1. "Mad as Hell, More Investors File Suit" (Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine). Anne Kate Smith's article addresses the impact of the present credit crisis on class action suits in the past three years. From the research of Dr. Stephanie Plancich, who works for the international consulting firm NERA as a tracker of their securities class-action suits, Smith reports a dramatic increase in the number of filings, which has risen from 131 filings in 2006 (the lowest point in 12 years) to 268 filings last year. Furthermore, compared to an average of $378 million of losses for other cases, investors who filed suits related to the credit crisis have a median of $3.5 billion in total losses, evidently demonstrating the magnitude of this crisis. Most of the complaints that have been filed allege that the products "structured and sold" by the brokers (and banks) were "defective," claiming that the mortgage's quality was not at the level that was specified in the original security statement. However, most of these suits do not generate grand settlements for the plaintiffs (one-third of whom are immediately dismissed, and another two-thirds of whom make a deal before ever heading to court). The reason is that, while the credit-crisis cases are generally large, bankrupt companies cannot afford to pay the full amount of the claim. Thus, the author believes that, between the paperwork and the amount of the final settlement, it "doesn't seem worth the effort" to file these suits initially.
http://kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2009/05/more-investors-file-suit.html
2. At MasterCard's website, I found two credit card offers directed toward college students: the Chase +1(SM) Student MasterCard® and the Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard® for College Students. Of the two, the Citi card has the both the best introductory rate (0% for 6 months vs. 0% for 3 months) and the lowest ongoing rate (APR of prime + 9.99% variable vs. 16.24% variable). However, the Chase card comes with a rewards program that works to ensure that students build sufficient credit toward the future, rather than setting up students for accumulating debilitating college debt. By contrast, the Citi card has no minimum income or co-signer requirement (making it easier to acquire a card if student desperately needs credit) and enables free online account management. Between this array of positive and negative features, I would most likely select the Citi card, which, though absent of the credit-building rewards program, has much better rates overall and enables free online checking, rather than having to pay to track one's account; as well, it is possible to enable credit much faster with the Citi card as it does not require a min. income or co-signer to gain approval.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment