mail messages. Under the impression that they were helping offshore businesses, the money mules set up bank accounts and helped the fraudsters move money offshore.

In a letter to the judge presiding over the case, one of the mules, James P. Smith of Brownwood, Texas, says he worked for one of the scammers for four years without realizing that anything illegal was going on. Smith now says he is "ashamed" to be named in the FTC action, and offers to help catch his former boss, who used the name Alex Moore.

The FTC's Wernikoff believes that whoever is responsible for this crime lives outside of the U.S., but with the money-cashing operation now busted up, the scammers will have to start again from scratch, if they want to keep bilking consumers. And criminal investigators now have a trail to follow.

"Does it prevent the people from ultimately responsible from building up again from scratch?" he asked. "No. But we do hope that this erously disrupts them.".

[All Pledging Is Legal]

This stuff is just urban legend.

[Noble Work]

21 Things you should never buy new

If you're looking to get the most value for your dollar, it would do your wallet good to check out secondhand options. Many used goods still have plenty of life left in them even years after the original purchase, and they're usually resold at a fraction of the retail price, to boot. Here's a list of 21 things that make for a better deal when you buy them used.


1. DVDs and CDs: Used DVDs and CDs will play like new if they were well taken care of. Even if you wind up with a scratched disc and you don't want to bother with a return, there are ways to remove the scratches and make the DVD or CD playable again.

2. Books: You can buy used books at significant discounts from online sellers and brick-and-mortar used book stores. The condition of the books may vary, but they usually range from good to like-new. And of course, check out your local library for free reading material.

3. Video Games: Kids get tired of video games rather quickly. You can easily find used video games from online sellers at sites like Amazon and eBay a few months after the release date. Most video game store outlets will feature a used game shelf, as well. And if you're not the patient type, you can rent or borrow from a friend first to see if it's worth the purchase.

4. Special Occasion and Holiday Clothing: Sometimes you'll need to buy formal clothing for special occasions, such as weddings or prom. Most people will take good care of formal clothing but will only wear it once or twice. Their closet castouts are your savings: Thrift stores, yard sales, online sellers and even some dress shops offer fantastic buys on used formalwear.

5. Jewelry: Depreciation hits hard when you try to sell used jewelry, but as a buyer you can take advantage of the markdown to save a bundle. This is especially true for diamonds, which has ridiculously low resale value. Check out estate sales and reputable pawn shops to find great deals on unique pieces. Even if you decide to resell the jewelry later, the depreciation won't hurt as much.

6. Ikea Furniture: Why bother assembling your own when you can pick it up for free (or nearly free) on Craigslist and Freecycle? Summer is the best time to hunt for Ikea furniture--that's when college students are changing apartments and tossing out their goodies.

7. Games and Toys: How long do games and toys remain your child's favorite before they're left forgotten under the bed or in the closet? You can find used children's toys in great condition at moving sales or on Craigslist, or you can ask your neighbors, friends, and family to trade used toys. Just make sure to give them a good wash before letting junior play.

8. Maternity and Baby Clothes: Compared to everyday outfits that you can wear any time, maternity clothes don't get much wear outside the few months of pregnancy when they fit. The same goes for baby clothes that are quickly outgrown. You'll save a small fortune by purchasing gently used maternity clothes and baby clothes at yard sales and thrift stores. Like children's games and toys, friends and family may have baby or maternity clothing that they'll be happy to let you take off their hands.

9. Musical Instruments: Purchasing new musical instruments for a beginner musician is rarely a good idea. (Are you ready to pay $60 an hour for piano lessons?) For your little dear who wants to learn to play an instrument, you should see how long his or her interest lasts by acquiring a rented or used instrument to practice with first. Unless you're a professional musician or your junior prodigy is seriously committed to music, a brand new instrument may not be the best investment.

10. Pets: If you buy a puppy (or kitty) from a professional breeder or a pet store outlet, it can set you back anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. On top of this, you'll need to anticipate additional fees and vet bills, too. Instead, adopt a pre-owned pet from your local animal shelter and get a new family member, fees, and vaccines at a substantially lower cost.

