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PODCAST: Bank of America's new charge, the cost of the Peace Corps
Here are today's top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.
Bank of America plans to charge debit card customers a $5 monthly fee starting next year. This was done in reaction to new government limits on what banks can charge store merchants for swiping debit cards.
More evidence of weakness in China's economic growth this morning. The country's manufacturing sector shrank for the third consecutive month.
Here in the U.S., the Commerce Department said that consumers spent a little more last month than they did the month before. But -- they earned less for the first time in 2 years.
A story yesterday about Chinese Internet companies being investigated for accounting irregularities sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq down about a half percent.
In today's podcast exclusive interview, we celebrate the Peace Corps' 50th anniversary this month with a question -- what is it worth today?
Did you miss the story about the Texan (and Bush's buddy) Timothy Halter? He worked with the Chinese to take many of these companies public using a little known scam using shells of bankrupt companies. According to Reuters Aug 1 (link below), it's cost US investors about $18+BILLION.
"A spate of spectacular collapses of Chinese stocks listed on American exchanges has cost U.S. investors billions of dollars. The fiasco has sparked multiple investigations. Accusations are swirling in Washington and Beijing."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-shell-china-idUSTRE7702S520...
