Credit card issuers urged to provide free credit scores

Big banks are being asked to give free credit scores to customers.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked major credit card issuers to provide free scores to consumers in order to help them improve their credit and turn them into more attractive borrowers.

While credit history is used to determine nearly every aspect of our lives -- from whether we land a job to the rates we get on mortgages and car insurance -- lenders are currently only required to provide scores to customers if they deny them credit, give them less favorable rates than the customer applied for or hike their rates.

"Consumers often learn the importance of their credit standing when it is too late: after a credit application is denied or identity theft has occurred," CFPB director Richard Cordray wrote in the letter to credit card companies.

Related: Many consumers don't know why they're denied credit

To see where they stand, consumers often must purchase their scores online through a company like FICO, the leading credit score provider, or they can access some version of their score for free online. The problem is that these scores typically aren't the same ones lenders use to make decisions.

And with one out of every five consumers reporting a mistake on their credit report, it's possible that many people are being denied credit due to inaccuracies that are impacting their scores.

In fact, the three most common complaints the CFPB received about credit reporting since October 2012 have been about accuracy. More than a third of complaints were about an incorrect debt status -- for example, a debt that had already been paid but was still recorded on a credit report as delinquent. Another 11% of consumers complained that a credit reporting company didn't correctly handle a dispute they filed about incorrect information on their report, and 9% said they were unable to access their credit reports or credit scores.

Related: FICO opens up credit scores to small businesses

One positive development for consumers came last year, when FICO announced that lenders are now able to provide FICO scores to customers for free and as regularly as they want. Barclaycard US and First Bankcard (the credit card business of First National Bank of Omaha) were the first to sign on, offering scores with monthly statements, and Discover recently began offering free FICO scores to its customers as well.

FICO has been in talks with other lenders, and expects at least 25 million people to have access to free scores by the end of this year.

"Making this information available through existing channels, such as including credit scores with other online account information and on monthly statements, is likely to yield positive returns that are worth the effort," Cordray said in a statement.

First Published: February 28, 2014: 6:28 AM ET

04.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Police smash "Wolf of Wall Street" scam

LONDON (CNNMoney)

More than 100 people have been arrested in Spain, the United Kingdom., Serbia and the United States on suspicion of money laundering and fraud, according to the London police.

They're suspected of making millions by selling worthless investments to unsuspecting victims, many of them elderly.

As part of the bust, police seized a number of high-end cars, including an Aston Martin, as well as designer clothes, watches, and cash worth more than £500,000 ($836,000).

So far, 850 victims have been confirmed in the U.K., with some saying they lost their life savings. Police say the true victim count could be in the thousands.

The investigation, which started in 2012, focused on busting so-called "boiler rooms" where scammers would cold-call homes and use high-pressure tactics to sell worthless investments.

City of London Police commander Steve Head called the operation "our most important investigation ever."

Police said they shut down 14 boiler rooms in Spain, two in the U.K. and one in Serbia. The majority of the arrests were made in Spain.

Related: New scam targets homeless people

One of the victims, 78-year-old Joan Mayer, lost a six figure sum.

"Discovering the fraud was shattering," she said in a written statement "I was left feeling isolated and it is difficult to explain how humiliated I feel. My lifelong trust in people has been severely damaged."

Police said regular job-seekers are sometimes enticed into working in boiler rooms when they're offered lucrative sales jobs in foreign countries. But in the end, many of those jobs turn out to involve cold-calling people and selling worthless or non-existent investments.

First Published: February 28, 2014: 6:59 AM ET

04.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bitcoin market Mt.Gox files for bankruptcy

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The company filed for bankruptcy protection at a Tokyo court on Friday with debts of 6.5 billion yen ($64 million), Japanese media reported.

Mt.Gox was one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges until earlier this month, when it stopped investors from withdrawing money after discovering that its trading platform was under attack by hackers.

The Tokyo-based company took down its website and halted trading in the virtual currency entirely on Monday. CEO Mark Karpeles said as recently as Wednesday that he was working with "different parties" to resolve the exchange's issues.

Related: 'I lost money with Mt.Gox'

Mt.Gox learned Monday that 1.75 million bitcoins held by the company and its customers had disappeared, according to Teikoku Databank, a Japanese bankruptcy tracking firm.