11. Home Accent: Pieces Home decorating pieces and artwork are rarely handled on a day-to-day basis, so they're generally still in good condition even after being resold multiple times. If you like the worn-out look of some decor pieces, you can be sure you didn't pay extra for something that comes naturally with time. And don't forget, for most of us, discovering a true gem at a garage sale is 90% of the fun!

12. Craft Supplies: If you're into crafting, you probably have a variety of different supplies left over from prior projects. If you require some additional supplies for your upcoming project, then you can join a craft swap where you'll find other crafty people to trade supplies with. If you have leftovers, be sure to donate them to your local schools.

13. Houses: You're typically able to get better and more features for your dollar when you purchase an older home rather than building new. Older houses were often constructed on bigger corner lots, and you also get architectural variety in your neighborhood if the houses were built or remodeled in different eras.

14. Office Furniture: Good office furniture is built to withstand heavy use and handling. Really solid pieces will last a lifetime, long after they're resold the first or second time. A great used desk or file cabinet will work as well as (or better than) a new one, but for a fraction of the cost. With the recession shutting down so many businesses, you can easily find lots of great office furniture deals.

15. Cars: You've probably heard this before: Cars depreciate the second you drive them off of the dealership's lot. In buying a used car, you save money on both the initial cost and the insurance. It also helps to know a trusty mechanic who can check it over first. This way, you'll be aware of any potential problems before you make the purchase.

16. Hand Tools: Simple tools with few moving parts, like hammers, hoes and wrenches, will keep for decades so long as they are well-made to begin with and are well-maintained. These are fairly easy to find at neighborhood yard or garage sales. If you don't need to use hand tools very often, an even better deal is to rent a set of tools or borrow them from a friend.

17. Sports Equipment: Most people buy sports equipment planning to use it until it drops, but this rarely happens. So when sports equipment ends up on the resale market, they tend to still be in excellent condition. Look into buying used sporting gear through Craigslist and at yard sales or sports equipment stores.


18. Consumer Electronics: I know most folks like shiny new toys, but refurbished electronic goods are a much sweeter deal. Consumer electronics are returned to the manufacturer for different reasons, but generally, they'll be inspected for damaged parts, fixed, tested, then resold at a lower price. Just make sure you get a good warranty along with your purchase.

19. Gardening Supplies: This is an easy way for you to save money, and all you need to do is be observant. Take a look outdoors and you'll likely find such gardening supplies as mulch, wood, and even stones for free or vastly reduced prices. Used garden equipment and tools are also common goods at yard sales.

20. Timeshares: Buying timeshares isn't for everyone, but if you decide that it suits your lifestyle, purchasing the property as a resale would be a better deal than buying it brand new: on average, you'll save 67 percent on the price for a comparable new timeshare. If you're new to timeshare ownership, give it a test run first by renting short term.

21. Recreational Items: It's fairly easy to find high ticket recreational items like campers, boats, and jet skis being resold. Oftentimes, they're barely used at all. As long as they're in safe, working condition, they'll make for a better value when purchased used than new.

[Noble Work]

Curves International Inc., whose 30-minute workout for women once made it among the world's fastest-growing franchises, seems to be running out of steam.

Over the past three years its U.S. franchisees have been closing outlets at a rapid rate, shrinking the chain by about a third: to 5,208 U.S. sites at the end of last year from 7,748 at the beginning of 2007, according to a recent franchise disclosure document the company filed with state regulators. More than 1,000 Curves vanished across the country in 2009, while just 35 new locations opened.
[curves] Courtesy of Curves International Inc.

Franchisees and industry experts point to a failure to keep up with changing trends—including more flexible hours for busy working women—cheaper competition and the tough economy as major reasons for Curves' decline.

The company disagrees with its critics, contending that much of the club closings were intended as part of a plan to "prune the system," according to Curves President Mike Raymond. Some owners had bought into Curves for the wrong reasons, he says, "they were motivated primarily as investors rather than owners."

Curves was one of the world's most popular franchised fitness centers as of the end of 2008, boasting nearly four million members world-wide, compared with 3.5 million for runner-up Gold's Gym International Inc., according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, an industry trade group. Figures for 2009 aren't yet available, the group says.

