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15 Jul 2010 11:10

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Biz: Foreclosure filing numbers a major fail, but have a silver lining

  • 1.28% of homes were subject to foreclosure findings in the first half of 2010
  • 8% increase in foreclosure filings in the first half of 2010 from a year ago
  • 5% decrease in foreclosure filings from the last half of 2009 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jul 2010 11:12

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Biz, World: At least Kate Gosselin’s kids aren’t working for Philip Morris

Apparently kids as young as ten are making painful livings harvesting tobacco for Philip Morris, says Human Rights Watch. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jul 2010 10:37

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Biz: Glaxo’s diabetes drug Avandia proving to be a huge headache

  • 1.5% the share of Glaxo’s revenues the diabetes drug accounted for in 2009
  • 39% the average percentage that Avandia increased the risk of heart attacks in numerous studies
  • $460M the amount Glaxo agreed to pay to settle thousands of annoying lawsuits source
  • » And it could get worse: Today, a group of Food and Drug Administration advisers will suggest whether or not the drug should go off the market. If it’s banned, expect the massive drug company to be on the hook for even more lawsuits.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2010 11:54

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Biz: Credit scores: FICO says some doing worse, others doing better

  • 25.5% of all consumers have credit scores below 600 – far higher than usual (blame unemployment)
  • 17.9% of all consumers have credit cards above 800 – also higher than usual (impressive) source
  • » Why this matters: Low scores tend to stick around a long time, as much as seven to ten years, making it hard to recover from bad decisions or worse luck. But it appears that those who stayed afloat during the recession learned an important lesson – paying down debt and spending less is better than having a low credit score.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2010 11:10

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Biz: “Made in China” means it costs more in China than the U.S.

  • $460 added cost of an Apple laptop in China versus the U.S. – partly due to tariffs
  • $240 added cost of a flat-screen TV in China versus the same TV in the U.S.
  • 25¢ added cost of a can of Budweiser in China (even though it’s brewed locally) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2010 20:27

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Biz: Optimism is back! Stocks had a pretty killer day today

  • 2.9% the increase in the Dow Jones Industrial today
  • 3.1% the leap in the super-exciting S&P 500 today
  • 3.1% the leap in the super-techie Nasdaq today source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jul 2010 09:20

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Biz, U.S.: BP’s oil spill bill keeps going up, and then some

  • $3.12 billion spent on cleanup and claims so far source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Jul 2010 23:00

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Biz: Protip: Avoid sketchy-looking ATMs; skimmers want to rob you

  • Their skillz are getting even crazier, too. ATMs are great inventions, but thieves are getting even more adept. They’ve been using skimmers, which fit inside of an ATM and can read your card, for a while, but now they’ve moved to using plastic overlays that neatly fit over the number pad and TEXT your info to the scammer’s cell phone. Scared yet? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jul 2010 11:45

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Biz: Old man doesn’t like Starbucks’ unlimited wi-fi for some reason

  • You won’t be able to find a place to sit down anymore if more people are coming in to use their computers. I thought a coffee shop was for drinking coffee.
  • Santa Clarita, Calif. resident Ted Thompson • Getting really angry over Starbucks’ unlimited wi-fi service. See, the problem that Thompson doesn’t seem to understand is that Starbucks is that coffee shops were never about drinking coffee. They all have coffee, sure, but they’re social beasts in nature, plus they encourage people to read the news or play checkers while they’re there. But, with laptops, people don’t have to do that anymore. The social element is online. If you want good coffee instead of a place filled with laptops, try somewhere that doesn’t have wi-fi. Just a tip. And get out of our way  so that we can blog in peace, kind sir! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 10:39

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Biz: Warren Buffett: The rich-guy gift that keeps on giving

  • $37B the amount he donated to the Gates Foundation in 2006, the biggest ever donation; he plans to give 99 percent of his wealth away
  • $1.93B the amount he donated this year – he does yearly donations based on Berkshire Hathaway’s overall performance source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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