A cyber attack may have finally killed off the exchange, but it was in dire financial straits long before that.

By its own account, Mt.Gox collected only $380,450 in revenue during most of 2012. It lost 13 times that the next year, when U.S. government agents seized $5 million from its account for allegedly lying on bank documents.

Confidence in the virtual currency has been shaken. It has lost about 50% of its value since trading as high as $1,000 last year.

--CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo contributed to this article.

First Published: February 28, 2014: 7:29 AM ET

04.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

How LEGO got hot ... again

A LEGO rescue-helicopter set, unboxed. ReD's hands-on market research helped the toymaker get "back to the brick."

(Fortune)

The problem was, no one knew quite what the problem was. LEGO had tried different fixes, expanding into new product lines like Click-its (snap jewelry for girls) that didn't look anything like its traditional bricks. Focus groups were no help, recalls Paal Smith-Meyer, who heads new strategy at LEGO, because in the drab test spaces, kids were drawn to bigger blocks, made by competitors, mostly because they thought they were supposed to react to bigger being better. The environment was "false," Smith-Meyer says. And so LEGO set out on a radical new course: to understand the roots of play by observing its customers (kids -- and parents) actually playing in the comfort of their homes.

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Five ways to protect your ideas

(Fortune)

1. You snooze, you lose

Eighty-eight percent of big companies' value is based on their brands, methodologies, content, training systems, and other innovations, and the same holds true for many smaller players, says attorney Andrew Sherman, a partner at Jones Day and the author of Harvesting Intangible Assets. Unfortunately, he says, many firms are "asleep at the switch" and don't protect their assets -- to their peril. Do an intellectual-property audit with your attorney to prevent rivals from monetizing your ideas.

2. Speed counts

Until 2013, you had to prove you invented something first to own it. Now, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the first to file for a patent usually wins, says Dallas intellectual-property attorney Russ Schultz. To beat lumbering Goliaths, apply now for provisional patents, which you can write in a week, to get a year's protection, says Doug Hall, CEO of Cincinnati-area innovation systems company Eureka! Ranch. "To the nimble go all the rewards," he says.

3. Lock down contracts

Insist that contractors for creative projects like writing software sign an ironclad work-for-hire agreement that says you own the copyright. Otherwise, the law assumes that they own it. Also, have staffers sign employment contracts that assign you ownership of their inventions. Have you forgotten to do this? "Now is the time to get it fixed," says Sherman -- especially if you plan to sell the firm. Prospective buyers will walk if you're missing this paperwork.

4. Play offense

Jeremy Brandt, whose Dallas real estate investing firm We Buy Houses owns the trademark to its brand, knows he has to stop infringers so he doesn't lose control of the trademark. He has a team of legal interns track unauthorized uses -- and the company's efforts to stop copycats -- in its customer relations management system. Once warned that they're infringing on a federally protected trademark, some violators ask to license the brand. "This has helped our sales process," he says.

5. Hire legal veterans

You'll be better off with seasoned pros in a boutique law firm than with inexperienced associates in a giant firm. "The quality is better and cost is lower if you can work with senior partners who have been doing patent prosecution for a long time," says Andrew Levi, founder of Dallas digital marketing and analytics firm Blue Calypso. He has used that strategy to obtain and protect five patents, with six pending -- vastly increasing the firm's value. (For more on patents, see "Silicon Valley's Secret Force.")

Verne Harnish is the CEO of Gazelles Inc., an executive education firm. Read more:

Five ways to make it in the U.S.A.
How to bust through barriers to business growth
What Costco can teach you about cash
Is it okay for a company to have co-CEOs?

This story is from the March 17, 2014 issue of Fortune.

First Published: February 27, 2014: 7:23 AM ET

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Secret's in the sauce

More than 20% of Vox Media employees are developers and designers, CEO Jim Bankoff says.

(Fortune)

You've probably read something in a Vox Media publication in the past year. The young company publishes the sports blog SBNation, the gaming site Polygon, and the tech site the Verge. In November, CEO Jim Bankoff paid a reported $25 million to purchase Curbed Networks, publisher of the eponymous real estate news site as well as Eater (dining) and Racked (retail). In the last year, these six sites have seen their readership grow more than 75%. Taken collectively, Vox marshals an online audience larger than that of the Post or Forbes.

