February 8, 2012

Report: North Carolina home insurance consumers could see rates rise

To learn more, read the full article at www.consumerinsuranceguide.com Insurance providers in North Carolina have asked state regulators to approve significant increases in home insurance premiums, particularly for those customers living in coastal areas. An industry umbrella group, the Rate Bureau, told the Sun News homeowners insurance companies were looking to defray a high level of anticipated payouts from this year’s hurricane season.

Question by maan_refai: how is consumer perception of a certain company related to the company’s strategies?
In other words, how can consumer perception of a certain brand affects the strategy of that brand?

Best answer:

Answer by Dimos Argento
Consumer perception can dictate brand strategy in its marketing, pricing, packaging and even its form.

Here are a few examples:

1. If consumers have negative perception of a brand or product, the strategic plan can be geared to a defensive strategy ie consumer re-education or attacking the negative perception by emphasizing its inaccuracy and harping the products positive attributes.

2. When consumers perceive that product A is better than the cheaper product B although the company producing product B knows that both products are the same in quality and performance, the company’s strategy should be geared towards showing consumers that both products are of same quality and emphasizing its value-for-money proposition.

Add your own answer in the comments!

Asia stocks rise amid caution over euro debt, U.S. data

Asia stocks rise amid caution over euro debt, U.S. data
Asia shares rose from a six-week low Wednesday, led by consumer stocks, but disappointing U.S. data have made some investors reluctant to follow commodity prices higher, containing a bounce in risky assets from currencies to oil.
Read more on Reuters via Yahoo! News

Taking Measure of Weight-Loss Plans, and the Studies of Them
Consumer Reports rated Jenny Craig the best commercial weight-loss plan, but the study it was based on wasn’t designed to test the success of Jenny Craig in the real world.
Read more on The Tuscaloosa News

HP Delivers Another Disappointing Forecast
Weak consumer spending, supply-chain issues, and lower end-market printer demand are taking their toll on Hewlett-Packard.
Read more on Morningstar

Credit card interest rates on the rise

Consumer Action’s annual credit card survey found that the average interest rate on plastic rose nearly 2 percent in the last year to 15.06 percent.

Any guess how high the corresponding prime rate went up? If you said it remained unchanged over the year, you would be correct.

Issuers are raising rates on variable-rate cards because their profits are being pinched by consumer-friendly mandates under the Credit Card Act. Much of the act took effect a year ago on Feb. 22nd.

But even though rates are rising on variable rate cards, Consumer Action’s Linda Sherry says that’s not a bad thing.

“No one wants to see rates rise, but we’re better off now that issuers have to price accounts appropriately from the start instead of sneaking profits in on the back end with ‘gotcha’ penalty fees and rates,” Sherry said in a statement.

Consuming Interests

China’s Stocks Rise, Paring World’s Worst Annual Loss in 2010

China’s Stocks Rise, Paring World’s Worst Annual Loss in 2010
China’s stocks rose, paring the worst annual loss among major global equity markets, as metal prices rallied and investors speculated this year’s declines were excessive given the outlook for the nation’s economy.
Read more on BusinessWeek

Bonds’ dramatic year sets stage for higher rates
It was a dramatic ride for bonds and the mortgage market in 2010 as an economic crisis in Europe and wonky concepts like “quantitative easing” helped push down yields to levels not seen since the 1950s.
Read more on AP via Yahoo! News

The Rise of Consumer Debt

consumer-debt-relief.com Consumer debt in the United States alone has surpassed Two Trillion Dollars, double what it was just 10 years ago. A natural consequence is that a record 2+ million personal and non-business bankruptcy cases were filed in the United States in 2005. Understanding consumer debt and how debt levels compare across different income levels and demographic groups is very important.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Question by AustinoBambino: Does it ever make sense to purposefully default on consumer debt obligations?
Specifically, say one has had his car repossessed. Would it make sense to then default on other consumer debts with the hope of paying them off later at a discount after write-off? The idea being: one’s credit has sustained major damage because of the repo so future defaults (even when one has the ability to pay) would not make the situation any worse. Think of it as the situation getting worse in order to make it better, quicker. Why pay something off at 100% (plus interest) when it can be paid off in, say, a year at a fraction?

