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Scammers masquerading as debt collectors and law enforcement officials have terrified consumers with threatening phone calls and bilked them out of thousands of dollars, officials with the West Virginia Attorney General's Office say. Prosecutors said that the scammers, who speak with heavy foreign accents, are known for repeatedly calling people at home and at work and threatening them with arrest if they don't repay supposed debts -- debts that, according to West Virginia officials, don't actually exist. The scammers operate under names such as U.S. National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau and United Legal Processing, said West Virginia Assistant Attorney General...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Thursday reported a stronger-than-expected 3.2 percent rise in sales at U.S. stores open at least a year in April. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company's same-store sales to rise 2.1 percent, according to Reuters Estimates, while Wal-Mart forecast a gain of 1 percent to 3 percent. The world's biggest retailer said net sales in the month, ended May 2, rose to $29.18 billion from $26.57 billion.

Bet you think you spend money pretty sensibly. Well, Dan Ariely would bet you don't. A noted behavioral economist with current posts at MIT and Duke, Ariely has been proving for years that consumers often spend more when they plan to spend less. Now he's put his findings into layman's terms in a new book, "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions." In it, he explains how marketers exploit our blind spots of logic and how we can see them coming. Today's shaky economy, he argues, is no place to waste money being irrational. Question: What's one of...

CHICAGO (AP) — A new kind of gold rush is unfolding at jewelry store and pawn shop counters — featuring not prospectors, but consumers. White-collar workers, retirees and many others have been digging through jewelry boxes and safety deposit boxes to cash in as gold prices flirt with $1,000 an ounce. Coins, old wedding rings, necklaces given by ex-boyfriends, hand-me-down gold pieces — everything is fair game when it brings this kind of profit. Shop owners across the country are marveling about the phenomenon they say began in the latter part of 2007 and accelerated through the winter, reflecting torrid...

A so-called “NAFTA Superhighway� earned support from the city’s mayor and discussion among residents Monday during a public hearing on the Texas Department of Transportation’s I-69 project. TxDOT held a public hearing at the Brownsville Events Center Monday to explain the progress of the Trans-Texas Corridor, a future segment of Highway I-69, which will link the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada border. After a short presentation, the floor was open for comments. Among the local politicians, college students and retirees at the hearing there was a wide range of opinion on the project. According to Mario Jorge, district engineer for...

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Senator Barack Obama, vying for the Democratic presidential candidacy, vowed to change bankruptcy laws and cap interest rates during his campaign tour in Southern California, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. During what his campaign dubbed a "Roundtable on Economic Opportunity" there, Obama called for an exemption in the 2005 bankruptcy bill for people who can persuade a bankruptcy court that they filed for bankruptcy because of debts caused by medical expenses. His proposal also includes extending the 36-percent limit on payday loans to military members to all Americans; encouraging banks, credit unions and...

The energy bill to be signed by the president today is arguably the worst piece of energy legislation ever enacted into law. It will substantially increase the price of automobiles, increase highway fatalities, increase fuel prices, worsen air pollution, and force consumers to buy products (like super-efficient light bulbs) that they manifestly -- and for very good reason -- do not want to buy. It will transfer huge amounts of wealth from the consumer to the farm lobby in the course of promoting a dubious product -- ethanol -- that will make energy supplies less reliable and greenhouse gas emission...

A disappointing October sales report Thursday sent a clear signal to retailers that they’ll have to pull out all the stops to get shoppers into their stores this holiday as declining home values, tighter credit terms and rising gas prices appear to have left consumers feeling spent. The nation’s biggest chain stores posted the second consecutive month of weak sales results, underscoring their concerns that sales growth this holiday season could be the slowest in five years. “Consumers are exerting a lot of caution,” said Mandy Putnam, vice president at TNS Retail Forward Inc., a Columbus, Ohio-based market research and...

The new numbers on consumer confidence are out. They show American consumers very confident that the economy is going down the tubes. Over in Asia and Europe, stocks plunged on fears that Americans may no longer be able to find the second jobs and recklessly borrow the money needed to buy imported stuff. Economists now freely use the "recession" word following the report that American payrolls fell in August, the first monthly decline in four years. American consumers, in other words, are all dried up. And the discussion has begun on what kind of baloney economy kept them lubricated for...