Financial statements filed by the closely held company show it to be profitable. For the year ended Dec. 31, Curves earned $16.4 million on revenue of $84.1 million, compared with earnings of $17.2 million on revenue of $128.7 million the prior year. The revenue falloff reflects lower franchising royalties and equipment sales. Franchisees pay the company 5% of their monthly gross plus another 3% for advertising.

The Curves formula is fairly simple: Each club features a circuit of strengthening and cardiovascular exercise equipment. Accompanied by upbeat music, members move from machine to machine, prompted by an audio tape. Monthly dues vary by market, but can range from about $29 to $49.

Some say the women-only concept helps combat the "intimidation factor" that may discourage trips to a local gym where one might encounter buffed bodies in Spandex—and men. Also, from the start Curves has encouraged women to operate the facilities, and the chain soon became a magnet for would-be female entrepreneurs.

The company's most recent disclosure document, dated March 25, says the total investment to open a Curves in the U.S. is between $31,825 and $39,100, excluding real-estate costs. But many Curves on the market are being sold for much less than that, brokers say.

Founded in 1992 by Gary Heavin, now its chief executive, Curves initially focused on small towns that couldn't support a full-sized gym. The business model allowed a franchisee to make a profit with as few as 100 members, Mr. Heavin once said. At its zenith Curves was opening one club every three hours.

But as Curves moved into urban markets some competitors exploited its vulnerabilities. Many Curves aren't open over the lunch hour, so working women began looking elsewhere for a quick workout. Soon round-the-clock rivals opened, such as Snap Fitness Inc. and Anytime Fitness, as did those with a larger array of workout equipment and exercise routines, including yoga and aerobic dance. Showers and dressing rooms were among their amenities, challenging Curves' bare-bones facility.

Curves franchisees say they began asking headquarters to modify its format so they could retain members, but were largely ignored—a contention the company denies. Mr. Raymond says Curves wants to be flexible and responsive to the needs of women, and that franchisees can seek permission to make adjustments in their offerings.

But Curves gained a reputation in the fitness industry for inflexibility.

Diana Tavary of Helena, Mont., says she walked away from her clubs after 10 years because the company's exercise format didn't keep up with the times. "They didn't allow you to offer anything different than just the" 30-minute circuit, she says.

"They're so constrained in their present model they don't appear to be open to enough feedback from their franchisees," says Tom Garmon, a broker with Fitness Industry Business Brokers, a Hattiesburg, Miss., firm that buys and sells health clubs, including Curves facilities.

Curves' Mr. Raymond says "the notion that we have not innovated is absurd." He points to a new generation of exercise equipment that gives immediate feedback and adjusts the intensity of a workout accordingly. As for extended hours, Mr. Raymond says the company has "safety issues" with the idea of keeping its clubs open around the clock.

The recession also has taken its toll on membership. Katherine Randall, who closed her lone Curves in Truckee, Calif., last month, says that when she bought the club in 2007 its membership was about 300; this year it was down to 70, which she says partly reflects a tough job market and other pressures on discretionary income.

Some franchisees think much of Curves' woes stem from marketing miscues. "There is also a perception that the Curves workout is a 'sissy workout,' which is a complete misunderstanding," says Jim Gasson, a multi-unit franchisee in northern Virginia.

[T-Rex91]

Regarding things you should never buy new, I totally agree with most of the list. It particularly amazes me every time someone comes into the practice having bought a several hundred dollar puppy from a breeder. Stop by the pound, there arre plenty of purebred puppies there, often the surplus unsold puppies from the breeders.

GREAT THREAD WORK

[ReignMan19]

this is a really cool thread...

[Noble Work]

Kia and BP? Get out of here!!!


10 Brands That May Disappear in 2011


24/7 Wall St. has created a new list of brands that may disappear, which includes Readers Digest, Kia Motors, Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG - News), Zale (NYSE: ZLC - News), Blockbuster (BLOKA.PK - News), T-Mobile, BP Plc (NYSE: BP - News), RadioShack (NYSE: RSH - News), Merrill Lynch and Moody's (NYSE: MCO - News).

