What you can learn from this ebook

You’ve probably been receiving privacy notices from banks and other financial companies. These notices
explain:

• What personal financial information the company collects

• Whether the company intends to share your personal financial information with other companies

• What you can do, if the company intends to share your personal financial information, to limit some of that sharing

• How the company protects your personal financial information.

Financial companies share information for many reasons: to offer you more services, to introduce new products, and to profit from the information they have about you. If you like to know about other products and services, you may want your financial company to share your personal financial information; in this case, you don’t need to respond to the privacy notice. If you prefer to limit the promotions you receive or do not want marketers and others to have your personal financial information, you must take some important steps.

First, it is important to read these privacy notices. They explain how the company handles and shares your personal financial information. Keep in mind that not all privacy notices are the same. This guide tells you about the other steps you can take to help protect the privacy of your personal financial information.

Just like at a funeral, at the beginning of the recession people were mourning. The clothes told the story: people would be wearing black and other drab colors while going to work. It was like that for the past year, ever since the fall of Lehman Brothers. Now, that things are finally starting to perk up a bit, those who have jobs are starting to wear colorful clothes again.

Men’s ties are being seen as an economic indicator. Because men’s ties are a cheap way to change a wardrobe, it is typically the first thing that outwardly indicates that, not only are these guys going out and buying clothes, but they are buying bight colors again.

This is just one of the many economic indicators that have been noted in the past few months. Another, and funnier in my opinion, indicator was the underwear index. Men were going out and purchasing more underwear and that was supposedly an indicator that the economy was going to perk up a bit more.

Another indicator is piles of garbage outside restaurants. The piles indicate that people are eating out again, which is one of the signs that the economy (really) is picking up again. Anytime people have disposable income to go to a restaurant and eat it is a good sign for not only the restaurant but the overall economy as well.

While a lot of data was used to compile this information, of course, some of it could be misread messages. Men could be wearing bright colored ties because it’s warm outside and they want to reflect the weather. Restaurants are using promotions to bring people in the doors more now than ever. Men need underwear and if they haven’t bought any new undies since the fall of Lehman Brothers, then perhaps it is time for them to get some new underpants.

I would like for the recession to see an end as much as everyone else, but are we grasping at straws by putting money into studies like this one?

Source

Well, it turns out many customers are having a hard time redeeming these coupons. Quiznos is a franchised chain and the stores have to buy all their food from corporate, but corporate makes the store pay  for all the food used in promotions.

This has led many people to be messed over by the promotion, both in store and customers. Stores are flat out refusing to allow the coupon or are offing discounts in place of a free sandwich.

The Consumerist reported several people not being able to redeem their coupons and many are still commenting on the site about how they are unable to redeem their coupons.

Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Jeffries said even in the weak economy Abercrombie will not be offering deals at the same level as its competitors.

“We are not promotional, and by promotional I mean 50 percent off a category or buy one get 17 free, somebody whispering to you about a secret sale. We don’t do stuff like that,” Jeffries said in a conference call with investors. “We do take clearance markdowns as a natural rhythm of the business and we’re strategic about how we take markdowns.”

So, even though it is attempting to “cut costs” the store will not be offering discounts or promotions on items that obviously fewer people are buying because they “don’t do stuff like that.” Well, people won’t buy “stuff like that” until they can afford it, which could be awhile.

Source

Reports have been popping up over the internet that the checks given out by the company are or will start bouncing.

According to SlickDeals.net here are some of the companies known to use CPG:

* Acronis Software
* ACTIVSION
* Advance Auto Parts
* Antec
* AVG
* Bed Bath & Beyond
* BIC Corporations US – Shaver Division
* BFG
* Bridgevine
* Canon
* Citibank
* costco
* Fujitsu
* Home Depot
* Logitech
* Motorola (Surfboard cable modems)
* Natures Earth Products
* Nero
* Panda Distribution
* Pandigital
* PC Tools
* PriceGrabber
* Rosewill (Newegg house brand)
* Samsung
* Smith Micro Software
* Tabletops Unlimited
* TrendNET
* Westinghouse
* XFX
* ZeroTherm
* Zyxel

Walt Disney Co. said today that bookings for its theme parks have declined “considerably.”

When thousands, if not millions, of people are losing their jobs…I don’t think “going to Disney World” is on the top of the list anymore. Even with specials and promotions, the parks are still expensive. If you wanted a ticket (plus Park Hopper) for admission to Disney World for one day, it would be $125 a person!

I guess that’s why I haven’t been…

The economy is so bad that one of the largest broadcasting companies in the nation has to cut back. I suppose Americans don’t have the time to spend watching tv anymore…or they shouldn’t be?

In the report about the cut, it did not say whether NBC was doing poorly with the current economic conditions, but if it is doing o.k. then why would it start firing employees? To me that just adds to the downturn.