The Consumer Rights Law Blog has posted an article that discusses why it’s so important for you to keep your Social Security number private. The information your SSN reveals about you is surprisingly detailed and it falling into the wrong hands can have devastating results.

For example, the first three digits of your SSN tell what state you were born in. An identity thief just having your name and SSN and knowing what state you’re from can’t amount to anything, right? After all, you can’t open up a new credit card with just a Social and a home-state.

However, in the hands of an identity thief who has access to technology, just this little bit of information can have devastating results to your credit.

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New Zealand stock fell, pushing the NZX 50 Index to a three-month low, as uncertainty over the protracted debt ceiling negotiations in the U.S. and Europe’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis sap demand for growth assets. Skellerup Holdings led decliners and PGG Wrightson Ltd. rose.

The NZX 50 Index fell 20.49 points, or 0.6%, to 3,385.88, its tenth consecutive decline. Within the index, 31 stocks fell, seven rose, and 12 were unchanged. Turnover was a lower-than-usual $81.6 million.

“With this period of uncertainty, investors seem to be holding back and waiting to get some direction from global markets,” said Craig Brown, a senior investment analyst at OnePath New Zealand Ltd., who helps manages $1.1 billion of local equities. “We’r

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Last Friday’s Euro Bank Stress Tests have come and gone and have the left the markets feeling unsatisfied as fears have not been assuaged. The major problem of how a sovereign default would affect these banks has been largely ignored, which means that the tests are ineffective.

Meanwhile, we are no further along in the debt ceiling talks here in the US, which adds additional uncertainty to the mix and makes for a risk-averse investing environment. As we would expect in a risk-averse environment, gold is reaching new nominal all-time highs, trading over $1600, as the additional threat of QE3 has the inflation hawks squawking.

The Swiss franc, US dollar, and Japanese yen are all higher as well, with oil and the commodity currencies trading lower, as well as stock markets around the globe.

Two countries moving in seemingly different directions with regard to inflation are New Zealand and the UK. I Read more…

Fonterra Cooperative Group’s new chief executive Theo Spierings has been welcomed by the NZ Cooperatives Association, which says his background at Netherland’s-based Royal Friesland Foods means he understands “the tensions” of the ownership structure.

Spierings stood down from the firm after its 2008 merger with Campana and has worked as a consultant. Bringing Friesland together with Campana meant merging the two biggest Dutch dairy cooperatives in an industry where consolidation shrank the number of producer-owned businesses.

“The new CEO of Fonterra clearly understands cooperatives,” the association’s Chris Knowles said. “I am very ha

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U.S. data released Thursday failed to develop the argument that the Fed will ease further, while a successful auction of Italian government debt found buyers albeit at the costliest price in three years. Some of investors’ earlier fears have evaporated as quickly as they built leaving fixed income buyers perhaps a little overweight having spent a week feasting on safe haven bonds.

Eurodollar futures – Initial claims dropped to 405,000 through last weekend while the reading from the prior week was revised higher by about the size of today’s drop. Retai Read more…

US Housing data, Euro-Zone German ZEW Economic Sentiment and German Ifo Business Climate and US Unemployment claims are among the big market movers this week. Here is an outlook on the major events ahead.

 Last week President Barack Obama pressured congressmen to resolve the impasse over the debt limit by summoning Congressional leaders to the White House aiming to reach an agreement and present a full scale plan within the next few days. Will the US congress reach a resolution this week?

Apart from the usual events, the beginning of the week will see a reaction to the stress tests published on Friday. S

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When I was a child, my mother worked for Thrifty Drug. There was no better treat than when she brought home a half gallon of Mint Chip ice cream. Thrifty was purchased by Rite Aid in 1996, but the Thrifty brand of ice cream lives on there.

I mention this because I just found a press release in my inbox letting me know that Sunday, July 17th is National Ice Cream Day.

How can your company use the ice cream holiday to promote itself?