24/7 Wall St. regularly compiles a report of brands that are likely to disappear in the near-term. Last April, and again in December, we published our findings. Usually, it would take a full year before such a list could be compiled again. However, the current economic climate has accelerated this process and a majority of the brands on the first two lists are either gone, have been acquired, or have filed for bankruptcy.

With a number of the brands on the December list either gone or on a short-term path to extinction, 24/7 Wall St. has put together the latest version of the Ten Brands That Will Disappear. To qualify, we expect that brand to be gone by the end of 2011, or for its parent to be sold or go into Chapter 11.

Reader's Digest was once the most widely read magazine in the world. According to the company, it still may be when its overseas editions are taken into account. Last August, the company took its U.S. operations into Chapter 11 to decrease debt. It emerged from bankruptcy in February with $525 million in exit financing. The company cut the number of issues it publishes a year from 12 to 10 last year. It also cut its circulation guarantee for advertisers to 5.5 million copies from 8 million. It would have been unthinkable just a few years ago that a magazine as old and famous as Reader's Digest would be shuttered. However, Reader's Digest as it is known in the U.S. will be gone.

Blockbuster was the national leader in the video rental business for nearly two decades. Now it is contemplating Chapter 11 to eliminate debt. The company lost $65 million last quarter. Its revenue continues to fall rapidly as firms such as Redbox and NetFlix (Nasdaq: NFLX - News) siphon off its revenue. Blockbuster has more than 6,000 stores, so it is hard to imagine that the company could disappear. But, there is some precedent, even if it is on a smaller scale. Blockbuster rival Movie Gallery said in February that it would close all of its 2,400 U.S. stores. Blockbuster's model of renting movies through physical locations has been destroyed by cable and satellite video on demand, DVDs via mail and dispensing machines. Blockbuster may still be around as a company that has movie kiosks and a small mail and Internet-delivered content business. But its brick and-mortar business is dead.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, the car rental company, is for sale. Hertz (NYSE: HTZ - News) is a potential buyer, as is Avis Budget (NYSE: CAR - News). Each of the larger car rental firms would use the Dollar Thrifty business to expand their market share. That does not mean that they would keep the brand. The current company is not much of a business. It made only $27 million last quarter on revenue of $348 million. It has more than $1.5 billion in "debt and other obligations." The number of vehicles that Dollar Thrifty operates at any one time is only 95,000 compared to 420,000 for Hertz. The firm's customer base and some of its locations may be valuable, but Dollar Thrifty can't compete with Avis and Hertz. A decade ago, the car rental industry was able to support six independent brands. A significant drop in business and leisure travel and sharp competition among the companies has already caused the creation of Avis Budget. Dollar Thrifty will be the next casualty of the industry's consolidation.

T-Mobile, the U.S. wireless provider, is owned by telecom giant Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY.PK - News). It is the No.4 cellular company in an American market that only supports two really successful firms -- AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless. Even the third-largest company in the market -- Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S - News) -- has 50 million customers. T-Mobile had 34 million customers at the end of last year. T-Mobile only had a profit of $306 million in 2009. That was down from $483 million in 2008. T-Mobile not only faces three larger competitors, it also has to begin to offer 4G service to compete with Sprint's new WiMax service and LTE-based products from AT&T (NYSE: T - News) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News). T-Mobile may seek a partner to offer a 4G network, but there are no super-fast broadband networks likely to be finished before its three rivals offer the service. As it now stands, T-Mobile has no future in the U.S. A merger with Sprint-Nextel has been mentioned several times. The combined company would have a customer base about the same size as AT&T or Verizon. And the transaction would probably make Deutsche Telekom a large owner of the combined operation. Another alternative would be a merger with Virgin Mobile. Maybe Deutsche Telekom will just change the firm's name.

Moody's Corp. may have the name with the largest negative brand equity in the U.S. Scandals about the company's rating of mortgage-backed securities and allegations that the firm compromised it ratings process to get business have ruined the company's image. Moody's is more than 100 years old, but the reputation it built over those years is irretrievably lost. There is a chance Moody's could be ruined by civil actions, four of which are pending, and by charges brought by the U.S. government. Overseas authorities may bring a number of actions against the company as well. Moody's activities are almost certainly to be more regulated, which will squeeze margins and hurt sales. Moody's may end up selling its accounts to a new rating company, which would probably hire many of its employees. Pacific Investment Management Co. and other institutional investors have talked about taking on some if not all the roles that the current rating firms play. Research houses like Alliance Bernstein (NYSE: AB - News) could also take on some of those rolls. Part of Moody's operation may stay alive, but there is not much left to salvage in the brand.

