5 Facebook Posts That Put You at Risk

Be sure you're not sharing too much information with friends, family and others online.

By Cameron Huddleston, Kiplinger.com

There was a big outcry recently when it was revealed that personal data of Facebook users had been posted to a database open to everyone. (See Congress to Crack Down on Facebook.) Facebook users, naturally, were concerned about their privacy.

Yet, every day Facebook and other social network users publish personal information that could put them at risk without thinking twice. "An awful lot of people think when they get online and communicate with their friends that they are invincible," says Adam Levin, chairman of Identity Theft 911. A seemingly benign post or piece of information could make you a target of identity thieves and traditional crooks. To protect yourself, here are five things you should avoid posting online.

"EVERYTHING’S COMING OUR WAY..."

Those words from Carlos Santana’s song come to mind following last week’s release of the Fed’s September Meeting Minutes, as well as a speech from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The message was pretty clear - another round of Quantitative Easing (QE2) is coming our way! Remember that QE is the concept of the Fed becoming a buyer of Treasuries and Bonds, in a bid to keep interest rates low and therefore stimulate the economy. And while all the talk had Bonds behaving in a volatile fashion - ultimately causing home loan rates to worsen for the week overall - what was said specifically... and what does it mean?

5 Factors to Watch in a Housing Recovery

Although the housing market has come a long way over the past year, the recovery is still very fragile. As one of our Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage managers put it, the market takes one or two steps forward, and then one back. This is often what happens in an economic recovery after the initial burst of improvement. Rarely do recoveries go in a straight line, as much as we’d like them to. Federal tax credits certainly helped bring the market off the bottom, but with their expiration, the question many economists are pondering is what – if anything – is needed to make sure the market doesn’t fall back into a double-dip.

I recently came across an interesting article on Investopedia.com entitled...

Safer Driving... There’s an App for That!

A recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that distracted driving was the leading cause in 448,000 accidents and 5,474 highway deaths in 2009. That represents a 16% increase from 2008.

"EVERYBODY’S WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND...." (Loverboy, 1981) Or... are they?

Unfortunately, many folks out there these days sure wish they were working at all... and the Labor Department reported last Friday that the US lost 95,000 jobs in September. What else did the Jobs Report say and what could the news mean for home loan rates? Read on for details.

Save Money by Shipping Your Luggage

You may spend less by using a shipping company - rather than the airlines - to get your bags to your destination.
By Cameron Huddleston, Kiplinger.com

You may be able to save money by shipping your luggage rather than checking it in the next time you fly. The idea might sound absurd. But if you do the math...

"I CAN NO LONGER STAND HERE WAITING FOR YOU TO DECIDE..."

Those lyrics from the band Chicago’s 1980’s hit sum up the sentiments of many market analysts and traders after last week’s back and forth statements from Fed officials about the possibility of another round of Quantitative Easing... otherwise known as "QE2".
 
As we stated last week, many analysts have been feeling that QE2 was very likely, if we continue to see weak economic reports. But comments made by a number of Fed officials throughout the week indicated that QE2 may still be up in the air. For example, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart stated, "there is growing sentiment that further accommodation through large asset purchases is coming...