Business and Finance

Recently, several credit card companies or issuers have raised their interest rates, and because of these moves of credit card companies the national average annual percentage rate on credit card offers also increased for the third straight week to 12.64 percent. This was according to CreditCards.coms Weekly Credit Card Rate Report.

Protecting themselves from rough economic setting and the impending regulatory changes or new laws, credit card companies have progressively been increasing the APRs these the recent weeks. And this weeks banks raising rates were from American Express, Chase and Citi. Aside from these banks that raised their rates, the Wells Fargo is also planning to raise their interest rates. Hike on interest rates of Wells Fargo will be applicable on most of their credit card holders, interest rates will most likely rise by three (3) percentage points, and these will be in advancement of the ratification of sweeping new credit card industry rules.

Although the Bank of America guaranteed that there will be no interest hike between this month and February 2010 when the Credit CARD act will be in effect, these moves are still made by the credit card companies. And though the situation is still in the middle of the rising unemployment levels that threaten the profit banks and other credit card companies, some are still not planning to raise their interest rates.

The rising level of unemployment level is supported by data. According to information released earlier this October, it shows that on the month of September unemployment level or rate reached a 26-year high of 9.8. And according to Fitch Ratings reports, a record high in the month of August was reached by credit card charge-off rates; these are rates that measure debts that banks or credit card companies decide they are unable to collect. And in the coming months charge-off rates will probably continue in setting new records and will stay high until employment rises, according also to Fitch.

Credit card companies, issuers and lenders are saying that the latest charges are just attempts on their part to align the interest rate on new card offers with the APRs for existing cardholders. Desiree Fish, spokeswoman for American Express, said that, over the past few months, we raised APRs (on current card holders), so we want to make sure the acquisition offers are consistent with that.” And these current card holders according to Fish were repriced on their cards because of many external factors that she was hesitant to say. Fish also said that. “Our pricing has to be responsive to the business and economic environment.”

Experts are not expecting any improvement or change on the economic setting for the time being. New York Fed President William Dudley even branded the unemployment rate “much too high” and that the economic recovery could be “less robust than desired.”
While consumers are being hardened by the economic situation due to joblessness and tightening credit, the Federal Reserve’s monthly G.19 report on the month of August, showed that credit card balances fell by nearly $10 billion. This huge drop is blamed on nervous consumers that are reducing their debt and verifying their free credit report during the recession. And on the record, the 13.1 percent fall in card debt marked the 11th straight monthly decline, representing the longest pullback in balances.

All these have implications on our credit score.

Maurice Lacroix is a Swiss luxury brand said to be established in 1990. Its newer as compared to the ones established in 1980s. Although newer, but its been catching up fast with the traditional ones. Maurice Lacroix is a name that does not belong to any person. Some people believe that its just a marketing gimmick. But lets look at the facts.
Its parent company was Desco von Schulthess Holding AG in Saignelegier. It was established in 1961. Initially it was an assembly work shop where different customer brands of high quality were made. The owners toyed with the idea of making their own watches. It instigated them to launch the first Maurice Lacroix model in 1975 in Austria. Therefore its incorrect to say that it was established in 1990 (as some people believe and say). To put the record straight in 1989 its own case factory was purchased, because the business had grown and needed more space. This in itself is an indication of good business, good sales and good profits. The Assembly facility was overhauled and developed in 1994/95, by investment of quite an amount of Swiss francs in millions. And then again expanded & modernized in 1999. The expansion created better facility to meet the ever growing customer demand.
A continuous up ward stride enabled Maurice Lacroix to become legally independent in 2001. The company always focused on versatility of additional functions, which gave them an edge over their competition. Lacroix team works day & night to maintain even the slightest bit of difference (from their competition) in each and every part of their watches. Some of their famous collections are Masterpiece, Pontos, Les Classiques, Starside and Miros. But as always the luxury brand models are rarities due to limited edition. Therefore those who want a watch not for the sake of a status symbol only, replica Maurice Lacroix are the answer. The users of replica Maurice Lacroix are advised to avoid shower, swimming and diving wearing the watch; because the replica is not as waterproof as the original.

Here we can discussing the pros and cons of being able to buy World of Warcraft Gold so readily get third party currency providers.
Do pay real cash for virtual goods. That is to what many players like Wang Kang Yi have resorted to quicken their progress in online games. The 25-year-old administrative executive shelled out $200 in March this year for 500 gold credits in World of Warcraft, a popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). And he thinks the money was well-spent. ‘I couldn’t afford to be glued in front of the computer for at least two hours at a stretch since I was already working full time. ‘By doing my sums, I realized that it would take me about 100 playing hours to earn that amount of gold. Buying became a better alternative,’ said the game fanatic.
Replete with night elves, Orcs and dwarves, World of Warcraft is set in a fantasy world not unlike Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings. Thousands of players interact with one another in real time through the virtual environment, and earn gold credits through their team conquests. For Mr. Wang, adding the virtual currency he bought to his own hard-earned cache of gold meant that he could finally purchase his object of desire – a horse worth a princely sum of 900 gold credits. He is not alone. Many computer gamers around the world are paying hard cash to gain an edge over others in the online fantasy world. Other games which attract such “trading” include Maple Story, Ultima Online, EverQuest, Asheron’s Call and Star Wars Galaxies.
Players have been known to buy virtual money, rare items in the game or even entire characters with their associated powers and accompanying weapons. As it takes a lot of hard work, not to mention time and luck, to attain these virtual goods, the high prices they command seem reasonable. However, World of Warcraft player Eric Chua thinks otherwise. “It does take a lot of time and effort to build a character to a level where you actually start to enjoy the gameplay,” said the 29-year-old advertising brand manager. “But the current market rate is just not something I would be willing to pay for.” A scan of auction site Ebay produced over 700 results for various items of the game on sale. The highest-priced item is a World of Warcraft account sold by a New Yorker for US$5,000.
Meanwhile, to raise the game level of a character in the shortest time, known in gaming parlance as “leveling”, online hawkers are charging up to US$360. These vendors will log into your account and play the game for you. Indeed, the industry is so lucrative that China-based sweatshops and established companies, such as Miami-based Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), have been set up just to ‘farm’. The word is used to describe the activity of playing the game to acquire as much gold or items as possible for resale. Selling skills and weapons online, however, is frowned upon and banned by Blizzard Entertainment, the games developer of World of Warcraft. It has threatened to take legal action against individuals ‘who engage in this inappropriate activity’.
World of Warcraft was launched late November 2004. Since March of 2005, the company has removed more than 800 players suspected of farming from its servers. Nonetheless, World Cyber Games organizers Herman Ng can understand where the allure of buying gold lies. “MMORPGs have very immersive environments. So whatever you possess in that world, your friends can see it. To obtain a rare item or to be an advanced player gives you bragging rights in a way,” said the 27-year-old. Others, however, feel adding real money into the equation taints the value of the play and destroys the enjoyment of the game. Audio engineer Willy Goh, 28, said: “I would never buy World of Warcraft Gold because the fun is in the journey. The sense of achievement is in finally killing that ultra-big monster, not in amassing items or cheap gold.” IT writer Chan Chi-Loong, 29, agrees. “Some people might feel that their time is precious, so to get the maximum enjoyment from the game, they pay for a short cut to the process,” he said. “But if you get to the advanced level too easily, it loses its value. In that sense, I prefer to just enjoy the game for what it is.”