2010 Economic Forecast: This Recession Wasn’t Any Different than Past Recessions

January 9th, 2010

Is it really different this time? In other words, is this recession really different from past recessions? I argue only in terms of magnitude. It was a bad recession, but it ultimately wasn’t any fundamentally different. Will the recovery be muted? I actually don’t think so. I just think we went down so hard that it will take a long time to recover. Unemployment, for example, will be relatively high through 2010, but mainly because it got so high in the first place. I expect fairly consistent improvement in all economic indicators through the year.If you disagree with the above, fair enough. Clearly the Fed should remain accomodative if the economy isn’t growing. But what if we are recovering?

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Capital Markets Update – Payrolls Show Loss of 85,000

January 8th, 2010

Quicken Loans Capital Markets Update for January 8, 2010

The much anticipated December Non-Farm Payroll report was released this morning. Investors were expecting it to continue the trend of improved economic data. Specifically, payrolls were projected to be unchanged in December after falling every month since January of 2008 (23 consecutive months).

The actual number showed a loss of 85,000. The unemployment rate was also expected to be unchanged at 10.0%. The actual number came in as expected at 10.0%.

This leaves the report just 0.2% points below the 26-year high of 10.2% posted in October.

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Possible legislative battle looms over deceptive marketing practices

January 8th, 2010

A looming dispute involving online marketing programs that often place monthly charges on peoples’ credit cards without their knowledge shows little sign of ending soon.

Last month, Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Commerce Committee, took aim at several Connecticut-based companies that have angered consumers nationwide by placing mysterious monthly charges on their accounts as part of so-called “affiliate marketing” programs.

Particularly irritating to many consumers is the fact that many of them were patronizing large and supposedly reputable online businesses, including airlines and movie ticket websites, that proceeded to sell their credit card information to these controversial companies. Read more…

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Finally! TransUnion Delivers on their Class Action Settlement Benefits

January 7th, 2010

TransUnion Settlement Benefits Delivered

For the old-school readers of 20somethingfinance, you may remember a post I did about 18 months ago on the TransUnion settlement from a class action lawsuit. If you didn’t sign up to receive free benefits at that time – it’s too late (sorry).

If you did sign up to receive benefits, good news may have come (or will be coming shortly). I FIN

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Home Warranty Companies Market Share

January 7th, 2010

Recently Warranty Week Newsletter published a report on home warranty companies’ market share in U.S. While it is not clear how the estimates were made and what assumptions were in place, the estimated numbers seem to be in the ballpark and must give an approximate idea where the companies stand.

With 41% market share, American Home Shield leads the pack followed by First American (11%), Old Republic (8.3%), CCHS (6%), 2-10 HBW (5.3%), and Fidelity (4.3%). It is interesting to note that the major service providers account for only 76% of the market. A

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Why It’s Worth Your Time to Meet Your Financial Advisors

January 7th, 2010

A few weeks ago, my wife and I planned a meeting with a financial advisor that was the representative for her 403(b) plan. Due to some rule changes, she was no longer eligible to receive an employer match with this plan, but she had been happy with their offerings and performance, so we had made the tentative decision to leave her supplemental 403(b) savings with that company.

Her advisor wanted to meet with us to facilitate all of these changes.

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