Use coupon code APRILHD to get $5 off purchases of at least $50, or code SPRINGHD10 to get $10 off purchases of at least $100 at HomeDepot.com. Valid only for online purchases, and only through April 28.
Housing Recovery: Not here yet
There has been a lot more talk recently about whether we are on the cusp of a housing market recovery. I wrote that I believed the housing market would rebound in 2011 back in December. Earlier this month, my colleague Bill Saporito wrote a story about how two developers who had called the crash correctly were now betting on a huge …
Consumers Weigh In: Coupons Are Better Than Daily Deals for Saving
Despite the widespread popularity of flash deals from Groupon, LivingSocial, BuywithMe, and other daily deal sites, consumers understand that when it comes down to pure money-saving, coupons are still king.
The Latest Online Coupon Craze: Discounts on Stuff You Actually Need
Thus far, the fastest-growing online coupons have tended to be for deals on restaurants, spa treatments, and impulse type buys—fun stuff that consumers probably wouldn’t have otherwise bought if a deal hadn’t presented itself (and stuff they often regret purchasing, even at a discount). Trend-wise, it’s looked like these flash “deals” …
Europe’s debt crisis: It’s back!!!
Or should I say, it never really left.
Americans got a scary reminder this week of something that the rest of the advanced economies had figured out some time ago — that mounting sovereign debt is one of the great threats to the future economic stability and prosperity of the world’s richest nations. Just ask the Europeans. They’ve …
Paranoia Pays: Gold Crosses $1500
On Monday, S&P made U.S. debt more risky to hold by changing the long term outlook from “stable” to “negative.” Oddly, no one in the bond markets seemed to notice. Oh Tuesday the paranoia kicked in for the goldbugs. Now that gold has hit a record $1,500 per ounce, I’m not sure who’s more excited, the hucksters shilling gold …
The Mall as the ‘Better Mouse Trap’
The goal of retailers and mall designers is to get consumers inside and keep them there indefinitely—to increase the chances that shoppers will buy more and more “cheese,” so to speak.
It’s a Deal: Fly in May on Virgin America from $59
Virgin America flights departing in the month of May start at $59 each way on routes such as San Francisco-San Diego and Seattle-San Francisco, $69 (Seattle-Los Angeles), $99 (Dallas-San Francisco), $129 (San Francisco-Los Cabos), and $149 (Fort Lauderdale-Los Angeles, New York-San Francisco). The best prices are available for travel on …
Keeping Us Safe from Poker
It’s been an interesting couple of days in the place where money and gambling intersects, otherwise known as Wall Street. Over the weekend, the Internet gambling sites PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker got taken down by Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which among other things covers …
Consumer Phrase of the Day: ‘Lipstick Effect’
This phenomenon explains why, even as the economy tanked, real estate foreclosures soared, and spending at restaurants and car dealerships plummeted, women still found ways to pay for lotions, hair treatments, lipstick, and other beauty products.
Q&A: Geneen Roth, Author of ‘Lost and Found: Unexpected Revelations About Food and Money’
The author of New York Times bestseller Women Food and God lost her entire life’s savings in the Bernie Madoff scam. Since then, Geneen Roth has come to realize an ugly truth: For years, her relationship with money had been just as unhealthy as her relationship with food. She always wanted more of both, and yet no matter how many …
What the U.S. Debt Problem Means for the Global Economy
Since the time of the Founding Fathers, U.S. leaders have believed in the concept of American exceptionalism, that the U.S. is a special country with a special mission. It is a notion that continues to this day. And when it comes to the threat its deteriorating national finances present to the world economy, the U.S. is truly …