BP: The case against the BP brand is not so much that the company will enter bankruptcy. It is that BP may end up breaking into pieces for its own sake. This may be to put the liabilities for the Deepwater Horizon spill into a company that also holds escrow capital to cover the huge costs of clean-up and suits. BP may also want to separate its successful refining operations from its exploration business, or recreate an American- based company similar to BP America, which existed for two decades. A restructuring of BP would also allow the firm to take a badly crippled brand and give the oil operation a new name -- much as it did when it changed its name from British Petroleum. The second time may be the charm.

RadioShack is one of the oldest retailers in the U.S. It was founded in 1921 and in the early 1960s was purchased by Tandy Corp. The Tandy name was used for some of Radio Shack's retail stores. RadioShack is currently a takeover target. There have been rumors that the company may be taken private via a leveraged buyout or purchased by Best Buy (NYSE: BBY - News), probably for its locations. Best Buy would certainly not keep the RadioShack brand because it is considered downscale and does not have the reputation for quality products and service that Best Buy enjoys. RadioShack has already begun to rebrand itself as "The Shack," an indication that it knows the older brand is a burden.

Zale Corp. was founded in 1924 by the Zale brothers. It was one of the earliest retailers to offer the ability to buy items on credit. By 1980, Zale had revenue of over $1 billion. In 1992, Zale filed for bankruptcy and by the end of that decade, its revenue was $1.3 billion -- about the same as it is today. Zale has been at death's door for some time. Its market value is down to $48 million. The company is trying to turn itself around, but most experts are not convinced. The company recently made the Forbes list for firms with extreme financial risk. In the last quarter, the retailer lost $12 million on revenue of $360 million. Zale is also in a very crowded market that includes retailers as large as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT - News). Golden Gate Capital recently put money into Zale to buy it time. New money may defer the point at which Zale goes under, but it won't prevent it.

Merrill Lynch may have been acquired, but that will not keep it safe. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Banks and other large financial services firms have a habit of buying large retail brokerage houses and then changing their names. Shearson is gone. So is EF Hutton and Prudential. In most cases the parent company wants to put their own names on the door. That is very likely to happen to Merrill Lynch, which was at one point the largest full-service broker in the U.S. Merrill is now owned by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC - News), and the buyout spawned a number of scandals that kept Merrill's name in the paper for weeks and did a great deal to harm its name with customers. Bank of America will follow a time honored tradition, and Merrill Lynch will become BofA Investment Management.

Kia Motors Corp. is one of the two car brands of Hyundai of South Korea. It has always been a marginal brand. Its stable mate, Hyundai USA, has a reputation for high quality cars like the Sonata and Genesis. Kia sells "low rent" cars and SUV nameplates like the Sorento and Rio. As GM and Ford (NYSE: F - News) have already discovered, it is expensive to maintain multiple brands and storied car names, including Pontiac, Saturn and Mercury, are disappearing. Most Kia cars sell for $14,000 to $25,000. Hyundai has several cars in the same price range. Hyundai's Sonata has quickly become one of the best-selling cars in America, and its Genesis flagship model competes with mid-sized BMWs and Mercedes. The parent company will take a page from several other global car companies and dump its weakest brand.

[Noble Work]

Good Debt vs. Bad Debt
by Bankrate.com

Debt is a concept as intricately intertwined with America these days as baseball, Mom and apple pie.

The amount of personal debt in this country is ever-increasing, and a large part of the reason is that credit has never been easier to get. Whereas credit card issuers previously looked for customers who could repay, today card issuers relish the chance to reel in those who'll continuously charge beyond their means at 18 percent or 20 percent.

But debt is a complex concept. Not all of it is good -- a fact a surprising number of Americans fail to realize until they're in the hole -- and yet not all of it is bad. When used intelligently, debt can be of tremendous assistance in building wealth.

