ECONOMY

The damage caused by last month’s earthquake and tsunami is too much for Toyota Motor Corp., which announced on Friday that its global car production is expected to remain disrupted until November or December. With a massive shortage of parts after suppliers in northeastern Japan suffered major damage, the company’s president apologized to customers for the delays he expects.

Toyoda Apologizes to Customers

By Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com, a website that helps consumers find the best credit card deals and operates the nation’s largest gift card exchange.

It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that the Credit CARD Act has led to higher interest rates, as many—including the American Bankers Association—have done. After all, it was a commonly predicted side effect of this reformatory legislation, and interest rates have risen since the CARD Act was signed into law in May 2009. But is there really a connection between the law and the rising cost of interest? Does the law’s passage represent the cause and the interest rate hike the effect? Or is this merely a coincidence that stands to distort the CARD Act’s legacy and distract from the true foundations of currently high interest costs?

A report from the Labor Department reveals that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent in March. According to the report, released on Friday morning, this is the lowest rate the economy has experienced in two years.

216,000 Jobs Added, 4-Month Drop Lowest Since 1983

A survey released on Thursday by the Federal Reserve revealed that during the recession, household income dropped 23 percent. Surveying the Aftermath of the Storm took a broad look at the financial crisis and how it impacted individual households between 2007 and 2009.

Median Net Worth Falls by $29,000

As a result of the struggling economy during the recession, the median net worth of households fell from $125,000 in 2007 to $96,000 in 2009. But that’s not the only effect the recession had on household assets. According to the survey:

Turbulence across the globe is as prevalent as ever, which means the economy remains in a rocky state. Some areas of finance have been impacted positively, like climbing gold prices, while things like overly-cautious baby boomers stinting our economic recovery are not such great news. It’s enough to drive even the most savvy investor to drink, but he may want to think twice about grabbing a bottle of wine from Wal-Mart.

Gold Reaches Record High Thursday

Fears of a major U.S. stock sell-off were confirmed on Tuesday after Japan’s Nikkei index ended down nearly 11 percent. The risk of radioactive material leaking at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant leaves many investors fearful of a nuclear crisis after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake caused significant damage to the plant and resulted in explosions on Saturday.

Japan’s Nikkei Index Dropped as Low as 14 Percent

While markets experienced a significant downturn on Thursday due to continued tension in the Middle East, it was turmoil in Asia that was cause for concern today. Luckily, it appears the impact on U.S. stocks is minimal.

President Obama is also attempting to minimize the damage caused by rising gas prices and is prepared to tap our oil reserves if necessary. While the Obama Administration may save us from pain at the pump, struggling homeowners have still received little assistance as yet another failed HUD program was eliminated in a House vote today.

Stock Market Steady Through Japan Quake

We recently sat down with Thomas E. Jandt, the author of Your Money is Everything. As a seasoned Financial Advisor, Thomas has learned a lot about managing finances intelligently. See what he has to say about attaining wealth and keeping it, the best investments and how Americans are faring in today’s economic climate.

Q: Where did you come up with the idea for Your Money Is Everything?

A new CNN Money report celebrated the fact that the current bull market has reached its 2nd birthday. However, in the same report, experts cautioned investors that this time frame typically signals a downturn in the market.

Stocks Have Been On a 2-Year Rally

(Opinion)

If you’ve been watching the news lately, there have been constant reports of inflation affecting the price of just about everything under the sun, except for interest rates here in the United States. But if you have been reading the news about inflationary pressures on oil, gas, cotton, wheat, corn and just about every other dollar denominated assets, you have probably also heard that the Federal Reserve has been busy injecting “stimulus” dollars into the economy through what is known as Quantitative Easing. In fact, they are on round two right now to the tune of over $2 trillion dollars.

That figure, by the way, isn’t even counting the government funds issued to bail out the banks, backstop Wall Street firms and banks during the financial crisis which is an additional amount likely to end up in the trillions as well. To be sure, the budget deficit has gone parabolic and the printing presses have been running 24/7 for over two years now. It’s no wonder prices are skyrocketing, the dollar has been diluted more than ever before in history in such a short period of time. However, the government is pleading the case that there is little inflation present because interest rates are so low. Do they really think we are that stupid?