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Apple fixes security flaw for Macs

Apple issued a security fix for Macs four days after hole was patched for mobile devices.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The software update patches a security hole in OS X, the operating system for Apple computers. It comes four days after the same bug was fixed for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, which run on iOS software.

The issue was first disclosed on Friday when Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) released the security patch for mobile devices.

Security experts said there was no evidence hackers discovered the issue before Apple disclosed it, but Mac users were potentially vulnerable since then.

Left unfixed, hackers could potentially read private communications sent over Apple devices, including emails, instant messages, social media posts and even online bank transactions.

Related: BlackBerry unveils new Q20 phone

Those communications usually happen over secure channels. But an error in Apple's code could allow hackers on the same network as the user to view private information, security expert Dmitri Alperovitch told CNNMoney.

So for the most part, Apple users were vulnerable when using an unsecured network at places like a coffee shop or airport.

The software update was issued for both Mavericks and Mountain Lion versions of OS X. Older versions were not vulnerable to the security hole, according to an Apple spokesman.

First Published: February 25, 2014: 8:23 PM ET

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

China currency weakness shocks investors

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

For years, investors have viewed the steady appreciation of the Chinese currency as one of the few things in life they could count on. Indeed, it's gained about 10% since the middle of 2010.

But markets have been shocked in recent days by a sudden change in direction -- the yuan has fallen 1% against the dollar over the past six days.

One dollar now buys 6.12 yuan, up from a low of 6.04 in late January.

That may seem like a small move, but it's significant for a currency that is tightly controlled and allowed to trade only within a narrow range.

Analysts see the hand of the People's Bank of China in the reversal -- but it's not clear exactly what the central bank is up to.

The move could be part of an effort to put the squeeze on "hot money" -- a term used to describe cash drawn in from foreign markets where interest rates are low, and invested in Chinese assets in the hope of much higher returns.

"The [central bank] could have felt these inflow pressures were excessive and were based off aggressive appreciation expectations, which it has now managed to curb," HSBC analysts wrote in a research note.

Related story: Beijing loses billions as rich skip taxes

The authorities may also be laying the groundwork for a more flexible exchange rate in the long term, especially as Beijing pushes ahead with economic reforms aimed at giving markets a great role in the economy.

Signs of economic weakness could also be contributing to the currency's decline. Factory activity has stumbled in recent months, setting off alarm bells about the pace of growth. And investors remain worried about the risks building in the country's shadow banking system after a period of rapid credit expansion.

Related story: Chinese snap up fine art for use in laundering schemes

The yuan's decline, should it persist, will prove a major headache for investors that were betting on the currency's steady rise.

Financial products that depend on the yuan's appreciation -- including some complicated derivatives -- are popular with investors in Asia. The bets had been rock solid, but investors are now likely rushing to sell.

The most likely scenario, however, is that this abrupt shift will soon reverse. And investors should be better prepared next time the currency hits a speed bump.

"We think that this week's heartburn about China's currency management is a sign of things to come," Eurasia Group analysts said.

"As Beijing gives up the reins of its currency and the domestic banking sector, however slowly, by definition its ability to smooth the business cycle with currency interventions and stimulus will diminish."

First Published: February 26, 2014: 5:36 AM ET

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stocks: Holding steady as earnings flow

Click on chart to track premarkets

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Barnes & Noble (BKS, Fortune 500), Target (TGT, Fortune 500), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and TJX (TJX, Fortune 500) are all set to release earnings before the market opens.

Then, after the close, Baidu (BIDU) and J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) will report results.

U.S. stock futures were ticking higher ahead of the opening bell.

Among the companies set for gains when the market opens is Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD).

The global brewer, which makes popular beers including Budweiser and Stella Artois, reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results and outlined plans to boost sales during the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Credit Suisse (CS) shares could slip after a Senate report released Tuesday outlined how the Swiss bank helped clients hide billions from the IRS. The bank's executives will appear before the Senate Wednesday.

Shares in First Solar (FSLR) are set for a big fall after reporting earnings that missed expectations. The stock was down by roughly 15% premarket.

Gun company Sturm Ruger (RGR) reported gains in sales and profit after the close Tuesday.