One of the secrets, therefore, to being smart with your money is to differentiate between good debt and bad debt. While the differences often seem logical, it is a logic that apparently is missed by many Americans.

"When you buy something that goes down in value immediately, that's bad debt," says David Bach, CEO of Finish Rich Inc., and author of "The Finish Rich Workbook." "If it has no potential to increase in value, that's bad debt."

Good Debt

"Good debt is investment debt that creates value; for example, student loans, real estate loans, home mortgages and business loans," says Eric Gelb, CEO of Gateway Financial Advisors and author of "Getting Started in Asset Allocation."
Robert D. Manning, a professor of finance at the Rochester Institute of Technology, also recommends taking on debts that are tax-deductible and debts that produce more wealth in the long run.

Good Debt

• Mortgage
• School Loan
• Real Estate Loan
• Business Loan

Bad Debt

• Credit Card
• Store Credit Card
• Auto Loan


"If you are talking about reducing current debt, that's where it starts to get nuanced," says Manning. "If you take a home equity loan because you have 17 percent credit card, and you go with a 6 percent loan that's tax-deductible, that's good debt."

These general rules of thumb set some clear delineations -- buying a home or refinancing to get rid of excessively high rates is usually good debt, as is generating debt to buy high-return stocks, bonds and other investments.

Bad Debt

The concept of bad debt comes in when discussing the purchase of disposable items or durable goods using high-interest credit cards and not paying the balance in full.
"The trouble is most people are not organized enough to retire the entire balance before the due date," says Gelb.

Every month that you make a partial payment on your credit account you are charged interest. The disposable or durable item you purchased continues to lose value, and the amount you paid for it continues to increase.

"When you buy clothes, they're probably worth less than 50 percent what you pay for them when you walk out the door," says Bach. "So if you borrowed to pay for them, that's bad debt."

Credit Rating Effect

Not to mention what that debt could potentially do to your credit rating. "Total personal debt should not exceed 36 percent of your total income," says Gelb.
Keeping the debt-to-income ratio in mind, it's also important not to miss payments. "Missed payments are trouble," he says. "A representative of Citibank said if you don't pay within 30 days, they report that to the credit bureaus."

When it comes to buying durable goods that won't contribute to wealth generation, Bach offers a basic rule of thumb. "My grandma used to say that if you're going to buy something that doesn't go up in value, and you can't afford to pay cash, then you can't afford it."

Exacerbating the bad debt factor is that people will apply for store credit for the savings offers that say if you open a credit card account today, you can take 10 percent to 20 percent off the cost of your purchase. What people often don't realize is how much of that savings will be destroyed by the high interest rate on the card if they fail to pay for the items immediately.

"You can open a store credit card account," says Bach, "and what they're not telling you is that after the first few months, the rate jumps to 20 percent or greater."

Driving Into Debt

Another bad debt area is auto debt. While most people need an automobile, and the ultimate cost of an auto is higher than many people can pay in one lump sum, the way people go about it -- namely, purchasing more car than they need -- turns it into bad debt.

When is it worth it?

"What we would normally consider bad debt can turn into good debt in certain circumstances," says Catie Fitzgerald, a personal finance coach and registered investment adviser in Henderson, Nev. "If you use debt to buy a car that gets better gas mileage than your old vehicle, you could end up better off financially."

Bach considers auto debt a Catch-22. "People borrow to buy cars before homes," says Bach, "and that's unfortunate. For most people, their first major loan is a car loan. That's guaranteed to go down in value. So you really want to borrow less. For example, instead of rushing out to borrow to buy a $50,000 BMW, you'd be better off buying a $25,000 car."

The Best Debt

The best type of debt is debt that builds wealth over the long run, and the No. 1 example of that is mortgage debt.

"Home values have increased an average of 6.5 percent a year over the past 30 years," says Bach. "So when you borrow to buy a home, chances are that's good debt. You'll build value."

Bach heavily promotes the idea of homeownership, saying that everyone needs to own where they live. "About 40 percent of Americans are renters," says Bach, "and the fastest way to wealth in America is buying where you live."

