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Your Black World: US Debt Levels Fall for First Time in 50 Years
Households, hit by declining net worth, have cut back on their debt levels for the first time on record as loans remain scarce.
The Federal Reserve on Thursday released it latest quarterly look at consumer and business finances showing that households reduced their debt levels 0.8% at an annual rate in the July-September period, the first drop on records that go back more than 50 years.
The decline in household debt levels is evidence of the severe credit squeeze that is occurring as banks, saddled by billions of dollars of losses in mortgage debt, have tightened lending standards and made it harder for people to get loans.
Mortgage debt fell at an annual rate of 2.4% in the third quarter, the largest decline on record. Mortgage debt had fallen at an annual rate of 0.1% in the second quarter. Those two quarterly declines are the first such drops in the Fed survey that dates back to 1952.
In past periods of tight credit, mortgage and total household debt have never declined, although the debt growth usually slowed.
The Fed report also showed that households’ net worth fell 4.7% in the third quarter to $56.5 trillion, reflecting the hit Americans are taking as the value of their homes and investments decline.
Your Black Money: Secrets about Bill Collectors
6 Secrets Debt Collectors wish you never knew
By: Milagros DuBouchet
YourBlackWorld.com
The world of debt collection is a mystery to most people. One thing we do know is that they can be very aggressive when it comes to collecting money. We know all about the annoying phone calls at 8am and the letters that cause nothing but anxiety. Some debt collectors are easy to work with; others can be incredibly difficult. In my work, I speak to debt collectors on a daily basis. I speak on behalf of my clients when they’ve been too intimidated, or are unsure how to communicate with them. The key to getting the most out of a situation with a collection agency is to learn their secrets, and use them to your advantage.
Secret #1 – They can reduce up to 50% of your original debt. This is the rule of thumb. Debt collectors know when they’re speaking with someone who doesn’t know the tricks of the trade [...]
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Your Black Sports: Tiger Woods Loses Endorsement Deal
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. said Monday it is ending its nine-year endorsement deal with golf superstar Tiger Woods as the automaker continues to cut expenses and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst sales downturn in a quarter-century.
The cash-strapped company said in a statement that it is looking to reduce costs, and that the world’s No. 1 golfer also wants more personal time as he expects his second child.
Woods has endorsed GM products around the world and mainly has been seen in Buick commercials as the company tried to give the nameplate a more youthful image. He has carried the Buick brand on his golf bag since 2000, and his most recent promotion was to caddie for a contest winner for nine holes at Torrey Pines, where Woods won the U.S. Open this summer for his 14th career major.
The endorsement deal, believed to be worth at least $7 million a year, was to end in 2009 [...]
Your Black Politics: The Law Of The Jungle – By Fidel Castro
The Law of the Jungle
By: FIDEL CASTRO
Trade, within a society and between countries, is the exchange of goods and services produced by human beings. The owners of the means of production appropriate the profits. As a class, they are the leaders of the capitalist state and they boast of fostering development and social wellbeing through market. This they worship as an infallible God [...]
Racism is deeply-rooted in the United States where the mind of millions of people can hardly reconcile with the notion that a black man, with his wife and children could live in the White House, which is precisely called White.
It´s a miracle that the Democratic candidate has not met the same destiny as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and others who only a few decades ago dreamed of justice and equality. He is in the habit of looking at his adversary with serenity and of smiling at the dialectic predicament of an opponent gazing into space.
The Republican candidate, on the other hand, who likes to enhance his reputation as a belligerent man, was one of the worst students in his class at West Point. He has confessed that he did not know any Mathematics; it can thus be assumed that he knew less of the complicated economic science.
The truth is his adversary surpasses him in cleverness and composure.
Something McCain has aplenty is age, and his health condition is not safe.
I am bringing up these data to indicate that eventually -if anything went wrong with the candidate´s health, in case he is elected- the lady of the riffle, the inexperienced former governor of Alaska could become President of the United States. It can be noticed that she does not know a thing [...]
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Your Black World Headlines: 10/13/2008
Your Black Politics: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Stands Up To The Madness
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, representing the 18th congressional district of Texas, says no to the financial bailout deal. Amongst other things, she cites the ambiguous help (if any) offered to homeowners who lost their homes – or happen to be on the verge of losing it – as a reason to remain firmly opposed to the deal:
Your Black News: House Repubs Finally ‘Grow A Pair’ — Bailout Deal Fails
The House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue package, ignoring urgent pleas from President Bush and bipartisan congressional leaders to quickly bail out the staggering financial industry.
Stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was announced on the House floor.
When the critical vote was tallied, too few members of the House were willing to support the unpopular measure with elections just five weeks away. Ample no votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle.
Bush and a host of leading congressional figures had implored the lawmakers to pass the legislation despite howls of protest from their constituents back home.
The vote had been preceded by unusually aggressive White House lobbying, and spokesman Tony Fratto said that Bush had used a “call list” of people he wanted to persuade to vote yes as late as just a short time before the vote…
Your Black World Headlines: 09/29/2008
Your Black Politics: Time Mag Accuses McCain Of Blatantly Playing “Race Card”
Time Magazine Columnist, Karen Tumulty, is accusing the McCain Campaign, and John McCain specifically, of explicitly playing the proverbial “Race Card,” in a new McCain campaign ad. As tumulty sees it, the ad features “sinister images of two black men, followed by one of a vulnerable-looking elderly white woman.” Karen further noted that the inclusion of the “vulnerable-looking” white woman in the commercial, “doesn’t seem accidental either, given the fact that older white women are a key swing constituency in this election.”
Watch the McCain ad entitled “Advice,” and decide for yourself:
Your Black News: Black Unemployment Soars
It’s been eight months and Isaiah Washington, 18, is getting frustrated. He’s pounded the pavement knocking on doors and he’s faxed resumes all to no avail.
“It’s tough especially for young Black men” said Washington. “I need a job with benefits, but nothing is out there. I’ve had a few interviews, but they don’t result in nothing.”
Washington has no skills and he’s a high school dropout.
But James Price is frustrated, too. He’s got a college degree and the skills to go along with it. He’s mostly worked in the media and ran his own business for a decade before his cash flow ran dry.
“There is a media crisis,” he said. “Newspapers aren’t hiring and televisions stations are only hiring if you have a good inside contact and you are young and white. Mature, skilled Black people like me need not apply. I’m at the point where I’ll take almost any job that pays me what I’m worth and provides health insurance.”
These are the easy tales of woe found in almost any African-American community in Philadelphia. But these anecdotes and the government’s recently released national unemployment statistics don’t tell the true story about the depth of joblessness in the Black community…
Milly’s Money: Somebody Lied to You About Credit Reports
Brought to you by GreatBlackSpeakers.com, the #1 Black Speakers Bureau in America
MILLY’S MONEY
Somebody Lied to You: Let’s Set the Record Straight
By: Milagros DuBouchet
YourBlackWorld.com
Lie #1: Freecreditreport.com
Have you ever seen those charmingly annoying freecreditreport.com commercials? The commercials with the French guy who lip-synchs melodies in an attempt to capture your heart and most importantly, your credit card? You would think a site called freecreditreport.com would actually give you a credit report for free but sadly, that’s not the case. Next time you watch the commercial, listen closely to the “fine print” that’s narrated afterwards. To make a long story short, you‘ll get a free credit report if you sign up for “Triple Advantage”—a product you actually have to pay for. I hope this justifies your desire to throw your remote control at the TV screen every time these commercials are on [...]
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