• Seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims increased 37,000 from the previous week, to 464,000, bringing the four-week floating average up 1,250 to 456,000.
• The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, down slightly from the previous week’s 3.7 percent.
• The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment number was 4,487,000 for the week ending July 10, down from the previous week’s 4,710,000.

Week to week, the changes often aren’t very significant and don’t always reflect larger trends; however, last week’s numbers provide a somewhat hopeful picture when compared with figures gathered a year ago:

• Initial unemployment claims under state programs (unadjusted) totaled 498,022 for the week ending July 17; in 2009, the same week saw 585,575 claims.
• The number of people claiming insured unemployment benefits in state programs came to 4,581,351 in the most recent week, which marked a 186,572 person increase from the week prior, but was down from 6,256,960 during the same period in 2009.

These data, like many of the job loss information collected this year, show that recovery in the jobs market continues to be slow and inconsistent. While the national unemployment rate is down slightly from its 10+ percent high, it’s still well above where it needs to be and bankruptcy filing rates continue to remain high.

Unemployment Benefit Extension

Some more-or-less good news for unemployed Americans is that Congress and the White House have reportedly passed legislation that will extend unemployment benefits through November of this year.

The measure, which had difficulty getting through Congress because of Republican opposition, means that those whose benefits have expired or are about to will receive a few more weeks of government support.

While the nation’s unemployment rate clearly indicates that jobless citizens need help, many GOP legislators were apparently hesitant to pass the bill because of the affect it will have on the nation’s deficit.

So how will the extended benefits work? It seems that distribution of the funds will vary by state, so check out local resources to see what steps you need to take if you’re eligible for funding from the extended benefits.

Getting a car loan with bad credit

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you belong to a growing group of consumers that have bad credit and you need a car loan. If this is the case, Auto Credit Express can help you. By filling out our online auto loans for bad credit application there is a good chance that you can begin a new chapter in your life by getting approved at one of our affiliate dealers for a bad credit auto loan. You will then be on the way to re-establishing your car credit and raising your FICO scores.

The alternative – buying a vehicle from a tote the note car dealer – can be a problem because these dealers don’t report your payment history to any of the credit bureaus. On the other hand, taking out a loan with a bad credit lender and making the mistake of choosing a vehicle that’s too expensive can also create problems since this can stretch your budget and even result in repossession. If this happens, rebuilding your auto credit has to be put on hold for at least a year, since most car loans with bad credit lenders will only consider applicants with a repossession that’s over a year old.

What about used

With the cost of new vehicles rising every year, most credit-challenged customers will conclude that it makes more sense to go with a 2 or 3-year-old used car.  This decision makes sense for a couple of reasons. Most new cars lose anywhere from 20% to 40% of their original value in the first two or three years, making a two to three-year-old vehicle that much more affordable. Secondly, because the quality and durability of vehicles is at an all-time high, used cars are now more reliable than ever.

But even given this reliability, we recommend that you seriously consider purchasing a service contract if you plan on buying a vehicle with a bad credit car loan. There is a reason for doing this even though you may be on a tight budget: it could help you avoid repossession.

Buying peace of mind

You may have heard this before, but we’ll state it one more time: a service contract is like an insurance policy. When you buy one, you are betting that your car is going to break, while the service contract company is betting that it won’t. Which side of the table would you rather be on?

It’s a fact that today’s cars are more reliable. But at the same time, these modern vehicles are also much more complex. Computerized engine management and vehicle safety systems make your car more fuel efficient and its occupants more protected, but when something goes wrong inside these various black boxes, they can be very expensive to repair.

Working it into your budget

Which brings us to a second point: It’s much easier to plan on spending an extra $25 -$35 a month, every month, on your car payment than it is to have to come up with $300 or more – right now – to replace an electronic part on your car in order to get it running so that you can drive to work. The fact is, if you can’t immediately repair your car, you may either be forced to find a second car with a tote the note dealer or to take public transportation.

Too often, this sequence of events leads to the repossession of your financed car, since who wants to make payments on a car that doesn’t work?

The Bottom Line

The tighter your budget, the more important it is for you to avoid unexpected expenses. After you’ve filled out our online bad credit auto loan application and received an approval through one of our affiliate dealers, do yourself a favor and seriously consider a service contract if you’re financing a used car. By doing this, you may avoid a situation that could impact your ability to repay your loan (if you can’t get to work, you can’t pay your expenses).

At Auto Credit Express, we specialize in placing customers with limited or bad credit with dealers that can help them get financed. Our affiliate dealers are knowledgeable and treat every customer that walks through their doors with understanding and respect. If you have any questions that our web site can’t answer, feel free to call us at the toll free number listed on every page.