Are consumers better off with a competitive or monopolistic provision of goods and services? Let's apply that question to a few areas of our lives. Prior to deregulation, when there was a monopoly and restricted entry in the provision of telephone services, were consumers better off or worse off than they are with today's ruthless competition to get our business? Anyone over 40 will recognize the differences. Competition has provided consumers with a vast array of choices, lower and lower prices and more courteous customer care than when government had its heavy hand on the provision of telephone services.

The Curve, a new model of the BlackBerry device. NEW YORK - BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. is introducing its third new model in less than a year, a mid-sized device geared toward consumers who might prefer a full keyboard for typing text rather than the abridged one on the popular Pearl. The Curve, named for its smooth edges, will be offered first by AT&T Inc., though no launch date or pricing was disclosed in a news release Thursday. The device has a front trackball below the screen to navigate its menus, a feature that RIM introduced last year...

When Americans voted for George W. Bush in November 2000, they knew they were electing a man with deep ties to Texas oil. But six years later, a greener-sounding Bush is about to depart for a trip to Brazil, where he hopes to forge a biofuels partnership that officials believe could revolutionize America's fuel industry and transform its relations with Latin America. Critics suspect the president's biofuels conversion is only superficial, a late-in-the-day effort to build a less oil-splattered legacy. U.S. officials, though, talk of a new era of "ethanol diplomacy," capable perhaps one day of rivaling the petro-dollars muscle...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers greeted the new year in a much more optimistic frame of mind, with their confidence rising to a nearly one-year high in January. And, their outlook for the economy's prospects and their own financial situations over the next six months turned considerably brighter. This improvement comes after a long, angst-ridden period about future economic activity. (Snip) Against this backdrop, Americans gave President Bush higher marks for his economic stewardship. The president's approval rating on the economy rose to 43 percent in January from 38 percent in December, according to a separate AP-Ipsos poll. Consumers' feelings about...

There's no doubt about it: foreign technology can whet your appetite. Super-lightweight laptops from Japan, feature-packed smartphones from Europe, and shiny, gotta-get-it devices designed in India, South Korea, and Taiwan are but a few of the items that currently reside on tech's cutting edge. But chances are you will never see those gadgets on store shelves here in the U.S. A trip to the typical U.S. electronics store suggests many Americans would gladly shell out some extra cash for high-end lightweight products. Smaller, lighter, and more-expensive laptops are occupying an ever-increasing amount of shelf space. Even if a larger percentage...

Consumer Confidence Rises to Higher-Than-Expected Level in September NEW YORK (AP) -- Falling gasoline prices helped brighten the mood of American consumers in September, sending a barometer of consumer sentiment higher than analysts expected. The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 104.5 from a revised reading of 100.2. in August. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 103. The reading, the highest since July's 107, followed a big dip in August, when employment worries dragged down consumer sentiment. The private research group's Present Situation Index, which measures how shoppers feel now about...

Time to Remove Barriers to Boosting Oil Refining Capacity by Ben LiebermanPosted Jul 27, 2006The high price of oil is the main reason that the price of gasoline has nearly doubled over the last three years, but it is not the only reason. The cost of turning oil into gasoline has also risen, thanks in part to costly federal regulations on refinery operations and expansions. Many in Congress are aware of this problem, and the House recently passed the Refinery Permit Process Schedule Act (H.R. 5254) to address it. This very modest measure would streamline refinery-related regulations and would be...

Some solace for traditional news outlets worried about how to compete with the Internet: A survey finds slowing growth in the number of people who regularly go online for the news. Almost three in 10 adults, or 31 percent, regularly log in for news, a rate roughly the same as two years ago, according to the survey released Sunday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. People in their 40s were more likely to go online for news than the younger adults. "The online news audience is maturing and at this point is wider than it...

What can keep Russia from growing? 1. Soviet-era bureaucracy 2. Outdated industry 3. Poor investment climate 4. Retailing is booming, but other businesses lag. 5. Millions of Russians are at risk of being left behind. What will keep Russia growing? 1. Russia will depend on its oil revenues for the forseeable future. Question: Will oil revenues generate enough income that can be equitably distributed to the point that it will overcome the barriers to growth? What do you think?

Dick Cheney warned President Putin that he has"unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people." The Russian people responded by going shopping. Russians are a resilient bunch of people. They are also a pessimistic lot. Most people in Russia still feel they are know better off, though they are consuming more. Inflation is 12% but economic growth is above that. Apartment prices are going up quicker than they are in Shanghai or New York. Of course, once it reaches the $1 million price tag, everything slows down, eh? Putin has a popularity rating of 70%, twice that of the...

