Interest rate

Remember Bank Transfer Day? Well, mark your calendar: Dec. 11 is being publicized as "Balance Transfer Day," with Americans urged to transfer their credit card balances from high-interest cards to low- or no-interest ones.

Credit card banks know plenty about you -- but what do you really know about them? CreditKarma.com wants to give you the inside scoop on which cards cater to whom, so you'll be able to find the best fit for you -- and avoid having your credit report dinged by turn-downs.

Two-year-old Pawngo bills itself as a more upscale pawnshop for the digital age, catering to a new breed of pawn customer -- not desperate, just temporarily cash-strapped. The company wants to dispel the stereotype of sketchy storefronts dealing in fenced goods -- and so far, it has had a fair amount of success.

When the Credit CARD Act of 2009 was enacted, the goal was to make credit cards safer for people, but banks have found a loophole. Those consumer protections weren't extended to cards designated for business or commercial use, and as a result, millions of American households are at risk from the same unfair bank practices as before.

Lending money to friends and family ranks among the most pernicious of relationship stressors. It's not just the cash -- it's the emotions we all carry about it. But with a little planning, you can help someone out of a financial bind without putting your friendship in the red.

Federal Reserve officials raised concerns last month that a big jump in energy prices could weaken the economy and unleash inflation, prompting a few to suggest the possibility of tightening credit -- and increasing interest rates -- this year.

When a Federal Reserve committee meets Tuesday to consider the federal interest rate, it will likely revise its glum outlook into something brighter. But will it also acknowledge the U.S.'s growing inflation problem?

China's 25 basis point hike in the one-year base lending rate sent banks spiraling and crippled real estate shares. The Shanghai Composite Index sank 1.9%, but in Japan the Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.8%. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange was closed for the Christmas holiday.

U.S. mortgage rates have grown for five straight weeks, in the last week hitting their highest levels in seven months. Ten-year Treasury note yields have been climbing on inflation concerns, driving the higher rates.

A dismal jobs report Friday means federal interest rates are likely to stay low for some time. Interest-rate futures traders, who previously anticipated that the Fed would raise rates at the end of next year, now believe the Fed won't raise rates until mid-2012.