Personal Finance Daily
MARCH 04, 2011
Friday's Personal Finance Stories
By MarketWatch
Don't miss these top stories:
Is
this one of your worst nightmares? For years, you and your spouse
dutifully pay for life insurance on your mortgage. Then, one day, your
mortgage is sold to a new servicer, you don't find out in time, your
mortgage life insurance lapses — and the unthinkable happens. Your
spouse dies. Is this a paperwork snafu with tragic consequences or
negligence on the servicing end of the mortgage market? In his Realty
Q&A column today, Lew Sichelman offers some suggestions about what
to do before filing a lawsuit.Also in
today's Personal Finance lineup, Jennifer Waters reports on the best
ways to find those elusive and increasingly rare airfare deals.— Anne Stanley , Managing Editor, Personal Finance
REAL ESTATE
Mortgage life insurance snafu hits home
When
one reader's mortgage was sold to another servicer, life-insurance
payments weren't paid out of the escrow account — and this homeowner is
now ready to sue. Lew Sichelman explains steps to take before taking
them to court.
Read more: Mortgage life insurance snafu hits home.
SPENDING & SAVING
Eight tips for finding cheap airfares
Say
good bye to super-cheap fares, but there still are deals to be found if
you're flexible, patient and know where to find them.
Read more: Eight tips for finding cheap airfares.
TAXES
Tax refunds, incorrect 1099s and other tax tips
The
IRS has $1.1 billion in unclaimed tax refunds from 2007. Don't let that
happen to you. Plus, what you need to know about incorrect 1099s, gift
taxes and more.
Read more: Tax refunds, incorrect 1099s and other tax tips.
INVESTING
Where to put your cash now
It is a simple question, but the answer has rarely been so complicated: Where should you park your cash?
Read more: Where to put your cash now.
Grow-up insurance is Chuck Jaffe's stupid investment of the week
Life insurance on children is the stupid investment of the week.
Read more: Grow-up insurance is stupid investment of the week.
ECONOMY & POLITICS
U.S. adds 192,000 jobs; jobless rate dips to 8.9%
Nonfarm
payrolls grow by 192,000 in February, the Labor Department says, while
the unemployment rate drops to 8.9%, the lowest level since April 2009.
Read more: U.S. adds 192,000 jobs: jobless rate dips to 8.9%.
Reactions to February payrolls report
The
White House, lawmakers and analysts react to news that nonfarm payrolls
grew by 192,000 in February, and the U.S. jobless rate fell to 8.9%.
Read more: Reactions to February payrolls report.
In charts: Jobs, unemployment, earnings and more
A
graphical analysis of the payrolls report shows improving payrolls,
declining unemployment, but still modest growth in earnings.
See charts: Jobs, unemployment, earnings and more.
Jobs: Good news for economy, not for markets
The
strong February jobs report is unambiguously good news for the economy,
but it may mean that the Fed will take away the punch bowl that's
fueling the party in the markets.
Read more: Jobs: Good news for economy, not for markets.
Treasury defends TARP to a panel of critics
A
top Treasury official defended the U.S. government's $700 billion bank
bailout program as extremely effective in combating the financial crisis
at a hearing where the effort was criticized by members of a watchdog
panel who insisted that it did more for Wall Street than Main Street.
Read more: Treasury defends TARP to a panel of critics.
America is still No. 1 in manufacturing
Despite what you hear, U.S. manufacturing is still No. 1, and it's growing rapidly, writes Rex Nutting.
Read more: America is still No. 1 in manufacturing.
Prepare for transports' weakness to spread
The
debate over whether oil prices have climbed enough to hurt the economy
may continue, but a breakdown in the transportation sector indicates
they may have already risen enough to facilitate a broader stock-market
correction.
Read more: Prepare for transports; weakness to spread.
With oil, it's all about supply
As unrest spreads, investors wonder how high oil prices can go and what impact they will have, writes Howard Gold.
Read more: With oil, it's all about supply.
$100 oil: Here to stay or soon to go?
Predicting where oil prices go from here will prove to be a more daunting task than usual.
Read more: $100 oil: Here to stay or soon to go?
INTERNATIONAL
Lessons abound in ECB interest rate drama
Jean-Claude
Trichet reminded traders the central bank takes its price-stability
mandate seriously, but investors may wonder what the ECB learned from
its last rate hike.
Read more: Lessons abound in ECB interest rate drama.