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- American Express Delivers Solid Second Quarter Results
Second quarter profits at credit card company American Express nearly triples, and came in well ahead of analyst estimates, as spending by card holders vaulted 16 per cent. American Express also benefited from having to put away less than half as much money to cover losses as it did in the previous year. "While spending among affluent consumers and businesses remains strong, today's card members are borrowing less and paying down more of their outstanding debt. We remain cautious about the economy and the challenging regulatory environment." chairman and chief Executive Kenneth Chenault said. - E*Trade Posts Second Quarter Profit
E*Trade Financial the online brokerage company has returned to profitability after posting second quarter profits for the first time in three years. The company has not faired well after its business was negatively impacted by bad loans made by its banking division, which reported its seventh consecutive drop in loan loss provisions. - War of Words Erupts Between CBA and NAB
A war of words has erupted between two of the big four lenders, with Ralph Norris chief executive of CBA, lashing out at NAB’s claims that the lender is making super profits in mortgage lending. The banking oligopoly in Australia is normally a cozy affair, and Mr. Norris criticizing a rival is indeed surprising. - Macquarie Looking To Sell Stake In Sprint Finance Corp
Australian investment banking major Macquarie is seeking offers valued at approximately US$3.5 billion for Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Sprint Finance Corp. If a deal is successful, it would be the largest sale of a U.S. based REIT in over three years. The Bloomberg news service which cited unnamed sources close to the negotiations saying three publicly traded REIT’s including Lexington Realty Trust, National Retail Properties and Realty Income Corp have been approached recently. According to the sources several Private Equity firms have also expressed their interest in Sprint. - EBay Has Good Second Quarter But Sees Currency Headwinds Affecting Future Performance
EBay, the online auction site and owner of PayPal has reported second quarter profits which were better than expected, but threw a note of caution saying it expects adverse currency movements to have a negative impact on overseas sales. According to the Bloomberg news service, Ebay’s Second-quarter net income rose 26 percent to $412.2 million, or 31 cents a share, from $327.3 million, or 25 cents a share. The company delivered earnings of 40 cents a share, with the average estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg predicting the company would earn 38 cents a share. - Read more featured finance news articles
- Five Tips For Borrowing Using A Personal Loan
Personal loans can be amongst the cheapest way to borrow, but we can’t help but stress how important what the reason you are borrowing the money for. If you are looking to finance a new flat screen television or go on holiday, or any other luxury, a personal loan is not your best option. Fortunately the financial crisis has made most people more aware of their finances and changed the way they think about borrowing. - Six Debt Myths Busted
Trying to pay off debt that has piled up can make borrowers feel very scared and vulnerable. Often those who find themselves struggling to pay off a mountain of debt end up fearful over what the future may hold, don’t know whom to turn to or what to do.That kind of insecurity is usually a result of inability to decide what to do and what the consequence of a particular course of action are. Many people confuse fact with fiction when trying to decide how to solve their problems so in this post, we try separate truth from fiction. - Nine Credit Card Pitfalls
No matter how responsible you are when it comes to credit cards, they still come with a number of pitfalls. As soon as you navigate your way past one, yet another emerges. Here are 9 credit card pitfalls. The Debt That Never Ends. The minimum payment on many credit cards barely meet the interest being incurred on your debt, which means if you only ever make the minimum, you’re debt will never reduce and seem to be endless. Occasionally a card will be offered with such a low minimum monthly payment, that your debt ends up actually growing. - Nine More Credit Card Pitfalls
In the first part of this series we looked at nine credit card pitfalls. As we said previously, even for the most responsible users credit cards represent a minefield so here are nine more pitfalls you should be aware of. Insurance offers that credit cards tend to present are horribly over-priced. You should avoid signing up to these and instead look on the internet for a better deal. - Three Ways To Save A Bit Of Cash In A Low Interest Rate Environment
With governments globally raising income tax rates globally in their response to fiscal deficits run up during their attempt to deal with the financial crisis, it is becoming increasingly difficult to save. In Australia, fortunately the government so far has yet to raise tax rates, the top marginal tax rate is the same as it was last year however it is still at a hefty 45 per cent. - Money For Nothing – The Chicks Aint Free
If you were to approach the manager of your local branch and ask him or her how to get free credit, the chances are not very high that they will fork over the information so easily. Of course it is completely possible to borrow money interest free, and we will explain three methods of doing so. - Read more finance hints and tips
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