Best answer:

Answer by Mariposa
If you and the creditor decide to settle, you better make sure you get it in writing that they will report the item as paid, not as settled. When a comment says settled, you are still penalized slightly. You will want to weigh your options depending on the number of other creditors, remember that if you default on many just to pay the repo, the many collection items will stay on your report for 7 years and lending agencies would rather see that you defaulted on one item instead of say five (which makes it appear to them that you default on a regular basis).

What do you think? Answer below!

Asian shares rise amid hopes for Fed action

Asian shares rise amid hopes for Fed action
Asian stock markets mostly advanced Tuesday as hopes for more action by the Federal Reserve to prop up the U.S. economy extended Wall Street’s rally into a fourth week.
Read more on AP via Yahoo! News

Kiwi falters against greenback
The New Zealand dollar fell against the greenback as weak consumer data in the United States and fresh worries about European debt hurt the euro and enhanced the US dollar’s safe-haven appeal.
Read more on Stuff

Persels & Associates Announces What Consumers Need to Look for in a Debt Settlement Company
This summer the Today Show ran an investigative story about a debt settlement company – Credit Solutions in Texas. Persels & Associates, a law firm who works with consumers to settle debts, is different from Credit Solutions in some very specific and important ways.
Read more on PRWeb via Yahoo! News

Treasuries Break Long Term Trend Support as The Mad Rush Into Gold and Silver Continues
Since the emergence of the European Debt crisis in April 2010, treasuries have been in a strong uptrend as investors have been seeking protection from risky assets.
Read more on Kitco.com

Hail Has Left Its Mark: Complaints Against Roofers Rise

Posted on 8/18/2010 by Carol Odell
Parts of southern Colorado have been hit by hail this summer. Subsequently, people need their roofs repaired. It’s not a surprise that of the top 25 companies that received inquiries during the month of July, 2010, 15 of the companies were roofers.

Along with the need for roofers has come an onslaught of new roofing companies. With the economy down, people are scrambling for work — some in not the most acceptable ways. Consumers have called reporting strangers are climbing on roofs without permission and taking pictures of roofs. We are assuming that they are looking for damage to give “leads” to roofing companies.

Since T-lock roofs are no longer being manufactured, if this type of roof needs to be repaired, it will mean a whole new roof. Finding these roofs could mean a chance to make substantial money.

One roofing company has reported having their company signs stolen. Unscrupulous people are pretending they are this reputable company. Don’t assume the company is okay because they give you a business card of a reputable company. It could be fraudulent. Check the people/company out thoroughly.

Before signing a contact with any roofing company, do your due diligence. Check their company report with the BBB. Verify it is actually the company they say they are. You can always call the company and confirm that the person does work for the company. Check the phone number if you have been approached to do work on your house. Does the number you have been given and the one in the BBB report match? What is the company’s grade? How long have they been in business? What kind of complaints do they have? How many? Are they locally owned? Do they use sub-contractors?

Read more: http://southerncolorado.bbb.org/post/hail-has-left-its-mark-5839
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Consumer complaints rise as protection resources dwindle

Consumer complaints rise as protection resources dwindle
State and local consumer-protection agencies across the country should pool their limited resources and start an advertising campaign called “Gotcha.” Consumer Information – Home – Advocacy and Protection – United States – Governmental Help
Read more on Washington Post

Consumer Transactions for Prerecorded Video Content Grew 2.8% in 2009, Says Entertainment Merchants Association
ENCINO, CA–(Marketwire – 08/02/10) – Consumer transactions for prerecorded video content (DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and digital delivery) grew 2.8% to 3.5 billion during 2009, the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) stated in a report issued today. According to “The D2 Report: Discs & Digital – The Business of Home Entertainment Retailing,” physical media, such as DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and …
Read more on Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance

GSK Consumer Healthcare Q2 net up 30%
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare today reported a 30 per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 at Rs 71.75 crore from the same period a year ago.
Read more on Business Standard India

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