Personal Finance Daily: Why capping credit-card rates won't help

Personal Finance Daily DECEMBER 08, 2011 Why capping credit-card rates won't help By MarketWatch Don't miss these top stories: Why capping credit-card interest rates won't help consumers Household debt shrinks for 13th straight quarter 30-year fixed rate mortgage drops below 4% The Web is almost dead, says Forrester Research There are some who think that capping interest rates on credit cards would help boost consumer spending and jump-start the economic recovery. But, Robert Powell writes today in his Your Portfolio column, the math really doesn't add up and most credit-card experts actually think capping interest rates could have the opposite effect. Also on MarketWatch today: The Web is dead, long live the Web. Wait! I'm still figuring out social media and I just asked Santa for a tablet. Too late. Forrester Research's Chairman and CEO George Colony told a room full of Web and social-media enthusiasts Thursday in Paris that they were living on borrowed time. Colony said that several models of thinking about the Web/Internet space are dead or outmoded. Colony asked his audience, attendees at the big European Internet conference known as LeWeb, to consider "what we will hold in our hands five years from now." Colony said that three companies could emerge as true leaders in the App Internet sector: Apple, Google (around their Android platform) and Amazon. He also said that adoption of social media in urban areas was now extremely high and "running out of hours and people." — Anne Stanley , Managing Editor, Personal Finance Why capping credit-card rates won't help consumers Some think that capping credit-card interest rates would help consumers boost the moribund economy, but it might just really have the opposite effect. Read more: Why capping credit-card rates won't help consumers. Household debt shrinks for 13th straight quarter Households reduced their debt in the third quarter for the 13th straight period as the housing market bust continues to reduce demand for mortgages. Read more: Household debt shrinks for 13th straight quarter. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averages less than 4% Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged at or below 4% for the sixth-straight week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates, released on Thursday. Read more: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averages less than 4%. The Web is almost dead, says Forrester Research Forrester Research's Chairman and CEO George Colony told a room full of Web and social-media enthusiasts Thursday in Paris that they were living on borrowed time. Read more: The Web is almost dead, says Forrester Research. ECONOMY AND POLITICS Corzine: I do not know where the money is Jon Corzine, the former chief of failed MF Global, apologized to customers of the firm and said in testimony prepared for a House hearing Thursday that he did not know where missing money was located. Read more: Corzine: I do not know where the money is. Republicans link payroll tax cut to oil pipeline House Republican leaders on Thursday link speeded-up approval of a controversial oil pipeline to extending a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, picking a fight with President Barack Obama with just three weeks remaining for Congress to renew the expiring aid. Read more: Republicans link payroll tax cut to oil pipeline. Senate blocks consumer agency nominee Cordray The U.S. Senate on a 53-45 vote Thursday blocked President Barack Obama's nominee to head the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read more: Senate blocks consumer agency nominee Cordray. Bank of England holds fire, for now The Bank of England leaves its key lending rate on hold and makes no changes to its asset-purchase program, but economists see more quantitative easing on the way as economy slips. Read more: Bank of England holds fire, for now. ECB provides liquidity flood, but nixes bond hopes European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi unveils an array of measures to boost liquidity for the banking system but rules out acting as lender of last resort to troubled euro-zone governments after the ECB delivered a quarter-point rate cut. Read more: ECB provides liquidity flood but nixes bond hopes. First-time jobless claims fall sharply to 381,000 First time claims for state unemployment insurance fell sharply in the latest week to their lowest level since late February, the Labor Department said. Read more: First-time jobless claims fall sharply. INVESTING Volcano vixens prowling for stocks The Aden sisters are contemplating one last hunt, writes Peter Brimelow. Read more: Volcano vixens prowling for stocks. Trading Deck: Hey, what happened to gold? Gold has fallen about 6% over the past three months, amid macro conditions that would appear bullish for the metal. What's going on, Mick Weinstein asks. Read more: Hey, what happened to gold? Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: kumaresan.selva.blogger@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Subscribe Copyright 2011 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (updated 6/26/07). MarketWatch - Attn: Customer Service, 201 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111