Financial News Headlines

Your Take: Completely Useless in Financial Life

July 15th, 2010

Earlier this week I read about TD Bank’s new entirely flat debit cards on the Consumerist. TD Bank will be issuing debit cards that no longer feature embossed text (letters that stick out), the face of the card will be completely flat. The embossed text made sense when “swiping” a card referred to the machines that rubbed the numbers onto a piece of carbon paper. The last time that happened to me was when the power went out at some retailer, they used the carbon paper as a backup and it made the loudest of noises.

The embossed numbers on the card have very little value with only the rarest of exceptions. Like your appendix, it once had a purpose. Today

Read more…

Posted in Financial News | No Comments »

Lending Club Loans: What Investors Like to See

July 13th, 2010

Share

Lending Club lenders have increasingly been leaving notes on borrowers loan listings about what they would like to see the borrower do in order to make their loan more attractive. Often, lenders suggest that borrowers get their income verified and make sure that they get an “approved credit status” quickly.

Here’s a note left by one Lending Club lender across many loan listings:

“NO questions asked; NO answers required. Email ONLY FYI. After Lending Club Home Office < $1 deposit verifies bank account, NEXT step borrower Employment- Income verification aka “Credit Review”. Employment – income verifications independent of one another. Home Office C

Read more…

Posted in Financial News | No Comments »

May retail sales climb, jury out on rates

July 12th, 2010

South African retail sales rose more than expected in May, growing for the fifth month in a row ahead of the soccer World Cup, but leaving analysts divided on next week’s interest rate decision.

Consumer spending has generally lagged the broader economic recovery as households’ indebtedness remains close to record highs and after the recession last year caused the loss of a million jobs.

But Statistics South Africa said retail sales rose 4,6% in May year-on-year, accelerating from downwardly revised 2,9% growth in April and outpacing forecasts for a 3,7% rise.

The central bank will decide on interest rates on July 22, some two weeks after cautious comments on the economic outlook from governor Gill Marcus.

“The current low interest rate environment and the slowly improving levels of consumer confidence … Read more…

Posted in Business Tips | No Comments »

Index, Accel bet big on Squarespace

July 12th, 2010

- Lawrence Aragon is the Editor-in-Chief of the Venture Capital Journal and Private Equity Week, both Thomson Reuters publications. This story originally appeared on PE Hub.com. -

Fast-growing Squarespace, a competitor to blogging platforms such as Wordpress and TypePad, recently announced it has taken its first institutional money – a $38.5 million growth investment led by Index Ventures and Accel Partners. The deal values the company between $80 million and $100 million, according to a knowledgeable source.

The New York-based company landed on the Inc. 500 last year, coming in at No. 339. Inc. m

Read more…

Posted in Financial News | No Comments »

Your Take: Would You Raise Your Own Food?

July 10th, 2010

After reading a New York Times story about raising your own rabbits and then listening to an NPR show on raising your own chickens in your backyard for food, I jokingly told my lovely wife that I’d be setting up an area in our backyard for our new petting zoo. We’ve been trying to eat more local produce (we like supporting local businesses, we automatically eat only what is in season, and it’s often tastier than buying it from the store) but we’ve never made that leap for meat.

She seemed puzzled at why I’d want an actual petting zoo in our backyard until I mentioned we’d only have rabbits and chickens. She remembered that on our honeymoon to Hawaii, we ate a lot of fresh eggs at the bed and breakfasts we stayed in. Fresh as in

Read more…

Posted in Financial News | No Comments »

Now Musk blogs on his divorce

July 8th, 2010

Following in his estranged wife’s footsteps, electric carmaker Tesla’s colorful co-founder and Chief Elon Musk is now blogging about his messy divorce. In a lengthy recounting in the Huffington Post, Musk said he wants to ”correct the record” on his personal life but would “rather  stick a fork in my hand” than do it.

“Much as one may wish for privacy, in the 21st century it just doesn’t exist,” he said.

Musk then goes on to counter what he called “awful things…that are simply false” point-by-point in about 1,600 words. Among the main things he address

Read more…

Posted in Financial News | No Comments »