If you’re in a jam, payday loans promise to be a quick-fix solution. In exchange for absurd interest rates equating to 450% and up, a borrower can get a short-term loan that’ll be paid back in the near future (once the borrower reaches “payday”). While the terms may seem outrageous enough for consumers to want to avoid these loans …
Will the Berkshire Hathaway Trading Scandal Taint Buffett?
Warren Buffett could be the latest Wall Street titan to have his reputation trashed.
On Wednesday, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that David Sokol, one of the insurance company’s top executives, and until yesterday a possible Buffett successor, purchased $10 million in shares for his personal account of chemicals company …
It’s a Deal: $10 Off $50 Purchase at Lowe’s
Q&A: Saving Money By Living Exclusively on Gift Cards for a Full Month
Ashley Grimaldo is a stay-at-home mom from Texas with two kids and a third on the way. She began the month of March with a huge stack of gift cards, along with plans to make all of her family’s expenses—gas, restaurants, baby shower gifts, home improvement supplies, groceries, Starbucks—exclusively using gift cards. No cash, no …
Japan’s economy: An ugly first look at the quake’s impact
We got an early indication today of how the giant earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan on March 11 damaged the Japanese economy. And it ain’t pretty. The Markit/JMMA purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for March (which you can find here) shows that some serious hurt was put on Japan’s industrial sector. The PMI, an …
Is the Economy More Miserable than it was in the 1970s?
(Getty Images)
At least for my generation, born in the mid-1970s, that decade still stands as the worst of times. Perhaps because we were only babies when it was happening. And didn’t experience it for ourselves, truly. But souring prices and gas lines and growing crime as told to us by our parents and through gritty world of Taxi …
President Obama Goes Backward on Energy
Crossposted from TIME’s Ecocentric blog:
Last March, President Barack Obama gave a speech on energy security at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. In it, Obama offered what might be called a “grand compromise” on energy—in exchange for expanded offshore drilling, including in previously untouched areas like north Alaska and …
A Step-by-Step Negotiation Guide to Lowering Your Cable Bill
Anchor, nibble, crunch. They sorta sound like they could be yoga positions. But they’re actually part of a strategy to talk your way to lower cable bills—or to getting your way in any other business arrangement involving back-and-forth negotiations.
Former TARP Official on TARP: A Big Fat Failure, Mostly
Tim Geithner should have gotten banks to lend. (Larry Downing/REUTERS)
Neil Barofsky, the soon-to-be-former Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program – the government’s $700 billion fund to bailout the banks – was never well liked at the Treasury Department, even though that is technically where he worked. Timothy …
Study: No Sleep and You’re at Risk to Make Risky Financial Decisions
Here’s a research finding that the people running Vegas casinos seem to have known all along: When it comes to evaluating the risks of winning or losing money, sleep-deprived individuals tend to be more optimistic than their well-rested counterparts. No wonder casinos are open 24/7, no one ever knows what time it is, and the culture …
It’s a Deal: $10 Gas Card with Kellogg’s Cereal Purchase
Follow this link, fill out a form, and mail it in with 10 UPCs of Kellogg’s cereals, and Kellogg’s will send you a $10 prepaid gas debit card. Forms must be mailed in by December 31, 2011, and there’s a limit of five cards per household.
Why Are Beautiful People Happier? Mainly Because Good Looks Help Them Get Rich
Beauty is the path to happiness—by way of money. A new series of studies shows that attractive people earn more money and marry better-looking spouses, and that the economic benefits of being good looking make them happier than their homely counterparts. Logically, you’d think that efforts to improve one’s appearance would somehow lead …