A Camry hybrid costs about $5,000 more than it's nonhybrid brother, or is it sister? If a driver goes 15,000 miles a year with an efficiency of 39mpg s/he will save about $500/yr. Easy math. It will take 10 years to get your money back. The good news is a Toyota will last 10 years and 150,000 miles. The bad news is Americans won't drive the same car for that long. But then neither will anybody else in any other country. The Japanese will change cars every 3-5 years. This is one of the reasons why the hybrid market only...

Russia is flooded with cash that comes for high oil prices so high. And the walls of the rich and corrupt are starting to overflow to the little fellow in the distant outposts. For seven years, Russia has seen 6% growth AFTER inflation. There is now a consumer class in Russia and they can't wait to go shopping. For as little as $1000/month a family of four can live somewhat comfortably...and this salary is within reach of about 30% of the population and continues to grow. In 2002, 12% of all Russians had a cell phone. In 2006, 88% of...

Thanksgiving marked the day that some analysts thought global oil production would have reached its peak, ushering in a new era of fuel shortages. These petro-pessimists were using the same formula as the one that accurately predicted the apex of U.S. oil production in 1970. Matthew Simmons, author of "Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy," is one of them. He thinks Saudi Arabia has pumped much of its usable reserves and will start to experience production declines. Even analysts who are more optimistic warn that chronically high prices and occasional supply crunches...

Consumer Prices Up; Retail Sales Rise By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer 18 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Consumer prices surged in September by the largest amount in more than 25 years as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita sent energy prices soaring at the fastest pace on record. ADVERTISEMENT The Labor Department reported Friday that inflation jumped 1.2 percent last month. It said that 90 percent of that increase came from a record-setting 12 percent surge in energy prices which reflected gasoline prices that briefly topped $3 per gallon last month after widespread shutdowns of refineries and oil and natural gas platforms...

New research from the University of Alberta reveals just how self-conscious and easily influenced consumers can be. Through a series of carefully controlled experiments at a campus bookstore, researchers learned that consumers will, in every case studied, spend more money to buy a brand name item when someone they don't know is standing near them at the time they choose their purchase. Consumers also tend to spend more money when a group of people is standing near them but are more inclined to buy cheaper items when no one is near.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the [Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee] panel expressed concern that fuel prices are choking U.S. consumers. [. . .] Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said $100 a barrel oil is "not so far out of the realm of possibility," and asked "is that something this country can sustain?" [. . .] Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said he anticipates "we're going to find many instances of manipulation and fraud." Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the chairman of the committee, said the panel is prepared to call on oil-company executives to explain rising fuel costs if there is...

WASHINGTON - Getting President Bush from here to there consumes an enormous amount of fuel, whether he's aboard Air Force One, riding in a helicopter or on the ground in a heavily armored limousine. The bill gets steeper every day as the White House is rocked by the same energy prices as regular drivers. Taxpayers still foot the bill. Almost every vehicle Bush uses is custom-made to add security and communications capabilities, and the heavier weight of these guzzlers further drives up gas and jet fuel costs. The White House declines to discuss travel costs related to the presidential entourage,...

...A podcast, as anyone under 25 can tell you, is an audio recording posted online, much like a short radio show. ("Podcasting" is a pun on "broadcasting," implying, of course, that you listen to it on your iPod or another music player.) The beauty of a podcast is that it's free and you listen to it whenever you like. And there are more than 7,000 podcasts "on the air" right now, on every conceivable topic. Their quantity and variety already dwarf what you can find on regular radio. What makes podcasting a national dinnertime conversation these days, though, is...

Consumer confidence index rises to 105.8 in June. Details coming.

     ISLANDIA, N.Y., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The vast majority of Americans (88%) say that rising gasoline prices are a concern for them and their household budgets, according to the Cambridge Consumer Credit Index. Over half of Americans (54%) say that high energy prices are a major concern, 34% say high gas prices are a minor concern, and 10% are not concerned about the level of gas prices.      A year ago, the overall level of concern was the same, but slightly more Americans thought high gas prices were a major concern than think so today. Here is a comparison of the...

