Nearly 1 million homes nationwide are in the process of foreclosure, according to a report Wednesday from the U.S. Department of the Treasury covering banks and loan servicers that make up 64 percent of all outstanding mortgages.  As of June 30, there were 992,554 homes in the process of foreclosure, up 15.3 percent from March [...]

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday proposed tough new credit card rules to protect consumers from potentially costly practices by lenders and moved to implement legislation enacted in May.  This action is considered by many to be a step in the right direction, and a step recommended in Thomas Frey’s paper titled the “Hornet Nest [...]

“We’re mad as hell and not going to take it anymore”
7-Eleven Inc. said Thursday that its franchisees and store operators have collected 1.6 million signatures nationwide in its petition drive against what it calls unfair credit card fees.
The Dallas-based convenience store chain held the signature drive from June 22 through Aug. 10 at store counters [...]

U.S. airlines are raking in more money this year from extra fees, although fewer people are flying.In the first six months of this year, the airlines collected $3.8 billion for checking bags, canceling or rebooking flights, carrying pets and assigning seats, the latest data from the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics show. That’s [...]

The coming gold rush in apps
People looking to cash in on the next gold rush should consider developing applications — or apps — for the new generation of smart mobile phones, according to a forecast released Tuesday by the Yankee Group.
Consumers will spend more than $4.2 billion on apps in 2013, up from $343 million [...]

A Seiyu outlet in Akabane, part of Wal-Mart Stores.
Not long ago, many Japanese bought so many $100 melons and $1,000 handbags that this was the only country in the world where luxury products were considered mass market.  Even through the economic stagnation of Japan’s so-called lost decade, which began in the early 1990s, Japanese consumers [...]

For years the people in congress have ignored the outrageous
practices of banks and credit card companies
A backlash is brewing on Capitol Hill against banks that charge large fees for overdrafts without asking or telling customers, the latest sign that the financial crisis is shifting the balance of power from banks toward borrowers.
Banks struggling to survive [...]

Amazon is shaking up retailers, both big rivals and small independent stores.
THE hum of 102 rooftop air conditioners and a chorus of beeping electric carts provide the acoustic backdrop in Amazon.com’s 605,000-square-foot distribution facility on this city’s west side. But the center’s employees can almost always hear Terry Jones.  On a recent summer afternoon, Mr. [...]

The economic downturn is causing most marketers to decrease media spending budgets, and the remaining expenditures are shifting further toward digital, according to a Q2 2009 survey by Round2.
 

Web start-up companies at this year’s Tech Crunch conference face a financial climate that has dried up venture capital, forcing them to turn to friends, family and foundations.
 

Nothing succeeds like failure, as the saying goes. And nowhere is this dismal truth more evident than in our financial regulatory system, one year after the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers.
 

One year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Americans are still feeling the effects of the credit crisis that roiled the financial system and crashed the stock market. Many are searching for jobs, recalibrating their investments or quietly licking their wounds. In many cases, their story comes down to a number. And, in many cases, [...]

Mollie Bell has a plan the next time a real estate infomercial flashes on her TV: She’s “flipping to the cartoon channel.”
After being burned by a negative-amortization loan that left her owing more on her Compton home than it was worth, Bell, 62, has soured on the home-refinancing craze. Never a big spender anyway, she [...]

Too many people bought too much house for too many years.  Yes, the financial system almost collapsed because mortgage bankers and brokers told lies about loan terms and loosened standards in dangerous ways, and investment bankers packaged those loans into bonds that were far more toxic than ratings agencies predicted.
 

1990 Mazda Miata
While the rare-car world focuses on rare Bugattis and 1960s muscle cars, lots of car enthusiasts might  unknowingly have potential top-dollar classics gathering value in their garages, overlooked by today’s collectors. They are the Japanese import models of yesteryear. (Pics)
 

Consumer trends around the world
It’s not going to be all work and no play for today’s consumers, even as the economy drags people down financially and emotionally, Mintel sees a continued focus on enjoyment and life fulfillment. While people around the world still feel pessimistic, Mintel sees them discovering ways to transform their lifestyles and [...]

China has become world’s largest car market

The growth and development of the China automotive market changes the automotive business model for the global auto industry. While it is obvious that China already has become the world’s factory for “everyday low price” merchandise, the ramifications of the rapid development of the Chinese automotive base on the [...]

Flexible work force
The American work force is headed in ways unimagined just a decade ago.  Careers are out and skill sets are in. Workers should think in terms of being contractors instead of employees, academics and futurists say.
 

When economists fail
It’s hard to believe now, but not long ago economists were congratulating themselves over the success of their field. Those successes — or so they believed — were both theoretical and practical, leading to a golden era for the profession. On the theoretical side, they thought that they had resolved their internal disputes. [...]

Peer-to-peer lending booming
When 73-year-old Bill Smith and his wife, Ginger hit simultaneous jackpots on a recent cruise-ship vacation, they knew exactly what to do with the $3,300: put it on the street. Smith had wanted to try peer-to-peer lending since reading “At Last, a Bank of Your Own” in Barron’s in January of 2008.

Borrowing money today requires impressing an increasingly hard-to-please crowd. With creditors of all kinds more cautious than ever, you need an A+ application to land the best terms — and that means an A+ credit score, the number lenders use to judge your risk of default.
 

Scarlett Johansson is among the celebrities forced to take dramatic pay cuts
The curtain has come down on guaranteed $20 million pay cheques for A-List Hollywood stars as a series of films starring big name actors failed to deliver at the box office this summer.  Denzel Washington, Jim Carrey, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke are [...]

As many as 10,000 U.S. stores are expected to close by the end of this year, according to a retail report by Grant Thornton LLP.
 

More Americans are having their power shut off as the weak economy makes it harder to pay bills.”We see record numbers of households becoming disconnected or in danger of disconnection,” says Mark Bixby, energy director of Rockford, Ill. Five years ago, his office distributed federal funds annually to about 300 households that had their power [...]

More than 30,000 U.S. businesses filed for bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2009, a 64 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.