For homeowners in trouble, a short sale can be a good alterative to foreclosure. It doesn't help them keep the home, but it can keep the black mark of foreclosure off their credit report. ...more

January 8, 2008

At the world's largest trade show for consumer electronics, starting Monday in Las Vegas, manufacturers will be talking not just about megapixels, megahertz and megabytes, but about smart power adapters that don't waste as much electricity, batteries that are easier to recycle, and components made from plants. ...more

January 4, 2008

An electrical engineer who used to work for General Motor's engineering and research division in Flint, Mich., Dennis Abbey moved to Florida nine years ago. He had built race cars for himself all his life, so starting a business to build cars for other people "was kind of a no-brainer," he says. ...more

January 3, 2008

Washing a dog, especially a big one, is messy. The dog shakes. Dirty, soapy water splashes on the walls. Your knees, your back, or both, hurt from kneeling next to the bathtub. Then there's the big lump of dog hair in the drain. ...more

January 1, 2008

In a booming ringtone market that's becoming increasingly individualized, millions of subscribers have learned to reach beyond the traditional wireless catalog - and bypass a per-song charge that's ventured into the $3-per-song neighborhood. ...more

December 27, 2007

Although strolling through downtown Tampa may never replicate the experience of window shopping on Michigan Avenue in Chicago or New York's Fifth Avenue, 2008 could be the year that downtown Tampa begins to amass enough restaurants, galleries and shops - and buzz - to pique the interest of people accustomed to spending all their time, and money, in the suburbs. ...more

December 19, 2007

Gift cards are more popular this year and are easier to use, thanks to key rulings by the Federal Trade Commission and efforts by a number of states to regulate them, several retail experts said. ...more

December 18, 2007

Prices for big-screen television sets are dropping, but the cost of home entertainment may still be headed up. That's because the fancy screens shoppers are lugging home this holiday season consume far more electricity than their old-school predecessors. ...more

December 14, 2007

Some credit card companies are raising interest rates on good customers even if they pay down their balances on time every month. The reason they cite is that the customer's credit rating has fallen elsewhere. A Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing on credit card practices heard the testimony of people who had a nasty surprise when they thought they were paying down their balances, but it turned out they were only paying off interest. Major credit card companies such as Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have said they will discontinue the practice of raising a customer's interest rate based solely on a change in their credit score. Capital One said its policy is not to change customers' interest rates if their credit scores go down. ...more

December 5, 2007

Other buyers may be found, but the Lightning are focusing on group in turmoil and its $200 million. ...more

November 28, 2007