What exactly is going on with the economy? Stocks are up and big bonuses are back, but while they’re throwing parties on Wall Street, there’s pain on Main Street. One out of every six workers is unemployed or underemployed, according to government statistics – the highest figure since the Great Depression.

This week NOW gets answers and insight from Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, who’s been heading up the congressional panel overseeing how the bailout money is being spent. Watch b

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Beginning October of this year, Discover and American Express cardholders can breathe a sigh of relief as their credit card over-the-limit fees are laid to rest. Amex and Discover took the plunge to eliminate the fee in response to the Credit CARD Act of 2009, which mandates that card companies cannot charge over-the-limit fees unless consumers give their consent.

After doing the math, both card issuers independently arrived at the same conclusion: establishing a system through which cardholders could decide whether or not to have over-the-limit privileges (and pay the accompanying fees) would cost lenders more than they would rake in through fees.

As for the other big credit card issuers, such as Chase, Bank of America, Citi, and Capital One, it remains to be seen how they handle the new provision, which steps into effect in February of 2010.

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There is indeed no end to man’s cravings. No matter how big you earn, how elegant your house looks, how fast the car you drive, man always wants more and more. Sometimes, our financial resources cannot support the lifestyle that we have which results into budget deficits. For some, this economic scenario is typical.

Because of this, people have relied so much on their credit cards. However, credit cards can be financially burdensome considering interest rates plus fees. This is where credit card deals become so important for a card user.

People have tirelessly tried several ways to negotiate with card companies the terms that govern the use of credit cards. There are two ways that people do to get what they want for their credit cards.

First, they try a democratic approach. T

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How would you feel if you were notified the moment that potential card fraud activity occurred with your account? Recently Visa announced cardholders can look forward to a new notifying service that does exactly that. Issuers with Visa branded credit cards can now provide their cardholders with real-time alerts on purchases that they may or may not have initiated. This allows consumers the ability to watch their accounts for abnormal activity and take instant action if they think fraudulent transactions have taking place.

How does it work? For those cardholders that decide to opt into receiving real-time alerts, they will receive messages (email and/or text messages) from “VisaNet”, which is Visa’s global processing network. T

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Every year, identity theft strikes almost 9 million Americans. The theft is most typically discovered within the first three months, but in some cases it takes much longer; the victim might only find out when he or she is declined for a new credit card application.

The most common form of identity theft is using someone’s personal information to open a checking account, a credit card account, or a mobile phone account. In 43% of cases, the fraud is perpetrated by someone that the victim knows. On average, the cost to the victim is upwards of $6,000.

Apart from the financial damage, identity theft can damage the reputation of the person affected and create long-term financial difficulties, particularly if not addressed in the right way. I

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