They came, they bid and they went home with some good deals, says the auctioneer who handled last weekend's public auction of government and school district surplus equipment. ...more

November 10, 2008

Credit card delinquencies and charge-offs rose in August as consumers struggled to pay off debt amid a slowing economy, according to Standard & Poor's. ...more

October 12, 2008

The easy money that led Americans to depend on credit cards to pay their bills is starting to dry up. ...more

June 21, 2008

Wall Street plunged again Friday amid renewed fears that the financial sector's troubles with bad credit won't soon end and that some consumers are buckling under the weight of a slowing economy. The major indexes each lost more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrials, which finished down nearly 250 points. ...more

January 12, 2008

Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the past year and prompting warnings of worse to come. ...more

December 24, 2007

A story in today's Highlands Today shows an example of local parents doing an extremely smart thing: investing early in their children's college education. We hope all Floridians find someway to save for such expenses. Andrew and Susan Bible made college funding for their four children a priority. They couldn't sink a lot of cash up front into a plan that locks in tuition rates at Florida public universities for their children, ages 3 through 9, but they could do it in installments. For $200 per month, they are putting money away to help ensure a bright future for their children. And if their children go to colleges or universities outside the state, although the tuition won't be locked in, the money still is available. ...more

December 19, 2007

Target Corp., Limited Brands and Dillard's reported quarterly earnings that trailed analysts' estimates after rising mortgage payments and gasoline prices crimped consumer purchases. ...more

November 21, 2007