| Credit card industry tries to hook young people
All major banking institutions pay big money to colleges and universities for on-campus recruiting rights, offering students low initial interest rates and/or other sweetheart deals if they accept a credit card. The rest of us get solicitations through our phone or the mails.Seductive sales campaigns focus on high school graduates and for all kinds of items that TV, movies or society has told them they want, need, should have because they deserve it and others have, so why don't they? Car dealers offer "one-time sales events" to first-time wage earners, high-end electronic stores give 90-day-same-as-cash deals and guarantee that no one will be turned down, furniture showrooms offer newlyweds "no payments 'til next year," cell phones, Internet providers, cable companies, satellite dish outfits all make it sound as if you can't have a decent life without their help.All this has given birth to an additional parasite - the debt-consolidation, paycheck-cashing, payday-loan, instant-refinancing-of-your-car (and you get to keep your car - 'til they come to take it away) industry.Public schools teach kids how to drive, play sports, fit a condom, take birth control pills, find an abortionist or fill out a job application at McDonald's.
Costly Credit-Card Tricks
So be sure to watch your credit report carefully and make all payments on time to avoid a domino effect on your other lines of credit. 2. Offering "Fixed" Rates That Aren't Really Fixed
You might think that when someone offers you a fixed-rate card, the rate is indeed fixed. But you'd be wrong. A fixed-rate card simply means that the company needs to inform you in writing at least 15 days before changing its rate. So pay attention to the notices that come with your bill. And if you carry a balance, always be aware of the interest rate you're paying. If it goes up, it may be time to shop for a better card. 3. Penalizing Customers Whose Payments Are Five Minutes Late
Have you looked carefully at your credit-card statements lately? These days, not only are payments due by a certain date they're often due by a certain time, like, say, 1:00 p.m.
Visa expects to raise up to $18.76 billion in public offering
NEW YORK (AP) — Visa said Monday it could raise almost $19 billion from an initial public offering, which would easily become the largest IPO in U.S. history. San Francisco-based Visa Inc. said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing it will offer 406 million shares at $37 to $42 per share. There will be an option for its underwriters to buy an extra 40.6 million shares to cover any excess demand. The filing also showed rival credit card companies MasterCard Inc. and American Express Co. trailing Visa in transactions in 2006. The Visa IPO, even at midpoint price, would surpass the $10.6 billion AT&T Wireless raised in 2000. It would be almost as big as the two largest past deals combined — AT&T's offering and Kraft Foods' $8.7 billion offer in 2001. Visa would follow Mastercard from being a privately held interest to a publicly traded company.
Debt Management: Reduce Financial Worries, have Smooth Life
Summary: Debt management plans help you to reduce your debt and interest burden and live a smooth life. These plans merge your entire debts into a single low-interest and borrower-friendly loan plan. People who are struggling to pay multiple credit card bills or feel being caught in the debt trap should opt for immediate and effective financial solutions. These people should consider the loan plans available in the UK financial market to avoid paying accruing interest charges. Those who continue to struggle with mounting credit card debts are simply wasting their hard-earned money, if they continue to battle with unrealistic interest charges. A simple loan plan could take away the suffocating effects of using plastic money. The rescuing options for people in such situations are opting for consolidation plans and availing effective debt advices as offered by several financial institutions.
Dartmouth subpoenaed in loan investigation
HANOVER, N.H. (AP) _ New Hampshire's Dartmouth College has been subpoenaed as part of New York state's investigation of the student loan industry.
The subpoena, dated February 14 and recently made public, was brought by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
The subpoena addresses the college's arrangement with Bank of America that allows the bank to offer "affinity" credit cards to Dartmouth students and alumni. These cards allow individuals to give back to their alma mater or to another charitable cause as they spend.
Dartmouth is among over 80 colleges and universities that offer affinity cards to their students in conjunction with Bank of America, according to the bank's web site.
