Week of June 7th, 2010

Reporter Curt Nickisch talks to one New Hampshire family who doesn't necessarily think home ownership has led them to the American Dream.

If you went to college and you've ever wondered why your alma mater pesters you for donations each year, it's not just about the money. Even small…

Question: I am a 53-year-old teacher at a state university that offers a Roth 403(b), of which I am taking advantage. However, I have questions…

An observation about, well, I'm not sure what this says about: A) consumers, B) Goldman Sachs, and C) BP. But here you go….

That "American Dream" thing? It's got good staying power. The belief that owning a home is financially superior to renting is still strong. But thousands of homeowners are losing their homes. And that can be an eye-opening experience as to how chasing the American Dream can lead you deep down a rabbit hole. Curt Nickisch reports.

With tuition mounting every year and the economy barely coming off the skids, the stress of paying for college is taking its toll on parents. Commentator Kim Clark says government agencies and politicians aren't helping by marketing scholarships and financial aid that doesn't live up to its billing.

Hedge funds had a great year in 2009, making up for many of their losses in 2008. That got a group of comedians thinking, if hedge funds still know how to make money, maybe hedge fund managers can dispense all kinds of financial advice. From the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, the sketch group Hot Mess performs.

Fortune Magazine's Leigh Gallagher and the Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy talk with Kai Ryssdal about whether the economic unease will get the jobs bill passed in Congress and what will end up in the final financial reform bill.

Walgreen's got a lot of attention recently when it said it would start selling personal genetic kits in its stores. But after questions were raised about the safety and effectiveness of the kits, it said it wouldn't. Now the FDA is stepping in. Gregory Warner reports.

Merrill Lynch is being sued by wealthy investors, who lost millions of dollars after buying some complex pools of mortgages that went bad. The people who bought those pools were allowed to do so because they were considered sophisticated investors. Jeremy Hobson reports on why that term is so important.

As oil continues to gush in the Gulf, satirists are capitalizing on BP's disaster. The Upright Citizens Brigade, an improv group, offers their own…

College fundraisers are upping their game and asking alums — and sometimes even freshmen — to donate, especially because college endowments took a huge hit from the Great Recession.

Tess Vigeland talks to three money managers for advice on what to do with your money in this time of economic uncertainty.

Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea restaurant in Chicago and Nick Kokonas, Achatz's business partner, talk about their next restaurant, Next, and their new take on paying your bill.

Host Tess Vigeland talks to MSNBC report Bob Sullivan, who road-tripped across the country, talking to normal folks about their thoughts on all the hidden fees attached to daily purchases and financial accounts.

Host Tess Vigeland talks to consumer psychologist Frank Murtha about how we choose and how too little or too much choice affects our purchases.

Richard Conniff goes to Craigslist to see if he can find the perfect job that'll maximize his potential.

Host Tess Vigeland and Kathy Kristof of CBS MoneyWatch take your questions on retirement — like, how can a surfer in New Zealand save for her eventual American retirement? And is it crazy to borrow from retirement to buy a house?

This is one of those stories that might be a little more surprising than it first appears. Google is running an experiment on its Google News site,…

I've been trying to make sense of a couple recent articles about the latest information on the popularity of the major search engines. It seems…

Students in 23 high schools in New York are planning to protest outside City Hall against plans to end free bus and subway rides to and from school…

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains why there's not enough oomph in our current economic situation to promote a recovery.

A listener wrote in to ask where online he could watch World Cup matches. Digging around a bit, I think Lifehacker's list is a pretty complete one….

New circuit breakers designed to prevent a "flash crash" could hit the S&P 500 as soon as today.

BP considers dividend cuts to shareholders and President Obama weathers a British backlash.

A coalition of drug companies is releasing a new database on Alzheimer's disease today to help lower research and development costs and get drugs the market faster.

Greece wants to crack down on its notorious tax dodgers to help its bottom line in dire times.

South Africa rejoices as the World Cup 2010 opens to an electric mood in Johannesburg and hopes for economic growth.