So if you are serious about getting your credit back on track, why not begin a new chapter in your life by filling out our bad credit car loan application now.

So here is the scenario: You’ve gone to a legitimate bad credit auto loan web site such as Auto Credit Express. By filling out the online bad credit auto loan application and avoiding a tote the note dealer, you’ve set yourself up to begin a new chapter in your life by getting approved at one of our affiliate dealers for a second chance auto loan. By doing this, you will be able to raise your FICO scores and reestablish your auto credit. But you’re not looking for just any loan, you’re interested in a “sign and drive” loan.

In our customer service department here at Auto Credit Express, one of the questions we regularly need to answer is whether or not people with bad credit can do a sign and drive loan. And since we are in the business of helping people with damaged credit, we thought that it was about time we posted an explanation about sign and drive loans.

What sign and drive really means

The term “sign and drive” is actually a reference to a particular type of lease program. Under a sign and drive program, a buyer is able to enter into a lease by paying only the state taxes, title and license fees up front when taking delivery of the leased vehicle. Under normal circumstances, lease terms require that the first monthly payment, plus a security deposit, be paid in addition to these fees as part of what is known in the leasing business as upfront fees or “up fronts.”

Sign and drive with bad credit

The majority of auto loans for bad credit are for purchasing, not leasing, a vehicle. But in addition to the fact that the leasing option is rarely available to bad credit consumers, it should also be noted that the “sign and drive” lease option, itself, is usually reserved only for the best leasing customers. Because of this double whammy, most bad credit auto loan customers will not qualify for any type of sign and drive program.

The alternative

While a sign and drive is almost certainly not an option for most credit-challenged consumers, there is an alternative out there that can help you rebuild your credit so that eventually you may very well qualify for a sign and drive lease, and it’s something that we offer at Auto Credit Express.

As we see it

Don’t be discouraged if you can’t qualify for a sign and drive lease right now. Although you may have made some mistakes in the past, the bad credit auto loan process should be looked upon as a stepping stone to better credit. By financing a car and making your payments on time, you can use this type of loan as to reestablish your auto credit and raise your credit scores.

Auto Credit Express has helped thousands of people with bad credit buy a car and reestablish their auto credit at the same time. Our nationwide network of affiliate dealers specializes in bad credit car loans. Since our inception, we have processed over 2 million online applications and our dealers have closed over $1 billion in auto loans.

So if you are serious about getting your credit back on track, you can begin the process right now by filling out our secure online bad credit car loan application.

Despite the improbability of a BP bankruptcy, there is a common question that people what been asking themselves: What does the worst case scenario for BP look like?

An article from the New York Times indulges into this hypothetical situation.

Already, the price of BP’s stock has plummeted over one third of its pre-spill price.
There is some speculation by legal minds that BP might consider filing bankruptcy and separate the cost of cleanup and potentially up to billions of dollars in legal claims into a separate corporate entity.

But according to Tony Hayward, BP’s ousted chief executive, BP will be capable of weathering the storm. Just last year BP turned a profit of an astounding $17 billion.

It is this extreme amount of cash flow that will allow BP to fully compensate those wrongfully injured by the company and pay for the cleanup costs, claims Howard.

Despite the incredible profits the company has made in the past, a $40 billion tab on the clean up and damage coverage isn’t of the realm of possibility in the area. If BP was forced to shell out this much money, then another Texaco situation might not be out of the question.

In 1987, the oil giant Texaco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because it was unable to pay a $1 billion jury award to rival Pennzoil. What’s amazing is that the $1 billion award was actually less than 10 percent of the original judgment of $10.53 billion.

That was an interesting case where Texaco was found liable for jumping the planned merger between Pennzoil and Getty Oil, a move which allowed the jury to award triple damages for Pennzoil.

There is a cap on BP’s liability for so-called ‘economic devastation’, at only $75 million. The only problem with that cap is it becomes irrelevant if it is found that BP has violated safety regulations—and the latest presumption is that BP has in fact violated safety regulations.

It is possible for BP to fight and win any potential large judgment against them- a move which could save the company. When the now infamous Exxon Valdez spilled, the original judgment against Exxon was $5 billion. But after several appeals and fights which made it all the way to the Supreme Court, the final judgment was cut down to a more manageable $507.5 million.

A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Robert Bryce, seems to sum up the main thought about BPs overall stability well when he says that, “BP is financially sound now. It is unlikely to go bust near term… instead, BP will spend the coming decades circling the drain, mired in endless litigation, its reputation irreparable damaged and its finances weakened.”

