For small businesses, loans are plentiful as long as they’re plastic-backed

For small businesses, loans are plentiful as long as they’re plastic-backed By Paul Smalera From CNN Money FORTUNE — On Monday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took up the growing issue of lack of lending to small businesses by banks, and the havoc it’s causing in the economy. Lending to small businesses contracted by $40 [...]

Women’s World Banking Brings Credit To The Third World

Women’s World Banking Brings Credit To The Third World From Forbes.com Mary Ellen Iskenderian remembers the moment when she discovered her purpose in life. As a child, her parents often took her to visit her father’s family in Turkey where she saw, for the first time, people living in utter poverty. She remembers thinking, “I [...]

Sam’s Club tests small business loans

Sam’s Club tests small business loans By Catherine Clifford From CNN Money NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Sam’s Club, the members-only wholesaler owned by Wal-Mart, is testing out an online program to offer discounted loans to its small business customers. The program is essentially a white-label arrangement with Superior Financial Group, the nation’s most active Small Business [...]

What’s a double dip? No one really knows.

What’s a double dip? No one really knows. By Nin-Hai Tseng From CNN Money FORTUNE — Here’s what we know about double dip recessions: The economy shrinks. Then grows. Then shrinks again. It’s essentially a hilly economic recovery (or battle) where the ebb and flow of growth strangely takes a W-shape. Beyond that, no one [...]

Financial Reform and You

Financial Reform and You By Matt Quinn From Inc.com You can be forgiven if you’re having trouble figuring out what the financial regulatory reform bill means to you. Reportedly logging in at over 2,000 pages, even if it were fully public and finalized, you’d have to take a sabbatical from work to plow through it. [...]

How to Improve Your Credit Score

How to Improve Your Credit Score Tips for understanding and repairing a poor credit rating By Karin Price Mueller From Entrepreneur.com Until your business has been around for a few years and has established a solid financial history and track record of its own, your personal credit rating will be linked to your business. “Banks and other [...]

What Wall Street reform means for your mortgage

What Wall Street reform means for your mortgage By Tami Luhby From CNNMoney.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Predatory lending would likely become a thing of the past if proposed regulatory reform rules are put into practice. And that may mean that mortgages get more expensive and more difficult to get, lenders warn. The new rules, [...]

Understanding the Financial Crisis for Kids and Grownups

  It is so easy to forget what really happened to cause the financial Crisis situation we are living in today.  Sometimes a good reminder as well as a ‘visual’ helps…especially with regard to explanation we give our  kids.  Leaving our kids unaware of the facts is NOT using it all as a powerful learning [...]

Record low mortgage rates, but are they beneficial?

By Colin Barr From Fortune Magazine Online Mortgage rates hit a record low this week, but few people will be taking advantage. Freddie Mac said Thursday the going rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 4.69%, its lowest level since the company started keeping track 38 years ago. The news comes as investors [...]

College students discuss credit card basics

College students are often faced with many things they want or need but can’t afford. Many turn to credit cards to help pay for these, but oftentimes they don’t know what they are getting into financially. This video asks random college students about their understandings of credit basics. Some of their responses show that they [...]