Latest from Stacey Vanek Smith

• Jul 6, 2010

  Postal Service moves forward on rate hikes, eliminating Saturday service

  

  The U.S. Postal Service meets today to discuss going forward with a rate increase and the elimination of Saturday deliveries.

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• Jul 2, 2010

  More folks opt-in to overdraft protection

  

  Starting today for new account holders, and next month for everybody else, if you try to buy something with your debit card and don't have enough money in your checking account to cover it, your card will be rejected. No more $35 overdraft fee — unless you opt-in to overdraft protection. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.

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• Jun 26, 2010

  Will the bill make us economically safer?

  

  Congressmen negotiated a financial reform bill that both members of the House and the Senate could agree on, but will it keep our economy safe from future financial fall outs? Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson looks at how reform will affect the financial sector and Stacey Vanek Smith looks at how it'll affect the everyday consumer.

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• Jun 23, 2010

  The problems with home mod. program

  

  The Treasury Department's latest report says the Home Affordable Modification Program has only helped about 340,000 people get their loan payments reduced. And more than a third of the borrowers enrolled in the program have dropped out. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.

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• Jun 22, 2010

  Bank overdraft protection will now be optional

  

  Starting next week, people who open a bank account will have to opt-in to overdraft protection, effectively ending the surprise $40 cup of coffee.

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• Jun 19, 2010

  Why so many summer sequels?

  

  This summer, movies playing at your local theater may include "Toy Story, 3" "Shrek 4," and "Sex & the City 2." Notice a trend here? Stacey Vanek-Smith reports on why the line-up at your theater is looking like one big movie flashback.

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• Jun 18, 2010

  Banks aim to make up for lost fees

  

  New credit card reforms have cut into everything from overdraft charges to credit card fees. So now many banks reportedly have plans to scrap free checking as they look for ways to make up for fees lost elsewhere. Stacey Vanek-Smith checks it out.

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• Jun 12, 2010

  Mixed data in sentiment, retail sales

  

  A new survey finds that consumer sentiment — that's how optimistic we feel about the economy — was up more than economists expected, near a 2.5 year high. But the Commerce Department says retail sales fell a percent in May. What gives? Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.

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• Jun 11, 2010

  Why more people quitting jobs is good

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that more people are quitting their jobs than are getting laid off. And that's a good thing. Stacey Vanek Smith explains.

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• Jun 10, 2010

  Big networks sell $9b in ads at upfront

  

  TV's annual sale-a-thon, the upfronts, is finally wrapping up. It was a good year for the networks, especially when you consider that there's a lot more competition for our attention and TiVo makes it easy to whiz past TV ads. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports on why everybody's tuning back into TV.

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