Related: Fear & Greed Index, still greedy

In economic news, data on January sales of new homes will be announced at 10 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Investors are also awaiting testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday, which is likely to affect market sentiment.

U.S. stocks slipped slightly Tuesday. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all fell modestly.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

European markets were broadly lower in morning trading. The FTSE 100 in London was declining by roughly 0.4%.

Asian markets ended with mixed results -- the main indexes in Australia and Japan moved slightly lower while other markets posted gains.

The yuan has been dropping in recent days, shaking confidence in the typically robust Chinese currency.

The price of Bitcoin continued to slide following the shutdown Monday of leading exchange Mt. Gox.

First Published: February 26, 2014: 5:29 AM ET

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Detroit reaches deal on retiree health care

Protestors oppose cuts to healthcare coverage for city of Detroit retirees.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"We're happy we're able to reach any agreement short of protracted litigation," Nowling said. "Things are starting to move in the bankruptcy case and we think it's moving in a positive way."

The cost of providing health care coverage for retirees accounted for about half of the $11.5 billion in unsecured debt that the city cited in its July 18 bankruptcy filing. The plan presented by Orr calls for using the bankruptcy court process to slash those debts to $2 billion.

Related: $330 million deal could save art in bankrupt Detroit

The tentative deal only covers the cost of health care, not pension benefits, which also could be cut in the city's bankruptcy reorganization. Pension benefits have some protections under the Michigan state constitution, but it is not clear whether those protections mean anything in the bankruptcy court process. The retiree health care coverage has even fewer legal protections.

The city has provided health care coverage to retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare that is similar to what active employees get. It has also offered a supplemental Medicare policy.

In October, the city announced plans to end health care coverage for retirees not yet eligible for Medicare. Instead, those retirees would get a $125-a-month stipend to buy coverage on their own, either through the Obamacare exchanges or a current employer.

Michigan governor offers $350 million bailout for Detroit pensions

But first because of problems with the Obamacare web sites, and then at the request of mediators, the city delayed cutting those benefits. They were due to take effect March 1.

There had been a hearing in bankruptcy court set for Feb 3, to hear a legal challenge to these benefit cuts. But on Friday, mediators in the case announced the two sides had reached an agreement and that the legal challenge would be dropped.

Details of the agreement still need to be worked out, according to Nowling. And it will need to be approved by bankruptcy court judge Steven Rhodes.

Rhodes has already rejected a previous agreement between Orr and two major banks that hold city debt, the Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and UBS (UBS). That agreement was also backed by mediators, so it's not certain that Rhodes will approve the deal.

Spokespeople for the city's unions were not available for comment Friday.

First Published: January 31, 2014: 2:41 PM ET

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Will Obama's pledge get the unemployed back to work?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

But actually hire them? Their pledge doesn't go quite that far.

On Friday, the White House unveiled a pact signed by 300 companies that have agreed to implement new best practices intended to stamp out discrimination against the long-term unemployed -- generally defined as those who have been out of work for six months or longer.

"Because they've been unemployed ... so long, folks are looking at that gap in the résumé and they're weeding them out before these folks even get a chance for an interview," Obama told CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive interview Thursday.

The companies pledge not to post job ads that discourage applicants who are unemployed. For example, in some cases, job listings would use language such as "applicants must be currently employed.'

They also agree to review their procedures so they don't inadvertently discriminate against applicants with long gaps in their résumés, and they commit to cast a broad net in recruiting.

The question is whether these steps will have any meaningful effect. Will they lead to jobs or even help remove some of the stigma that the long-term unemployment face?

Related: 'I just want a job'

Jamie May and Lena Rouse know that stigma first hand. Both have been unemployed for over a year now.

May feels she's being discriminated against for two reasons: The gaps in her résumé and her age (she's 56). But in interviews, employers just keep telling her she's overqualified.

"The discrimination is very covert. It's not blatant, but that doesn't mean it's not there," May said. "When I first read about the 300 companies, I thought 'it's just a bunch of talk'."

Rouse would prefer to see the White House push for tax credits for hiring the long-term unemployed.

"A pledge sounds like a waste of time," said Rouse. "Businesses are for-profit. If there are concerns about higher costs with hiring the long-term unemployed, then we should find financial incentives to make the long-term unemployed the preferred hires."