It took critics a hot minute to ridicule General Motors yesterday for its attempt to kill off the use of Chevrolet's iconic nickname. One auto…

Marketplace Morning Report for Friday, June 11, 2010

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 for Friday, June 11, 2010

Marketplace Tech Report for June 11, 2010

Technology has made people more mentally active in their down time. Clay Shirky details the shift in his new book.

Researchers in the journal Biology Letters say that snakes across the world may be experiencing a marked decline….

Question: My husband and I both have car loans and student loans that we are repaying. We both contribute to our retirement accounts and have put…

Once you're out of work in this recession, you're almost out of luck. Long-term unemployment hasn't been this bad since the 1940s. Job applicants are having to look longer and beat out more competition. Employers, meanwhile, have found ways to get things done without having to hire. Mitchell Hartman reports.

Six years and $4 billion after South Africa won the right to host this year's World Cup, the first match will soon kick off. Locals are hoping that all the investment in new airports and stadiums will pay off. But Christopher Werth reports not all the expectations for the World Cup's big payoff are going to be realized.

The keynote speaker at UCLA's graduation will be Gustavo Arellano, author of the syndicated newspaper column "Ask a Mexican!" He was asked to boycott the graduation, but there's a reason he'll take to the stage anyway.

There are rumors the University of Nebraska will leave the Big 12 Conference and Colorado will join the Pac-10. John Ourand of the SportsBusiness Journal talks with Kai Ryssdal about why these defections and realignments are happening.

Google is lashing out at Apple over some rules changes for application developers. The new terms could keep Google and other Apple rivals from placing ads inside iPhone and iPad applications. The search giant calls Apple's proposed rules a threat to healthy competition. Janet Babin reports.

People are starting to pay a lot of attention to BP shareholders, specifically the dividend they're scheduled to get in a couple of months. That dividend is one of the only attractive things left about being a BP shareholder, unless Washington has anything to say about it. Jeremy Hobson reports.

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.

Zynga, creators of the insanely popular game Farmville, have rolled out a new way for you to throw your life away and just in time for summer when…

The University of Southern California football and basketball programs will lose 20 college scholarships and the ability to play in the next two bowl games.

BP shares continue to take a hit for the oil disaster despite reports it's capping the leak.

As promised, Google.com, the big page, the heart of the whole operation, looks different today. The company announced this a while ago. Instead of…

Ah, superstition in baseball — the curse of the Bambino in Boston, and the curse of the Billy Goat…

Congress is working to approve a package of unemployment benefits, business tax breaks and aid to states before the July 4 break, which includes a stiff tax on investment fund managers.

Apple's iAd, its new mobile advertising format, has caught the eye of federal regulators.

On today's show we talk about new technology that lets you and your car have a conversation. Well, maybe not a conversation, per se, more just…

The Congressional Oversight Panel released a critical report of the 2008 rescue of insurance giant AIG.

Community organizers in Baltimore are trying to wean people off high-cost, short-term payday loans by offering a better loan deal — and a mandatory financial fitness class.

A number of prisons have closed around the country since the start of the recession, causing job losses in places where finding work is tough.

Chrysler is relaunching the Jeep Grand Cherokee, one of its most popular brands, to buy some time before it has a new model ready in showrooms.

About 12,000 nurses in the Twin Cities this morning are planning the largest hospital walkout in U.S. history in a national movement challenging the way hospitals are run.

General Motors is concerned about Chevrolet's branding consistency. The company sent a memo to Chevrolet employees advising them to discontinue…

Marketplace for Thursday, June 10, 2010

Marketplace Tech Report for June 10, 2010

Marketplace Morning Report for Thursday, June 10, 2010

Automobiles are about to get more technologically advanced.

Easy answer: Maybe a lot. Depends on who you ask….

Question: I am trying to find a loan to take a computer training certification course. Since this is not a degree program, I am not eligible for…

The IRS says that bars and restaurants are under-reporting the amount of tips they earn, so it's responding with more audits of the tax forms filled by the food and beverage industry. John Dimsdale reports.

Mindy Lubber, president of the nonprofit environmental advocacy group Ceres, talks with Kai Ryssdal about corporate responsibility and sustainability, and challenges companies might face to go green.

