Advanta Bank Corp. is closing down their small business credit cards in an attempt to save itself from bankruptcy. Advanta serves nearly one million small businesses customers with their credit card services. All current credit cards will be frozen by June 1st, 2009. Advanta had been unable to collect on a large chunk of unpaid…
Well the results of the bank stress test are in and according to the results 10 of the largest 19 banks need to raise $75 billion total in order to have a high degree of confidence in surviving the recession. The 3 largest banks needing to raise funds were Bank of America needing $34 billion,…
Schools First FCU‘s, formerly OCTFCU (orange county teachers federal credit union), website appears to be currently down. For those looking to do some online banking at Schools First Credit Union, it looks like you’re going to wait it out until their servers come back up. In the meanwhile, feel free to browse our list of…
After a year of straight losses and government bailouts, the banking giant Citigroup has reported a profit in their first quarter earnings report. After Citi posted a $5.1 billion loss in their first quarter of 2008, they’re getting good results so far in 2009 with $1.6 billion in profit and revenues up 99%. This has…
The number of banks that have failed in 2009 has risen to 23 with New Frontier Bank of Greeley CO and Cape Fear Bank of Wilmington NC being the latest two to be shut down by federal regulators. No bank has failed in North Carolina in 16 years while New Frontier Bank is the second…
Pulte Homes and Centex Corp announced earlier today that they will merge to form the largest housebuilding company in the country in a $3.1 billion deal. It is estimated that the merge will save $250 million in overhead and $100 million in debt annually for an annual savings of $350 million. The merger drove the…
Most of you have heard that AIG which the US owns 80% of and has received $170 billion in bailout money is giving out $165 million in bonuses to traders in their financial products division. The same traders that played a role in creating complicated deals that lead to the economic downturn. So what are…
Believe it or not, American Express is offering some of its customers $300 to close their accounts. That’s right, I said close. I’ve heard of sign up bonuses, but I’ve never heard of a credit card company offering money for customers to leave. According to American Express spokesperson Molly Faust letters have gone out to…
60 Minutes ran a story tonight featuring Nucor Steel, the largest steel manufacturer in the US. Dan DiMicco, the CEO of Nucor, pushed for a “Buy American” clause in the $787 billion stimulus bill that would require American made products to be used in new government funded projects. The idea is that we want to…
The U.S. Mint released the new penny today to commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. It is supposed to show Lincoln’s humble beginnings, but I’ve had a look at them and quite frankly I think they suck and here’s why: 1.) Lincoln’s Log Cabin? I know Lincoln came from a poor upbringing and it’s very impressive that…