McDonald’s pays $10m damages Silicon Valley (PTI): Fast food giant McDonald’s will pay $10 million to 24 groups, including the International American Gita Society, as part of a settlement of lawsuits. McDonald’s has been charged with misleading Hindus and vegetarian consumers by “wrongly describing” its French fries, containing beef additive for flavouring, as vegetarian. McDonald’s recently informed the Gita society that it is among the groups receiving the settlement money, the US-based non-profit organisation’s spokesperson, Ramananda Prasad, said. “We are such a small organisation, and nobody supports us, the temples are busy with their own activities,” Prasad, who founded the...

I hope I've posted this correctly, and in the correct forum, I'd rather it didn't get pulled :) Dear Fellow Freepers, First of all, I'd like to say thanks for the great job you guys do for us. I, for one, do appreciate your genuine concern for our Country. As a Republican, I have worked hard to help elect concerned, responsible, Republicans to office...and our industry needs your opinion and help. This issue is gathering steam from some very powerful forces and needs to be (IMO) stopped. Being in the transportation industry and being that I am just a small...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's new greenhouse gas emission standards can be met largely by using existing auto technologies and will generate consumer savings by improving gas mileage, a state regulator said Monday. "We're not talking about exotic technologies here," said Chuck Shulock, manager of the state Air Resources Board's greenhouse gas reduction program. "Significant reductions can be achieved simply by taking existing technologies and applying them very broadly across the (vehicle) fleet." Shulock testified at a hearing held by the Assembly Transportation Committee to determine if regulations approved by the ARB last September comply with 2002 legislation that made California...

elieve it or not, I often think about the US economy, and where it is headed. The US has proven that we can design, manufacture, and market the best products in the world, but lately we are designing and marketing, and sending the manufacturing overseas. I am not a Michael Moore type who believes that every American is entitled to a union job and a big pension, but I do believe that we are selling ourselves short by letting the Chinese manufacture such a high percentage of our consumer products. Free markets are a great idea, but the problem is...

Blog and bloggers have made a huge mark in 2004, and this should give every major marketer and advertiser pause for deep reflection. Bloggers gave Howard Dean's campaign early, unexpected momentum. They fanned the flames of the Iraqi prison crisis with rapid distribution of photos, especially the most controversial ones. They catapulted into the mainstream Burger King's "Viral Chicken" campaign, as well as the controversial "Swift Boat Veteran for Truth" anti-Kerry video. More recently, blogs have showcased new and promising ways for brands like Microsoft, Nike, Nokia, Sun, and HP to reach out to consumers and other stakeholders. But let...

Worries about the job market sent consumer confidence tumbling in August, a research group said Tuesday, in a report that could spell more trouble for the economy ahead. The Conference Board, a business research group, said its index of consumer confidence sank to 98.2 from a reading of 105.7 in July. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that the index would slip, but just a bit to 103.4. The August reading was the lowest since May and showed the biggest drop since February. Confidence is an important indicator of consumer willingness to spend, especially on big-ticket items. About two-thirds of...

CHICAGO, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- It's August, and the new school year is about to start, but Linda Crandall, a mom in Baldwin, Mo., is vowing she will not shop for her kids at one of those frenzied, back-to-school sales at the local mall. "This year, I will purchase school supplies online," Crandall told United Press International. "It's 10 times more flexible and it keeps the kids from seeing all the neat stuff in the aisle. They can't talk us into buying things that they already have due to a new, neat color or shape." Crandall is far from alone....

New technology. Product proliferation. Fragmented media. Get ready: It's a whole new world To most of us, Tide is as familiar as home. Last year, Americans bought some $2 billion worth of Tide, which has ranked as the country's biggest-selling laundry detergent ever since Procter & Gamble Co. (PG ) took it national in 1949. If ever a brand epitomized the great, one-size-fits-all mass market, it is Tide, right? Wrong. Or so says Procter & Gamble itself. James R. Stengel, P&G's global marketing officer, insists that his company's bulging portfolio of big brands contains "not one mass-market brand, whether it's...

BREAKING NEWS: April consumer confidence, March existing home sales both soar above expectations. Details coming.

Most businesses - and several business associations - were carefully silent on Measure 30 [a massive increase in income and business taxes to be voted on next Tuesday]. Intel, a bellwether as the largest private employer in the state, kept mum. Associated Oregon Industries was equally coy. And high profile Nike joined the recently created Oregon Business Association to campaign actively for the tax. On reflection, we shouldn't be surprised when businesses don't fight for good economic policies, and at times even fight in favor of bad ones. There's no reason to think business people are much wiser or much...

Leap year brings tuition hikes, waiting period for abortion By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press Writer AUSTIN New college tuition rates and a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions represent significant changes in Texas policy in 2004. After months of planning, the new laws take effect Jan. 1, rather than September, like most Texas laws. Other changes include a ban on driving on dry riverbeds and how insurers score credit ratings. The Republican-led Legislature loosened its grip on tuition-setting power to allow universities to set their own rates to offset $558 million in state cuts to higher education. Supporters appreciated...

<p>Clerk (excitedly): "I love this duck! These are so great!"</p> <p>Seemingly Harmless Middle-aged Lady (happy to have her purchase validated): "Yes, I'm so excited."</p> <p>Clerk (with the air of one who possesses secret knowledge): "We sold out of those last year."</p>

<p>A plan that would lift Pacific Gas and Electric Co. out of 2 1/2 years of bankruptcy and require consumers to bear most of the utility's $12 billion-plus debt load won approval Friday from a bankruptcy judge, leaving its fate to state utility regulators.</p>

N.C. laws aim to protect consumers, register criminals, stiffen penalties Monday, December 1, 2003 12:00AM EST By AMY GARDNER, Staff Writer Tougher criminal penalties and a handful of consumer protections are sprinkled among the new laws that take effect today in North Carolina. On the criminal side, a new law prohibits a person under a domestic violence protective order from purchasing a firearm, in some cases, as long as the order is in effect. A violation would be a felony. Another law creates a specific criminal offense for the practice of rebirthing, the controversial therapy in which a child is...

We need a job-saving law Recent advocacy of free trade in this column has caused considerable reader apoplexy and anxiety, not to mention accusations of unconcern with worker plight. Readers have protested loss of good paying jobs to low-wage countries such as India, China and other Asian countries. I'd like to propose a way to completely eliminate this angst, and I'm wondering just how many of my fellow Americans would support it. Let's call it the Level Playing Field Act, where Congress decrees that: Neither a corporation nor an individual shall be permitted to employ a cheaper method of producing...

6:30PM U.S. consumer attitudes stuck in rut: ABC/Money by Anne Stanley WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) --- U.S. consumers remain skeptical about the economic recovery, according to a weekly survey published Tuesday by ABC and Money magazine. The ABC/Money consumer comfort index fell to negative 17 in the latest week from negative 16 a week ago. The index has been stuck between negative 21 and negative 16 for three months. The survey shows a wide gap between perceptions of personal finances and the overall economy. Thirty-one percent say the economy is excellent or good, up from 29 percent a week ago and the...

Big Shots Worried Of all the big-shot meetings, the one that really counts, in my opinion, is the annual meeting of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. Here the heads of the central banks meet, unencumbered by politicians or academics or journalists. These are guys who hold the crown jewels of most industrial countries in their hands. Like all big-shot meetings, it's closed to the public and the press. Nobody knows what they say inside, only what they choose to say when they leave the building. Well, one of them chose to say: "The issue is really how...

<p>Ben & Jerry's has introduced a new line of ice cream called "Organic Ben & Jerry's" in select stores in Boston and San Francisco. As part of the campaign, Ben & Jerrys says "your body will thank you" for "ice cream made without use of conventional pesticides or growth hormones. (Whew!)."</p>

<p>NEW YORK -- The success of Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, and other conservative authors has led many publishers to turn more to the right.</p> <p>The operators of the Book-of-the-Month Club announced yesterday that they are forming a new club, as yet unnamed, devoted to works with a conservative point of view. Within the past month, Penguin Putnam and the Crown Publishing Group have started branches with a conservative bent.</p>

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryMay 10, 2003 President's Radio Address      In Focus: Economic Security     Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week with a vote in the House of Representatives, Congress took a positive step towards passage of my jobs and growth proposal. The plan I submitted would create more than a million jobs by the end of next year through immediate tax relief for American families and businesses. Since I sent my plan to Congress in January, the need for action the economy has become even more urgent. The unemployment rate last month reached 6 percent as many employers...

US consumers are hardening their attitude towards products and companies from France and Germany because of those countries' opposition to the allied campaign in Iraq. A survey of just over 1,000 Americans taken in the days after the war began indicated that two-thirds were much or somewhat less favourable to French companies and their products than before geopolitical tensions began to mount. Nearly half said they would probably try a substitute for products made in France, and 29 per cent said they were more likely to "boycott or avoid" purchasing French products. When it came to German products, 52 per...