This is far from a great outcome, but it seems to be far more likely than bankruptcy.

Co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, Damon Dash, is about to lose his duplex loft, which is located in a Tribeca, N.Y., “power building,” according to Curbed.com.

Dash, who purchased the 5,200 sq. ft. “stunner” in “The Atalanta” building for $3.875 million in 2004, currently owes his lender nearly $9 million after a refinance in 2006. He stopped paying the $78,000/mo. mortgage in late 2008.

Here’s a description of the property:

“This stunning 5,200 SF duplex loft boasts 20 foot ceilings in the living room, 4 bedrooms and 4 baths on TriBeCas best block. Add huge windows facing north and south, a mint kitchen and luxurious bathrooms, it leaves nothing to be desired. Located in the preeminent full service doorman building, the Atalanta, Must be seen!!”

The duplex is scheduled to be put on the auction block today (Wednesday, July 28, 2010) at 1 p.m. ET, during which a new buyer will emerge or the bank will claim possession of it.

Stay tuned.

Of course, it’s easy to talk about the importance of a budget.  Actually creating and implementing a strict set of guidelines is usually a whole different story.  But for those that embrace a disciplinary approach to budgeting, their financial burdens are lessened.

Understand Your Expenses

Before you can set a budget in place, you need to know exactly what your income is and what you’re spending that money on every month. Over the course of a week or two, write down every single penny you spend and what you spend it on.

The process can be time consuming in the beginning, but you will really benefit from the exercise. It’s much like tracking what you eat before beginning a diet — you must identify your strengths and weaknesses before establishing a plan of action.

What You Need vs. What You Want

After you’ve listed all of your expenses, prioritize them from most to least important. Ideally, things like rent and food will be at the top and entertainment will fall near the bottom.

Next, look for patterns. Are you spending a small fortune on daily lattes but consistently carrying a credit card balance? It’s probably time to re-evaluate your habit. You don’t have to give up the delicious drinks completely, just cut back in order to allocate a larger portion of your income to more important bills.

Divide and Conquer

Now that you have a better understanding of where your money needs to go every month, write down how you divide your income among your expenditures. After targeting all of your fixed spending like rent, utilities, insurance premiums, etc., keep what’s left over for variables like dining out, going to the movies and adding to your savings account.

If the numbers don’t work out perfectly the first month, that’s okay. You can’t predict the future. The great thing about a budget is that it can change. Make adjustments each month until you find a system that works well.

Build a Nest Egg

In addition to a solid budget, you should have a buffer in place in case an unexpected financial emergency comes up, and one will at some point. If you budget every dollar into a spending category without leaving some wiggle room for the unknown, you will end up in the red sooner or later. Plus, everyone should get in the habit of contributing to a savings account anyway.

The most important thing to remember when devising a budget is to keep it realistic. A budget should be a helpful tool, not a form of punishment, so be sure to allow for fun in addition to monthly bills. As long as you create a reasonable plan with both structure and flexibility, you shouldn’t have much trouble sticking to it.

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Where to go

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you are one of a growing number of consumers with bad credit and you need a car. If that’s the case, the good news is that you’ve come to the right place. Through our bad credit car loan web site www.autocreditexpress.com we have helped thousands of applicants just like you reestablish their car credit.

You can begin the process simply by filling out our online car loans with bad credit loan application. By avoiding a tote the note dealer and qualifying for a second chance auto loan at one of our affiliate dealers you will be able to not only reestablish your auto credit, but by paying your other bills on time you can actually raise your credit score at the same time.

Driving around from dealer to dealer can be a time consuming, wallet-draining experience. If you have bad credit, it can also be embarrassing and discouraging, especially if the dealers you visit can’t get you financed. But there is hope and this is exactly why we founded Auto Credit Express. Not only do we want to help you begin the bad credit car buying process, we also want to explain how the auto loans for bad credit buying procedure works.

But a word of caution: if you’ve never financed a vehicle with auto loans for bad credit before, you need to be careful. A car that’s too expensive can stretch your budget and could result in repossession. If this happens, the only remaining choice for most consumers with bad credit is a tote the note or buy here pay here car dealer. It also means that rebuilding your car credit has to be put on hold for at least a year, since lenders who originate bad credit car loans will only consider applicants with a repossession that’s more than a year old.

Understanding our web site

It all begins on our home page. By hitting the Apply Today button, you will be taken to the quick qualifier form. Once you’ve studied the basic requirements and computed your qualified auto loan amount, you may want to estimate just how much the payment might be. In order to do this, go to the top of the page and click on the Resources tab. This will take you to our Auto Loans Resource Center where you will find everything from a Loan & Down Payment Estimator to the Financing Calculators section.