Bach cites some shocking numbers to back this up. "The average renter has a median net worth of $4,000, and the average homeowner has a median net worth of about $150,000."

Manning also emphasizes what a good time this is to build wealth through debt. "This is the most advantageous time ever to be in debt," says Manning, "in terms of opportunities to get low-interest loans or to renegotiate or refinance."

Duh, Debt?

One of the reasons so many Americans seem mired in bad debt (Bach reports that the average American carries approximately $8,400 in credit card debt) is that financial education is pratically nonexistent. "This type of commonsense stuff isn't taught in school," says Bach, "and most Americans don't realize how bad high-rate credit cards are hurting them."

Fitzgerald advises teaching your children the difference between good debt (debt that's used to buy assets that grow in value over time) and bad debt (debt that's used to buy things that will lose value) early on.

Gelb opts for a more hands-on approach. "Give your children an allowance (without strings) beginning when they're in kindergarten and offer them the opportunity to perform extra jobs around the house for money. Stop buying them everything, and teach them how to make choices with their own money-buying decisions." The mistakes they make will help them learn and grow.

"People are getting in debt before they have a job," says Manning. "Education is important. We used to encourage kids to save, and that has been missed. Students now refer to their credit cards as 'yuppie food stamps'. They see cards as entitlement, and see they will be in debt all their lives."

Fitzgerald recommends teaching by example. Treat credit cards like emergency safety nets and your children will likely learn some money management skills. "If you have to use your credit card, immediately revise your budget, paring back on nonessential spending. Allocate the saved dollars to a pay-off plan to bring your debt balance down to zero as soon as possible," she says.

Leslie Hunt contributed to this story.

[T-Rex91]

People who bought at the pinnacle of the market would argue that their mortgages represent good debt. Many are walking away creating blemishes on their credit because their houses will never recover the purchase value.

Bottom line, NO debt is good debt. Some help you build wealth and some are just thrown away but ideally the goal should be to be debt free (anybody remember Ving Rhames explaining the difference between guns and butter in Baby Boy?).

[Noble Work]

Jul 13, 2010 15:46:26 GMT -5 T-Rex91 said:

People who bought at the pinnacle of the market would argue that their mortgages represent good debt. Many are walking away creating blemishes on their credit because their houses will never recover the purchase value.

Bottom line, NO debt is good debt. Some help you build wealth and some are just thrown away but ideally the goal should be to be debt free (anybody remember Ving Rhames explaining the difference between guns and butter in Baby Boy?).

LOL. I agree with you 91

[Noble Work]

Riskiest Cities For Homeowners


Many people who fall behind on their mortgages never catch up. In these markets, the problem is especially bad.

The foreclosure crisis is far from over, and new statistics show that in many cities it's bound to get worse before it gets better. In cities like Las Vegas, Nev.--where 10% of all home loans are 90 or more days delinquent--a new wave of foreclosures is likely to occur in coming months.
In Depth: Riskiest Cities for HomeownersCities Where Housing Did Well And Poorly This Spring<

Las Vegas ranks at the top of our list of Riskiest Cities for Homeowners, but it's not alone in its troubles. In hard-hit housing markets like Orlando, Fla., Riverside, Calif., and Memphis, Tenn., thousands of homeowners are risking foreclosure. Overall, 7% of all loans are at least 90 days delinquent in the 10 riskiest cities in America--considerably more than the 4.4% average delinquency rate across the country's 100 biggest metros.
In Depth: Riskiest Cities for Homeowners

To find the 10 riskiest cities for homeowners, we relied on Lender Processing Services (LPS), a Jacksonville, Fla.-based mortgage-industry service provider. They provided us with the percentage of borrowers who were three months or more late on their mortgage payments, as of May 31, in the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S.

In all but two of the 10 riskiest cities for homeowners--Orlando and Miami, Fla.--the percentage of homes in foreclosure is lower than that of homes with severely overdue loans. In part, that's because efforts by loan servicers and the federal government to modify loans have stemmed foreclosures for some homeowners. But the delinquency rate reveals just how many borrowers are in crisis, and signals more trouble to come.