Cuomo has alleged that these card programs may represent a conflict of interest if they encourage colleges to promote the banks' lending programs.
ITV and BBC in race to launch digital media players
The number of China IPTV subscribers is expected to surpass ten million by 2011, says Pyramid Research. "We forecast reasonable growth for the next two years, but an upsurge after that" says Harvey Tomlinson, author of the report. Pyramid predicts essentially modest growth for IPTV service in China until 2008. This is due to a clash between marketisation and planning, compounded by tensions between regulatory agencies, and the need to establish a clear systematic standard. "In the medium-term, however, we expect more players to be licensed to enter the market, with convergence being mentioned for the first time in the most recent five-year plan for the ICT sector." As operator investments continue, Pyramid expects the number of IPTV enabled DSL lines to have increased forty-fold by 2011, by which time around 50 per cent of broadband subscribers should be able to receive IPTV service.
minazione e resistenza irakena
To repeal the Act creating bank notes, or to restore to circulation the Government issue of money, will be to provide the people with money and will therefore seriously affect our individual profits as bankers and lenders. See your Congressman at once and engage him to support our interests, that we may control legislation.
Again, in eighteen hundred and ninety-three, a circular was sent out by the Amer ican Bankers Association, an organization in which most bankers hold membership . It is known as the Panic circular of eighteen hundred and ninety-three; be ars date March eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and was mailed to th e national banks. It reads as follows :
DEAR SIR: The interests of national banks require immediate financial legislat ion by Congress.
The AIS Women's Team Diary 2003
The 2003 edition of Tour de l'Aude has finished and the A.I.S. Australian team has come through unscathed and smiling! Lorian Graham, Emma James, Christine Riakos, Emily Williams, Alison Wright (the ring-in from Road Runner) and I arrived back in Novellara, Italy on Monday night after a windy, wet and long drive home. I have already given you a run down on the first few stages and won't bore you with the details of races long-finished, but there are some highlights from the remainder of the tour that need to be shared. The Time Trial Olivia Gollan
Photo: © James Victor .
News Corp first-half profit hits $1.74b
NEWS Corporation has booked a first half net profit of $US1.564 billion ($1.74 billion), helped by growth in the media group's cable network. The result compared to a net profit of $US1.665 billion ($1.85 billion) in the previous corresponding half. News Corp also said operating income in the six months to December 31 rose to $US2.465 billion ($2.74 billion) from $US1.995 billion ($2.21 billion) in the same period a year ago. For the second quarter, operating income rose 24 per cent to $US1.4 billion ($1.55 billion) after revenue increased by 10 per cent. News Corp is the parent company of the publisher of NEWS.com.au. Second quarter net profit was $US832 million ($923.26 million), up from $US822 million. Revenue rose to $US15.657 billion ($17.37 billion), from $US13.758 billion in the half year and was up to $US8.590 billion ($9.53 billion) from $US7.844 billion in the quarter.
Stars Tune Into 'Idol's' Top 12 Performances
He thinks he's a cheerleader at a popularity contest. His attempts at dissing Simon fall as flat as his personality. It's so obvious that the only opinion any of these contestants care about(after all this time)IS Simon's. He tells it like it is - a rarity beyond rarities in hollywood. .
After Super Tuesday, Time for Peace Movement to Get Off the Sidelines
Shouldn't we be doing everything possible to make the candidates compete for the peace vote? Think of the battlegrounds ahead where the peace vote is up for grabs: Washington on February 9, Maryland and the District of Columbia February 12, Wisconsin February 19, Rhode Island, Vermont and Ohio on March 4, and other states like Oregon and Pennsylvania through May. On one side it appears that the pro-Democratic groups with millions of dollars are sitting out the primaries, saving their energy for the coming battle with John McCain. That plan just got delayed for many weeks as the primaries go on. On the other side are the grass-roots peace coalitions that generally forsake political engagement and busy themselves with plans for civil disobedience while 13 more states are voting.
|
