| Steer clear of companies offering to fix your credit - Money Matters
Q: I'm 53. After years of taking care of my ill father, I've got about $17,000 in credit card debt. My interest rates have been jacked up because my credit rating is so bad. (I made some late payments during times my dad was in the hospital and life was crazy.) I've heard about places that can fix your credit. I'd like to get caught up on my bills but it's impossible with interest rates of more than 30 percent. Can these places really fix your credit rating? R.I., Lakewood A: Steer clear of these outfits. There are only three types of supposed credit-repair companies: Those that charge hundreds of dollars to write letters to the credit bureaus to dispute negative information on your report. If the information is accurate, it won't be deleted. If it's inaccurate, you can write the letters yourself at no charge.
Willis Lease Finance Earns $3.8 Million in Third Quarter as Lease Revenue Increases 13 Percent
SAUSALITO, Calif., Nov. 13, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NasdaqGM:WLFC - News), a leading lessor of commercial jet engines, today reported that solid growth in its lease portfolio and high utilization of its assets contributed to 13% lease revenue growth in the third quarter of 2007. Third quarter net income totaled $3.8 million, a slight reduction from the first two quarters of 2007, due to a non-cash extinguishment of debt charge of $1.5 million. The after tax impact of the write-off was to reduce earnings in the quarter by $0.10 per diluted share. .
Some Wall Street bonuses to be cut in half
Some Wall Streeters working in mortgage-related businesses will feel the blunt force of the global credit crisis this year when their annual bonuses will be cut as much as 50 percent, according to a report released Friday. Overall, financial firms worldwide are expected to cut bonuses between 5 percent and 10 percent, according to the Options Group compensation report. Profits at top-tier firms like Bear Stearns (Charts, Fortune 500), Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500) and Merrill Lynch (Charts, Fortune 500) have been hit hard by at least $36 billion in writedowns in recent months. "The money in the pool to pay the big bonuses will be less," said Sabin Danziger, a headhunter at Management & Capital Partners. "They can't manufacture money, so they'll pay less." The hardest hit will be the salespeople dealing with mortgage-backed securities, according to Options Group director Eric Moskowitz.
Ailing housing, credit markets likely to sap US economy's energy
WASHINGTON - THE painful collapse of the United States housing market along with the credit crunch will weigh down economic growth in the final three months of this year and cause economic activity to lag in 2008. It all means that the risk of a recession has increased, economic forecasters say. The latest look-ahead from the National Association for Business Economics says the gross domestic product is on track to expand at just a 1.5 per cent pace from October through December. If that proves correct, it would mark a sizable decline from the July-September rate of 3.9 per cent. The group's new fourth-quarter projection compared with September's prediction of a 2.5 per cent growth rate. The GDP - the value of all goods and services produced in the United States- is considered the best barometer of the country's economic fitness.
BROKERWATCH Titan Cement cut to 'underperform' at Credit Suisse on outlook
ATHENS (Thomson Financial) - Broker Credit Suisse cut its rating on Greek Titan Cement to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and lowered its target price to 28 eur from 38 eur because they consider the stock is too expensive given its poor earnings outlook. At 12.55 pm Titan cement was dipping 2.3 pct to 30.98 eur, and the ASE general index was down 1.2 pct at 5,035.1. Credit Suisse said that Titan is trading an 6.8 times its 2008 enterprise value to EBITDA which is an 18 pct premium to its peers, and the broker underlined that this is excessive given that they expect the group to report a decline in earnings in 2008. Operationally the Greek market presents concerns due to increasing evidence of a slowdown in construction and this is compounded by its US business, which the broker expects will grow at rates below its south east European division.
|
