Topic: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Saving Money
Eight surprising ways to raise your credit score

Boosting your credit score from merely good to great will give you access to the best offers and best rates on nearly everything. Here are the best ways to do it. 

General Petraeus affair raises deep personal and public questions

CIA Director David Petraeus has resigned over an extra-marital affair, reportedly with his biographer. How did the FBI learn that his personal e-mail account had been hacked? What happens to the spy agency now, under fire for its handling of the terrorist attack at Benghazi?

Petraeus resigns over affair, as criticism grows of CIA response in Libya

Officials will want to know if there was any link between David Petraeus’s extramarital activities and what has been increasingly criticized as the CIA’s weak performance during the Benghazi attack.

Opinion: To grow the economy, we must shrink President Obama's big government

US unemployment remains high. Job creation is lackluster. GDP growth is sluggish. Each of these measure should be higher. Lawmakers must reverse the harm of Obama's big-government policies by stopping Taxmageddon, eliminating red tape, and reforming entitlement programs.

Discover: The card that pays you back after you overpay

Discover Bank agrees to reimburse $200 million to consumers it pressured to buy credit-monitoring and other costly credit-card add-ons. Discover will also pay a $14 million fine. 

Obama vs. Romney 101: 3 ways they differ on regulation

Wall Street is a big target – blamed for the financial crisis that led to the Great Recession. Mitt Romney says efforts to rein in financiers via more regulation are an attack on “economic freedom.” President Obama says new regulations would make it “more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system.” Here are three specifics on which the two differ.

Consumer finance watchdog: a birthday, but no one comes

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau celebrated its first anniversary without fanfare. Despite some achievements, the CFPB has yet to tackle big and sensitive issues.  

Gun rights: why UN small arms treaty is another land mine for Obama

The final version of the UN Arms Trade Treaty, aimed at keeping small arms from terrorists and rogue regimes, is due Friday. US gun rights advocates reject assurances the treaty would not infringe on their rights.

Private student loan report: Is subprime mortgage crisis comparison fair?

A new government report says the private student loan market suffers from risky terms and lax underwriting, paralleling the subprime mortgage debacle.  Private lenders say the criticism is out of date.

Student loans: Will more transparency help?

Student loans, tuition, and other costs will come with more disclosure from 10 colleges and universities. Estimated monthly payments on student loans after graduation will keep families from taking on too much debt, White House says.  

The Daily Reckoning
Ready to pop? The subprime student loan bubble balloons

The feds pay for GIs to go to school. They give grants to the schools themselves. And they hand out hundreds of billions in loans, at low teaser rates to students; sometimes to students who are unqualified and unlikely to get much out of it.

Saving Money
What is arbitration? You sign away rights. Is that OK?

Cellphone and credit card applications typically contain an arbitration clause that keeps you from suing the phone carrier or bank if a dispute arises. Often, the bank gets to pick the arbitrator. The federal government is looking to see if arbitration clauses give companies too much power.

Student debt: How big a risk does it pose to the economy?

Student debt represents a financial challenge for America, some economists say, but in a way that's different from the big buildup in mortgage debt that led to a deep recession.

Student loans: What will you owe? Check here.

Students loans online calculator is being tested by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Users can compare grant and scholarship offers to see what they will owe in student loans.    

Credit cards: No move to limit big fees?

Credit cards can charge nearly $100 processing, activation fees for opening an account for subprime borrowers. But financial protection board is backing away from push to regulate the initial credit card fees. 

Hillary Clinton for president? Eight Democrats who might run next time.

In the world of presidential politics, 2016 actually isn’t that far away, especially given how much time and effort it takes to mount a serious campaign. Months before the 2012 votes were counted, speculation had started over who might run in four years – fueled by no less a figure than former President Bill Clinton. He has suggested many times that his wife, soon-to-be-ex-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, might change her mind about not running once she’s had a break. Here are some of the other possible contenders.

(Updated Dec. 11, 2012)

Obama signs STOCK Act, banning insider trading by members of Congress (+video)

Obama said the move to bar insider trading among lawmakers would assure everyone 'plays by the same rules.'

Saving Money
Bye-bye free checking. Hello fee checking.

Free checking is disappearing as banks scramble to make up lost revenue. Will the government's new finance watchdog step in and regulate bank's new checking fees?

Prepaid debit card: new disclosure on fees

Prepaid debit card from three major issuers will now come with specific disclosures on fees. The disclosure 'box' being tested aims to help users understand costs of using a prepaid debit card.  

Scott Brown pulls ahead of Elizabeth Warren in Mass. Senate race

Sen. Scott Brown, the Republican who famously won the seat held by Edward Kennedy, has built an early lead against Elizabeth Warren in what will be a closely watched race nationally. 

Checking fees too high? Customers eye credit unions.

Checking fees, other charges caused credit unions to gain double the normal number of customers. Mulling more hikes in checking fees, big banks could lose more customers, advocates say. 

New consumer agency targets debt collectors. Who can argue with that?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which faces stiff GOP opposition, picks what may be politically palatable targets for regulation: debt collectors and the credit-rating industry.

Obama plan to lower mortgage payments could help, but how much?

President Obama unveiled his plan to cut mortgage payments for 'responsible homeowners' in trouble. But the housing crisis is so massive that no one program can solve it, experts say.

Consumer bureau chief Richard Cordray testifies on Hill: Has he charmed the GOP?

Facing a hail of scrutiny from congressional Republicans in both the House and Senate over the last week, new consumer watchdog chief Richard Cordray has remained nonconfrontational.

Justice Dept says recent recess appointments legal

The department released a 23-page legal opinion Thursday summarizing the advice it gave the White House before the Jan. 4 appointments. GOP leaders have argued the Senate was not technically in recess when Obama acted so the regular Senate confirmation process should have been followed.