By clicking on the Auto Loan Calculators line it will take you to our Auto Loan Calculators page. By clicking on the first calculator box, the Auto Loan Calculator, you will be taken to a calculator that can give you a basic understanding of how down payments and loan terms can affect a bad credit car loan monthly payment.

You can now enter various loan scenarios in the different boxes, including interest rates, down payments and trade allowance. Once you’ve finished, click the “calculate” button and a new browser will open with your own auto loan summary. Although it is only a guide, it will give you an idea of how much vehicle you can afford.

Any time you need more information, simply go back to the top of the screen and click on the Resources tab. This will take you back to the resources home screen where you can read our latest articles, view our helpful videos and do additional research in our Credit Tools & Resources section.

How to apply for auto loans online

Now that you’ve finished with your research, it’s time to fill out the application. Go to the top of the page and click on the Apply tab. On the Loan Calculator tab, double check to make sure you qualify and then click the Application Form tab.

Fill out the application as completely and accurately as possible. The loan application is SSL encrypted to ensure the privacy of everything you share with us. When you’ve finished, and unless you need to add a co-signer, check the privacy statement box, fill in the four letter verification code that you see on your screen and click on the Submit Application button. That’s all there is to it. You’ve just taken the first step towards reestablishing your credit by applying for one of our auto loans for bad credit.

Within a short time (48 hours or less), you should be hearing back from one of our affiliate dealers who will explain the rest of the process.

The Bottom Line

At Auto Credit Express we have helped thousands of people with bad credit buy a car and reestablish their auto credit at the same time. Our national network of affiliate dealers specializes in bad credit car loans and, since our inception, we have processed over 2 million applications and our dealers have closed over $2 billion in auto loans. Unlike other sites, our toll free number is listed on every page in case you have any additional questions.

So if you are serious about getting your credit back on track, why not begin a new chapter in your life by filling out our bad credit car loan application now.

Back in my day, when I was a fresh-faced 18 year old out of high school, creditors seemed to be falling all over themselves for the chance to give to give me my first credit card, usually with a limit of up to $5000 (oh the ways I could spend that…) and some useless trinket as a sign up bonus.  Things are a little different now, the biggest change-up being that banks are no longer allowed to issue credit cards to anyone under the age of 21, unless the person applying has a cosigner or can provide proof of sufficient income.  

Now, I’m sure that probably sounded sensible to whoever came up with the idea, but back here in reality, it doesn’t make any sense at all.  Not only does it serve to stave off any experience a younger generation will have with credit cards, but with a decent percentage of your credit score (15%) made up of the length of items in your credit history, having to wait until you’re 21 to start building up your credit is like being held back two grades for no discernible reason.

So what’s a responsible teenager (responsible enough, anyway) to do if they want to get ahead in the game and start establishing credit before their 21st birthday?  Try out any or all of these simple tips:

• Get a secured credit card.  Think of a secured credit card as a set of training wheels; not quite a credit card, but more than a debit card.  You can get one from your bank after depositing some funds into the new account, and then use it just as you would a real credit card, making regular monthly payments.  Be sure to look for cards that offer lower interest rates than others; you don’t want to fall into the trap of barely paying the interest off this early in the game.

• Get a job.  If you’d rather jump head first into the pool, look for a decent part time job (or full time if you’re out of high school and want to wait a year or so before heading to college) to increase your chances of getting a credit card before you’re old enough to (legally) drink.  After all, being able to provide proof you’ve got a decent income that can be used to pay down a card balance is like doing extra credit assignments – it can only help in the long run.

• Piggyback on Mom and Dad’s card(s)!  Assuming either of your parents have credit on their own, and that it’s good, you can always try and hop onto their card and share in their good fortune.  Of course, if your parents start to slip up on their own credit, it’ll extend to you as well, so make sure your parents are better with money than you might be.

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Fictional superhero Superman came to the real-life rescue of one Boston, Mass., family who found themselves up against the dark forces of foreclosure.

To the tune of about $250,000.

MyFOXBoston.com reports that the family, which has chosen to remain anonymous, discovered the rare 1938 comic in a box stowed away in their basement since the 1950s.

In fact, the distressed homeowners came across it while packing, assuming their days were numbered with a looming repossession of their home.

Not anymore.

The comic earned a VG+ (Very Good) rating and is expected to sell faster than a speeding bullet on ComicConnect.com for a cool quarter-million in the very near future.

It’s a big save just in the nick of time … and that’s no trade secret.