Week of November 30th, 2009

Marketplace staffers share the stories that you may not have noticed in the headlines this week — from virtual marriage to North Korean designer jeans. (And yes, Brendan, there were sidewalk Santas.)

How do you cope when part of your job is telling other people they've lost theirs? Dozens of human resource workers are turning to a Minnesota company that allows them to commiserate. Sean Cole reports.

Nissan and luxury car makers are no-shows at this year's L.A. Auto Show, but the Los Angeles Times' Dan Neil tells Kai Ryssdal there's still plenty of innovation to behold.

Kai Ryssdal sizes up the week's events on Wall Street and beyond with Leigh Gallagher from Fortune magazine and The Atlantic's Megan McArdle.

What do you do if you're a lawmaker and you need to raise money? Congressional Democrats have an answer in mind — a new tax on trades on Wall Street. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports on how it might work.

Capitol Hill lawmakers considering new regulations for the financial industry will be watching the Supreme Court on Monday as it hears arguments in a case about the last, big financial reform law known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. John Dimsdale reports.

November's unemployment figures overall were positive, with the jobless rate dropping two percentage points to 10%. However, the number of people who have been looking for work for more than six months is increasing. Mitchell Hartman reports.

Question: I'm currently single and about to turn 30. I have been able to live below my means since college, saving about 30% of my income per year….

In South Africa today, they drew the match-ups for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament. 32 countries. 8 groups. Charlize Theron. David Beckham…

Lauren Silverman is only a senior in college, but she's already focused on becoming a financially independent woman. She explains why she's made learning the ins and outs of investing a priority in her life.

Women still get paid less than men for the same work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports on how women can begin to chip away at the disparity.

The Federal Housing Authority has revealed new requirements for mortgage qualification, while the pressure is on to modify mortgages that already exist. Tess Vigeland explains.

Personal finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston helps Tess Vigeland answer listeners' questions about the risks of having a credit limit higher than you'll ever use, and whether to take an offer for a "hardship plan" to pay off debt.

Bob Sullivan, who covers Internet scams and consumer fraud for MSNBC.com, talks with Tess Vigeland about why debt cancellation services are not as good as they sound.

The latest pyramid scheme comes to us in a new format: personalized videos. Rico Gagliano reports on what some people are referring to as "cash gifting."

David McPherson, president of financial planning firm Four Ponds Financial, talks with Tess Vigeland about how investors can avoid another Bernie Madoff scenario.

China Gorman, an executive with the Society for Human Resource Management, talks with Tess Vigeland about the advice job placement counselors are giving recently laid-off workers.

If you've received a student loan lately, chances are you have the government to thank. Private lending has been in short supply. Now, Congress is considering eliminating the middleman completely. Bob Moon reports.

This morning, the Federal Communications Commission sent a letter to Verizon Wireless asking the company: What's up with doubling the penalties…

Michael Zimmer sees the new Facebook privacy changes as being counterproductive to the company's bottom line. Unless it's all a big trick….

One of the hottest topics on the blog lately has been the proposal to tax Wall Street transactions such as stock trades. At first, I thought this…

Good morning. Finally, a jobs report we can call encouraging. After months and months of substantial losses, the job market flattened out in…

Bank of America says it raised more than $19 billion to pay back the taxpayers' bailout money. What about Citigroup? Amy Scott reports.

The unemployment rate is still high at 10%, but job losses plunged in November. Economist Harm Bandholz talks about what the latest numbers mean with Bill Radke.

The National Institutes of Health recently approved 13 stem-cell lines for scientific research, and an advisory panel may approve 20 more. John Dimsdale reports on what the move could mean for medical research.

Projecting what the climate will be like several decades from now is no easy task. So British scientists are looking to the past for help. Christopher Werth reports.

After a deal to sell its Swedish unit fell through, GM is trying to figure out what to do with Saab. So how do Saab dealers sell cars when they don't know what the future holds? Alisa Roth reports.

Which country faces the highest unemployment rate among its population that is below 25 years of age? Stephan Richter of TheGlobalist.com quizzes Steve Chiotakis.

European correspondent Stephen Beard talks with Steve Chiotakis about the latest skirmish over scientific evidence for global warming.