Kai Ryssdal reviews what listeners had to say about stories involving food paparazzi, Facebook's privacy settings, whether a job on Wall Street is still worth it, and the MBA Oath.

Parts of Europe are in a budget quandary: save or spend to kick-start a sputtering economy? Commentator David Frum says right now, Europe's got it better figured out than the U.S.

The U.N. Security Council voted to toughen sanctions against Iran's nuclear program. It's the fourth such round of U.N. sanctions. But the first three rounds haven't stopped Iran from continuing its nuclear program so far. How effective will these new measures be? Brett Neely reports.

After shrimp farming took off, the crustacean moved from pricey delicacy to America's favorite seafood. We're up to four pounds a year per person now. Or we were. Since the BP oil spill, shrimp prices have been soaring. Domestically produced U.S. shrimp is up more than 40 percent. Gregory Warner reports.

Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln scored a come-from-behind victory in the Democratic primary. But a controversial provision she inserted into the financial overhaul bill may be a lost cause. The proposal would ban banks from trading in derivatives. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

We spoke to the proprietor of the Twitter feed @TweetsOfOld on today's show. It's an odd, hilarious, and strangely touching trip back through…

It's not being rolled out with the same fanfare as the notorious Wave or Buzz, but Google's new Caffeine indexing technology, which is live right…

You only have 140 characters to use in a tweet and you don't want to blow that on a lengthy url of some site you want to tell people about. So a…

For a while now we've been hearing about increased wages for Foxconn employees, in some cases raises of up to 66%. Around here we've been wondering…

Along the Ivory Coast, roadblocks tax business travelers trying to make their way across the continent.

Today's recall of McDonald's Shrek glasses coated with Cadmium paint highlights the dangers of the substance for consumers.

If you've got a spare hundred thousand or million to spend, why not splurge on a lunch with Warren Buffett? Just log in to eBay and submit your bid…

Easy answer: Maybe a lot. Depends on who you ask….

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is putting $10 million into a program to get money moving through Haiti through networked mobile phones.

Hope you're all as excited as we are about the Moving by Degrees symposium! Tune in here for live streaming coverage and a chance to interact with…

White House budget planners are working to trim 5 percent of federal spending by 2012. Meanwhile, Bernanke notes a lackluster recovery.

The Senate Environment Committee holds a hearing today on whether to jack up liability caps for companies that cause oil spills.

Arkansas Senator Blance Lincoln's Democratic primary win means a continued impact on the Senate's financial reform.

A workers' strike continues today at an auto parts factory outside of Shanghai as laborer discontent becomes more visible throughout China.

A new study says men are more likely than women to upgrade what ails them. The research collected for British financial firm Engage Mutual surveyed…

Marketplace Morning Report for Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Marketplace for Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Marketplace Tech Report for June 09, 2010

A new government group will be dedicated to fighting and preventing attacks to military computers — like war over computer networks.

Easy answer: Short term, nothing. Long term, it all depends….

Glenn Fleishman, author of this post, joined us on today's show to talk about Apple's new iPhone. Glenn's a freelance journalist who specializes in…

Question: In looking at my finances I realized I have too many accounts. I have two employer 401ks I should roll over into my current employers'…

The lower house of Switzerland's parliament voted down a deal struck last summer between U.S. officials and the Swiss bank UBS to reveal the names of account holders who authorities say owe taxes. Alisa Roth reports on the impact of the vote.

The word "bubble" might come to mind when you think of the Great Recession. And now there is some worry about another bubble developing — this time in the bond market. Jeremy Hobson reports.

Spanish public-sector workers held a one-day strike against a government plan to shrink the country's budget deficit with austerity measures. The strike was not as widely supported as unions may have hoped, but more widespread action could be on the way. Stephen Beard reports.

Europe's debt crisis and the weak jobs report have led to chatter about the possibility of a double-dip recession. J. Bradford DeLong, economist at U.C. Berkley, talks with Kai Ryssdal about the chances of that happening.

Foxconn builds a lot of the world's most well-known gadgets, like the iPhone. But a recent string of suicides at the company's factory in southern China has raised the pressure on Apple and other clients to do something. Commentator Farhad Manjoo says customers ought to do something, too.