All About Credit Score

A new report released in November, 2011, suggests banks and credit card companies are courting those with less than perfect scores. This report shows that consumers with combined scores of less than 700 were now more likely to receive approval for a credit card; in fact, the number of folks who fit these criteria and who have received a credit card was up 23% from this time last year.

The study reveals more, too. The total numbers between third quarter 2010 and third quarter 2011 are almost identical, which suggests its those consumers who wouldnt have qualified a year ago are the very ones who are moving the sector forward.

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Tags: Card, Credit Card

Rules for opening a Roth IRA account are modified and updated every year. A person who had opened it a year ago, also needs to check for updated rules regularly to avoid being penalized. These rules are also necessary when one has to file taxes. Though roth-ira.org lists all details, having a financial adviser to deal with rule checks is a good practice. Read full post…

Tags: roth ira

30-year fixed mortgage rates declined sharply on a weekly basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said earlier today.

The MBA released the results of its latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey (for the week ending November 4, 2011) this morning, which revealed week-over-week decreases in average rates for both fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs).

“Treasury rates dropped last week, as renewed turmoil in Europe once again led to a flight to quality, and 30-year mortgage rates dropped to their second lowest level of the year,” Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics, said in a statement.

According to the MBA, average rates for three different types of 30-year FRMs all showed marked decreases from one week earlier.

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Tags: Mortgage Rates, Week

Christmas is still over a month and a half away, but if you head out to any of your local stores its pretty likely theyre already stocking their shelves for the Christmas season. I was at my local Target store this week and now that Halloween is in the past theyre putting up the Christmas tree displays, selling wrapping paper and Christmas gifts galore. They were even playing Christmas music over the loudspeakers. Everything they do is done in order to make as much money on you and Christmas as they can. Thats understandable theyre in business to make money.

At our house Christmas is important because its a time to celebrate the birth of our savior, a time to enjoy being with our families, and its a time to sit back and be thankful for all of the blessings that weve been given.

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Tags: Christmas, Christmas Expanded

Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, an Android operating system partner with a passel of patents, and Hewlett-Packard’s decision to acquire UK software maker Autonomy for $10.3 billion—and to get out of the personal computer business—are the latest examples of the change in products and services that are reshaping the industry.

The trend was evident in the first half of 2011, when M&A activity in the global technology sector nearly doubled from a year earlier. Among the notable deals were Texas Instruments’ purchase of rival chipmaker National Semiconductor, Oracle’s purchase of Sun Microsystems and SAP’s acquisition of Sybase.

Palo Alto, California’s HP, the world’s largest maker of personal computers, is preparing to spin off the PC business, which accounts for a third of its revenue, and is paying a 79% premium for Autonomy. Leo Apotheker, who bec

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Tags: Google, Ma Google