The Labor Department's reading on November unemployment will soon be released. Economists say job losses probably slowed last month. Amy Scott reports.

Marketplace Morning Report for Friday, December 4, 2009

Each week on Marketplace Money, host Tess Vigeland looks at the week's major national and international stories that will impact the average listener's wallet.

Marketplace Tech Report for December 04, 2009

Technology offers easy convenience, but it can also provide easy annoyances. Consumer Reports looks at what annoys us most.

http://gizmodo.com/5418253/special-forces-solders-could-be-zooming-into-combat-wearing-gryphon-steath-wingsuits…

Sherman Wilburn of Minneapolis has often given his time and money to others in need. Now he finds himself asking for help. He talks with Kai Ryssdal about the difficult times facing him and his family.

Donors to charities get satisfaction from thinking their money is going to a particular person or project with which they then have a special relationship. But those relationships sometimes aren't so special. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

Douglas Coupland's first novel, "Generation X," got him credit for naming a whole generation. His new novel, "Generation A," comes full circle, taking readers through a world where interpersonal communication is a dying art. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.

Nobody really expects a binding treaty to come out of the U.N. Climate Change Conference that begins next week in Copenhagen, but that hasn't stopped advertisers from trying to sell the idea of one. Sarah Gardner reports.

Bank of America says it's finally able to pay back the $45 billion bailout it got from taxpayers last fall. Seeing as how it wasn't all that long ago that the company was on the ropes, we asked reporter Steve Henn to explain the turnaround.

As President Obama convened his "jobs summit" with business and labor leaders there was plenty of news about the conundrum he's facing — a decline in the service sector and retail sales. So Bob Moon asked economic experts how we might jump-start the economy.

Much has been written and said about Comcast's plan to buy a controlling chunk of NBC Universal from General Electric and what it will mean for NBC. But what about the impact on GE? Jeremy Hobson has that story.

You've probably seen that Bank of America plans to return the $45 billion it got from the taxpayers. That's pretty amazing considering where B of…

… to guard against malware….

It was a vivid power struggle at Ben Bernanke's Senate renomination hearing today. Bernanke resisted calls to audit the Federal Reserve or cut…

This is kind of a follow-up to the discussion yesterday about online news content. In the search for an effective strategy, The Dallas Morning…

proto-social network Friendster attempts a relaunch for kids who like cheesiness.

Question: I recently started back to work part-time now that our two children are older and my husband took a 50% pay cut. I teach as an adjunct…

Today, the White House focuses on the country's unemployment rate with a jobs summit designed to generate solutions. Newt Gingrich is offering his…

Comcast will pay just under $14 billion for a majority share of NBC Universal. New York bureau chief Amy Scott talks about the deal with Steve Chiotakis.

President Obama kicks off a summit in Washington to share ideas for tackling unemployment. New York bureau chief Amy Scott talks the details with Steve Chiotakis.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is proposing a first-of-its-kind tax on the tuition students pay to attend universities within the city's limits. Mark Noorbaar reports.

Economics correspondent Chris Farrell talks with Bill Radke about the college market, where enrollment is swelling right along with tuition — at a time when people can least afford it.

The European Central Bank is taking steps to see if lenders are ready to stand on their own. Stephen Beard reports.

Good morning. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke faces a Senate confirmation hearing today. Let's start with that:…

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is facing tough questions from members of the Senate Banking Committee as he seeks another term. John Dimsdale reports.

Protesters are commemorating one of the worst industrial disasters ever to take place. BusinessWeek reporter Mehul Srivastava talks with Steve Chiotakis about the Union Carbide gas leak on its 25th-year anniversary.

Online shopping is up this year, so it seems like it'd be an easy thing to get into. But small startups say it's anything but. Mitchell Hartman reports.

Bank of America has reached a deal to pay back $45 billion in bailout money. New York bureau chief Amy Scott talks with Steve Chiotakis about what the terms of the deal are.

Marketplace Morning Report for Thursday, December 3, 2009

Marketplace Tech Report for December 03, 2009

What are the essential bits of information you need to know about computers to navigate our digital world?