Companies like Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), Dell, Walmart, (WMT, Fortune 500) Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500)and Ford (F, Fortune 500) have already taken Obama's pledge. But the White House also made clear that signing it didn't mean the 300 companies were discriminating against the unemployed.

It's more about sending a message, said Mike Evangelist, a policy analyst with the National Employment Law Project.

"I think it's an important first step," he said. "You're talking about changing attitudes, but it's not going to directly create new jobs."

When reporters asked just how many people would be helped by the pledge, the White House wouldn't answer that question.

"This pledge is saying that those who are long-term unemployed should get a fair shot," Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, said on a conference call Thursday.

Are you unemployed? Share your story with CNNMoney

As of December, about 4 million Americans were counted as unemployed for more than 27 weeks. Efforts backed by Obama to extend a federal program providing jobless benefits to that group fell flat earlier this month in Congress.

New Jersey, Oregon and the District of Columbia already have laws in place, prohibiting job ads that discriminate against the unemployed. In 2011, the President tried to get Congress to pass a nationwide law, prohibiting discrimination based on unemployment status. Bills were introduced in the Senate and House, but little progress was made.

First Published: January 31, 2014: 2:36 PM ET

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

What Americans think about Obama's myRA plan

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

But not everyone thinks the new plans are a great deal. The accounts, which will launch in a pilot program later this year and will eventually be available to any worker who gets paid through direct deposit and earns below a certain threshold, has elicited a wide range of reaction.

CNNMoney heard from dozens of readers about the president's plan. From disbelievers to eager savers, here's a sampling of where America stands on myRAs:

"Why would anyone consider giving a broke and bankrupt government any more of your money? That's foolish," said 62-year-old reader Steve Keller.

Related: What you need to know about Obama's 'myRA' retirement accounts

Yet, people from a range of ages and financial situations expressed enthusiasm for myRA, saying they would sign up immediately if able. Some don't have access to workplace savings plan, while others said they like the idea of supplementing their savings with the account, which would allow them to save up to $5,500 a year until the account balance reaches $15,000.

In previous years, 36-year-old Grand Prairie, Texas resident Angel Malone had both retirement and other savings set aside. But after weathering four months of unemployment last year and taking a significant pay cut, Malone now says she has less than $1,000 in savings.

Malone, who as a contract worker doesn't receive retirement benefits, said myRA could help her start saving again.

"Being able to start it with a small contribution (is) very affordable at this point for me," she said. "These days anything saved is a help over $0."

Many readers were worried they would not have enough money to live on in retirement and hoped the new plan could help their situation.

"I'm going to be pretty much dependent on Social Security. But I would like to continue saving," said 67-year-old Kathryn Riss, who stopped saving for retirement after losing her job in 2008. While she found a new job in 2009, she now earns around a third of what she used to and doesn't receive retirement benefits.

She and her husband keep the modest savings they do have in money market accounts, which earn less than 1%. The myRA, on the other hand, will invest in government savings bonds and provide returns of around 2% to 3%, depending on interest rates.

Riss said they would like the security and slightly higher returns that the government-backed accounts would offer. "We don't want something that's really volatile and where there's high risk," she said.

Related: Will you have enough to retire?

But other readers weren't sold. Alaska resident John Baumeister, 43, said he would never put his retirement savings in an investment with such a modest return. While Baumeister receives pension benefits from his job as a firefighter, he also invests in a traditional Roth IRA.

"2% interest is pathetic," he said. "Inflation will swallow your buying power at that rate."

Torrington, Conn. resident Dave Elwell is 24, earns a modest income as a mason's apprentice and receives no retirement benefits, making him the target audience for the myRA program.

Yet, in Elwell's opinion, "myRA is little more than worthless" for a young saver due to the minimal returns.

Instead, he said he will continue to contribute 10% of his pay to the Roth IRA account that he set up around six months ago with an online broker. Elwell said he splits his savings among five mutual funds, which are heavily invested in stocks and have been earning double digit annual returns.

"(Obama is) making it seem like people can take money and put it in this account and really have something special," he said. "But after inflation, what will that really be worth?"

First Published: January 31, 2014: 2:50 PM ET

04.32 | 0 komentar | Read More