May 23, 2012
My husband and I gave our daughter $40,000 for a down payment on a condo. She defaulted on the loan and went into foreclosure. Consequently, our credit score has tanked. How can we get our old great credit back? Nobody cares that we were not the ones who defaulted. Please help. Cathy, Redmond, OR
May 16, 2012
JC Penney stock is currency down percent after the company reported that customer traffic is down, sales are down, and the quarterly loss was bigger than expected. The company had hired Ron Johnson, the man behind Apple Stores, to make JC Penney more fashionable.
May 15, 2012
We'll know more later this morning with the latest retail sales figures for April. The forecast is for sales to be down after mild weather pushed extra spending into the first three months of the year. But at least one segment of the retail sector has been hanging on to growth.
May 14, 2012
Our weekly dive into the mail bag, and L.A. Times personal finance columnist David Lazarus helps a caller with a question about record-keeping.
May 10, 2012
Credit card companies already get a piece of the transaction when consumers use PayPal or Bango to make payments with mobile technology. But can they really compete in the new world of mobile payment?
Apr 30, 2012
A small business incubator seeks to revitalize a neighborhood in Oakland through a handful of pop-up stores that have no plans to close.
Apr 24, 2012
My friend is 24 and a young mother. She has never had a credit card and she wants to build her credit. Her income is somewhat limited at the moment because she has a new baby and only works part-time, but she wants to be able to pay for small daily expenses with a card that she can pay off in full every month. She is not seeking a large credit line. Even $100 would be sufficient. Can you provide some advice on what kind of card and where to start for someone looking to build good credit? Should she try prepaid credit cards? Any advice would be most sincerely appreciated. Esmeralda, Marlborough, MA
Apr 16, 2012
Peer-to-peer lending, also called social lending, is bringing together online individual lenders and individual borrowers for a fee. They cut out banks and other mainstream lenders. The innovation appears to be working.
Apr 16, 2012
Retail numbers faced their second month of strength in March, helped by the warm weather and the early Easter holiday.
Apr 16, 2012
The Commerce Department reports retail sales rose more than expected in March, by a solid 0.8 percent.