The Federal Reserve gave its latest take on the economy today, with the release of the "beige book." I'd say beige is an appropriate color for…

http://current.com/items/89610631_japan-robot-nation.htm

Question: The new credit card interest rules [say] any payment amount over the minimum would be applied to the Higher Interest Balances when the…

Sounds like an Onion headline but it's a neat bit of history reporting that parallels with the net neutrality debate quite nicely.

Your mom's internet provider has been kicked out of the Time-Warner house and now must go it alone. Their plan: Freelance content ad algorithm…

Decades of violent conflict in Afghanistan have left much of the country homeless, hungry and jobless. Greg Mortenson is trying to address those problems by building schools there. He joins Kai Ryssdal to talk about his efforts.

Kai Ryssdal reviews listener comments about paying with cash instead of plastic, interest-rate swaps, the "slow media" movement, a proposed tax on cosmetic surgery, and more.

Commentator and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich will be in attendance at a White House jobs summit on Thursday. He offers a sneak preview of what he plans to say there.

Just as when it lowered prices on books and DVD's, Wal-Mart's decision to cut video game prices by $10 has led to a big drop in the stock prices of competing retailers. With that much power, can Wal-Mart cause deflation? Jeremy Hobson reports.

Some publishers, most notably Rupert Murdoch, have complained that Google is taking advantage of their sites by offering their paid content for free. Now Google has decided to play nice — sort of. Alisa Roth reports.

Dollars will be a significant part of the U.S. arsenal in the ramped-up battle against the Taliban. Money will also be widely distributed as development aid. Steve Henn reports on the many uses of cold, hard cash in the battle for hearts and minds.

If we reach the point where the dollar isn't worth the paper it's printed on, perhaps the answer will be — Origami. Might as well turn something…

Sir, in this post, I will be linking to a variety of source material, which I found through Google News. I'm not paying one red cent for it, and…

The numbers out from ADP Employer Services aren't promising for the private jobs sector. Bill Radke talks to David Wyss, chief economist at S&P Research.

General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson is out of the job, but who does the auto maker have in mind to replace him? Amy Scott explains why the company may benefit from changing its normal tactic of hiring from within.

Cargo ships from Asia have brought over a species of carp that are threatening the Midwest's fish population. So environmental officials in Illinois are trying poison to save a local multibillion-dollar fishery. Gabriel Spitzer reports.

European finance ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the government debt piling up in Greece. The main culprit: rampant tax evasion. Bill Radke gets more from European Correspondent Stephen Beard.

Environmental groups are increasingly opening up to the need for nuclear as a clean energy source in the face of climate change. But some are wary of the costs of erecting new power plants. John Dimsdale reports.

Looking for a little excitement this holiday season? Why not try REO Speedwagon's online video game? The band is hoping "Find Your Own Way Home" will help make some cash and promote a new Christmas album. Jennifer Collins reports.

The Federal Housing Administration is expected to propose tougher rules for mortgage borrowers today. What sort of changes will this move entail? Steve Chiotakis gets more details from Marketplace's Amy Scott.

The overhead ratio is commonly used when deciding whether or not to donate to a particular charity. But judging activity versus administrative costs may not be the best way to determine a group's effectiveness. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

Online retail is up about 8 percent this year over last according to research. And when orders are made online, they've got to get shipped. So FedEx and UPS are hiring thousands of seasonal workers to deal with the influx. Jeremy Hobson reports.

Good morning. Here are a few items to get the day rolling:…

Marketplace Tech Report for December 02, 2009

Marketplace Morning Report for Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Is the Kindle really the ideal holiday gift?

In his address to the nation, President Obama says the deployment of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan will cost $30 billion. But the actual cost will be higher, as Marketplace's John Dimsdale explains to Kai Ryssdal.

selling all the stuff they assemble. …

Question: I am prevented from contributing to my company's 401(k) because I am a HCE and the average contribution rate is less than 3%. I make just…

After just a few months on the job, GM CEO Fritz Henderson resigned today. It's not clear why. We just know he'll be replaced by a man who has…

and I'm thinking the "location-aware devices" section here helps tell why…

Maybe you've heard this Wall Street joke: "Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai or goodbye." Once upon a time, troubled American investment banks that needed…

LED Christmas lights use a tenth of the power of regular Christmas lights. They're not nearly as fragile. They can be programmed for all sorts of…