Finance Globe

Most consumers are aware that they have access to a free credit report from all three major credit reporting bureaus each and every year, entitled by federal law. But sometimes that's just where the confusion begins. Musicians playing catchy jingles with "free credit report" said over and over in an advertisement can easily mislead any consumer into believing that they are getting the free credit report authorized by federal law when they respond to one of...

Beginning today, consumers are now protected against many tricky credit card practices that once caused confusion for cardholders. The new rules are part of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009.Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in a statement, "With today's implementation of new rules, we are taking a critical step forward in our effort to protect American families by prohibiting the use of unfair retroactive rate hikes and late fee and over-limit...

More than one out of every nine home loans in the U.S. is delinquent, according to a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Friday.The rate of residential mortgage delinquencies fell in the fourth quarter 2009 to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 9.47% of all mortgages. Non-adjusted, the fourth quarter delinquency rate was 10.44%, up 50 basis points from 9.94% in the third quarter. Loans are considered as delinquent by the MBA survey when at...

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly rose last week, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.For the week ending February 13, 473,000 initial claims were filed, up by 31,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 442,000. The four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility, was 467,500, down by 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 469,000.The insured unemployment rate for the week ending February 6 was unchanged...

Existing home sales were strong across most states during the fourth quarter of 2009 with many metro areas showing price increases from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on Thursday.Fourth quarter sales increased from the previous quarter in 48 states and the District of Colombia and 32 states had gains in the double digits. Total existing home sales increased 13.9% to a seasonally-adjusted annual pace of 6.03 million in the fourth quarter,...

If you're thinking about buying a vehicle, there are a quite a few things to consider before settling on the car you're going to drive home. But the first thing to think about is how you're going to pay for it. Figure out how much you're willing to pay or how much you can afford, and whether you're going to use cash or credit. Do you have enough money saved to outright purchase it? If you...

The unemployment rate fell in January from 10% to 9.7% in January, and the number of unemployed people fell to 14.8 million in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. However, the report also showed that last year's job losses were almost 600,000 more than previously reported.Another 2.5 million were "marginally attached to the labor force," up from 734,000 a year earlier. The marginally attached group consists of individuals who are not...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on Friday the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a larger credit for larger families that offers greater relief for people who struggled through difficult financial times last year.EITC is one of the federal government's largest benefit programs and is now in its thirty-fifth year. Last year, almost 24 million people received $50 billion in benefits, and the average credit was more than $2000."As part of the economic recovery efforts,...

The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday released the advance estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2009. Real GDP rose 5.7% at an annual rate, the second consecutive advance and the strongest increase since the third quarter of 2003."Today's strong GDP showing represents important economic progress that must now be translated into new jobs," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. "Further Recovery Act spending, measures like the $5,000 small...

Sales of existing homes fell in December after a rising surge from September through November. The drop was expected after a rush of buyers raced to meet the original tax credit deadline in November, the National Association of Realtors reported today.However, home prices rose from December 2008 and annual sales in 2009 improved. There were 5,156,000 existing home sales in 2009, 4.9% higher than the 4,913,000 homes sold in 2008. 2009 showed the first annual gain...