"Just think of it as a cascading waterfall," says Kyle Lundstedt, a senior managing director at LPS. "Just because there's not as much water in the pool at the bottom doesn't mean there's not a lot of water in the buckets at the top."

Some at-risk homeowners will receive help from the government's Making Home Affordable program, or from lenders themselves, who will restructure the terms of their loans. A smaller percentage of those homes with mortgage modifications will avoid foreclosure altogether. But, according to LPS, more than half of the delinquent loans that are restructured end up in foreclosure a year later, meaning that many foreclosures are only getting pushed further into the future. Delinquency rates can offer another perspective on the shape of the foreclosure crisis.
Foreclosure capitals see trouble ahead

Many of the cities where the foreclosure risk is highest have familiar stories. In "sand state" cities--metros in Florida, California and Nevada--rising prices during the housing boom meant that when the bubble burst, homeowners were underwater, with little hope that home prices would ever return to their peak. In Las Vegas, Orlando and Miami, a combined 68,670 homeowners are behind on their loans by three months or more.

In California a housing-fueled recession has caused a state budget crisis, which is reflected in our list. Six out of 10 of our riskiest cities are in the Golden State. But it's not just big cities where foreclosures are in danger of going up. Mid-sized metros like Riverside, Stockton, Modesto, Bakersfield and Vallejo saw dramatic run-ups in prices before the housing market peaked in 2006. Now those cities have severe delinquency rates between 9.7% and 8.6%.

As housing prices shot up in big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, a rising number of homeowners sought cheaper homes in cities as far as an hour or two outside the city. That put upward pricing pressure on these "exurbs," but when the housing market collapsed, the cities couldn't sustain that demand.

"A lot of these were extended commuter locations for the most expensive areas," says Lundstedt. "When prices dropped, those places were hard hit."
A bust with no bubble in Memphis

But it's not only in boom cities where homeowners are at risk. In Memphis, Tenn., 7.1% of all loans are three months overdue or more. Memphis never had the rampant overbuilding and subsequent excess inventory that pushed prices down dramatically in many sand state metros. What it does have is a 10.2% unemployment rate.


"It's not purely a house price story; there's a second story going on," says Lundstedt. "When you combine even moderate house price declines with significant unemployment, you get a double whammy that has significant consequences for the consumer."

In most of our riskiest cities, the foreclosure rate is more modest than the delinquency rate. In part, that's thanks to loan "cures" that have helped struggling homeowners avoid delinquency. But in many cases it's a sign of a much more troubling reality. In some metros, foreclosures have slowed simply because a glut of foreclosures has clogged the system. That means inevitable foreclosures won't get flushed out of the market, allowing it to recover, any time soon.

"There are lots of places where people are so deeply in trouble there's nothing we can do about them, but their numbers are so significant in certain locales that the system can't move them through," says Lundstedt. "The government process has become overwhelmed."
Top 5 Riskiest Cities For Homeowners

1. Las Vegas, Nev.
Number of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 33,985
Percent of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 9.86%
Number of homes in foreclosure: 29,991
Percent of homes in foreclosure: 8.70%

2. Riverside, Calif.
Number of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 62,158
Percent of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 9.71%
Number of homes in foreclosure: 30,816
Percent of homes in foreclosure: 4.81%

3. Stockton, Calif.
Number of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 8,853
Percent of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 9.40%
Number of homes in foreclosure: 4,459
Percent of homes in foreclosure: 4.73%

4. Modesto, Calif.
Number of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 6,529
Percent of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 8.83%
Number of homes in foreclosure: 3,224
Percent of homes in foreclosure: 4.36%

5. Bakersfield, Calif.
Number of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 9,011
Percent of loans 90 or more days delinquent: 8.55%
Number of homes in foreclosure: 3,987
Percent of homes in foreclosure: 3.78%


*The full list*
www.forbes.com/2010/07/09/foreclosure-mortgages-delinquent-lifestyle-real-estate-loans_slide.html?partner=yahoore

[DamieQue™]

What is this thread about again? Is this just general info?

[Noble Work]

Jul 14, 2010 11:24:02 GMT -5 DamieQue™ said:

What is this thread about again? Is this just general info?

Yes

[DamieQue™]

On any topic?