CURRENT NEWS ITEM: SHORTCUTS: THE GIFT CARD COMES WRAPPED IN GROWING RISK

TOP - 50 RELEVANT BREAKING NEWS

1. Gift card holders may be out of luck in retail bankruptcies

   They could lose more than $75 million from store and restaurant closings in 2008, an analyst says. br/br/ On Wall Street, lawmakers are talking about how "toxic debt" threatens banks and lending. Out on Main Street, shoppers better start thinking about "toxic" gift cards from companies that could go bankrupt. They won't be worth the plastic they are printed on. pmap name="google_ad_map_FdssfB-3hHb03LWubL5-pxi05Sk_"area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/FdssfB-3hHb03LWubL5-pxi05Sk_?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28"/area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23"//mapimg usemap="#google_ad_map_FdssfB-3hHb03LWubL5-pxi05Sk_" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_imgclient=ca-ca-tribune_news_htmlchannel=latimes_newsoutput=pngcuid=FdssfB-3hHb03LWubL5-pxi05Sk_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fla-fi-gift ...

2. Paulson Credit-Card Bailout Draws Growing Criticism

   Why consumers don't need boost from the TARP fund

3. Gift card sales seen down 6 percent this holiday

   NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of once-hot gift cards are expected to fall nearly 6 percent this holiday season as shoppers try to stretch their dollars by buying discounted merchandise, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation on Tuesday.

4. Gift Card Grinch

   Shoppers looking for discount items are likely to shy away from gift cards.

5. Growing risk aversion spurs 'flight to quality'

   Demand for structured products among wealthy investors has increased by 400 per cent since the start of the year – in spite of recent concerns over the counterparties that provide their capital guarantees

6. The risk of gift cards

   Gift cards may not be your best bet as you shop for presents this holiday season. CNN's Christine Romans reports.

7. Gift card giving

   Personal finance expert Clark Howard explains why gift cards could be a risky present this year.

8. Survival fears weigh on US gift card sales

   US shoppers are shying away from purchases of store gift cards this holiday season, partly because of concerns that the retailers in question may not survive to see the cards redeemed

9. Gift Card Warnings for Consumers

10. Buy an iPod Touch, get a $50 gift card

    Best...gadget...ever. Use that gift card to splurge on better earphones.

11. Man Busted Leaving Egypt With Gift-Wrapped Mummies

    An Australian teacher who stuffed his luggage with 2,000-year old animal mummies and religious figurines wrapped as gifts was arrested Wednesday, an Egyptian airport security official said.

12. Considering a Last Minute Gift Card? You're Not Alone

    It's Christmas Eve. If you're in need of a last minute gift, might I suggest gift cards? You won't be alone, contrary to reports that gift cards are on their way out. At least, that's according to new data on gift card searches released by Hitwise. Sure, there's been a dip in searches, but gift cards are very much alive. Besides, this data doesn't even include the number of people going directly to a website and ordering a gift card. That's what I do. I've bought e-gift cards for Apple iTunes, Amazon.com and Southwest Air without ever conducting search. But those conducting searches reveal an interesting trend: searching for discounted gift cards that can be found via Craigslist. Sometimes people get or purchase gift cards they won't use so they sell them for less than the value of the card on Craigslist. An analysis of search terms "breadth" shows just how popular this trend is: Want to win an American Express gift card? Then take the Search Engine Watch Readership Survey and enter t ...

13. Get Out And Use Your Gift Card

    Billions of dollars are wasted each year when you leave your gift card at home, reports Harry Smith, who talked to Christine Frietchen from Consumersearch.com about gift card tips.

14. Banks 'ripping off credit card users'

    LEADING banks are ripping off their credit card customers by almost $900,000 a day by refusing to cut their sky-high interest rates.

15. Elderly dementia patients have high car accident risk

    Doctors should assess their dementia patients for road readiness, a new study suggests, as older drivers with dementia are more likely to be in a car accident.

16. We risk EU fine for not taking care of wildlife

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday admitted that Ireland is now running the risk of being fined by the EU for not safeguarding wildlife.

17. Council millions at risk in Icelandic banks

    Britain's local authorities came under fire today after it emerged that millions of pounds of council taxpayers' money invested in Icelandic banks is at risk.

18. Best of both worlds: A growing number of graduates are taking an MBA after a Masters

    Given that he already has a Masters degree in business, Juan Muntaner might at first glance appear to be an unlikely candidate now to be doing an MBA.

19. UK councils at risk in Icelandic bank failures

    Dozens of local authorities are facing the prospect of losing hundreds of millions of pounds after it was revealed that many had sizeable deposits with the failed Icelandic banks Landsbanki and Kaupthing.

20. Q&Council funding at risk

    Councils in England and Wales are worried about whether they will recover large sums of money invested in Icelandic banks which have collapsed.

21. US debt clock runs out of digits as growing deficit needs extra zeros

    The national debt clock in New York runs out of digits to record the spiralling figure.

22. Deprived area schemes 'at risk'

    Hundreds of community sector jobs could be at risk, warns an umbrella group of voluntary organisations.

23. Weakened Sri Lanka's tour of England shows growing influence of Twenty20 and IPL

    Growing dominance of Twenty20 underlined after Sri Lankan government reiterates players will honour IPL commitments ahead of next year's tour to England.

24. West Ham risk further Premier League sanction by using unregistered doctor

    West Ham United could be in further trouble with the Premier league after it emerged they allowed an unregistered doctor to treat players.

25. Cousins too great a risk: Buckley

    FORMER Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley says Ben Cousins poses too great a risk to be worth drafting because of his age and personal history.

26. Gasoline growing in price

    Gasoline prices in Ukraine slightly increased following the last week (September 30 through October 7)

27. Hasbro recalls Nerf Blasters over injury risk

    Hasbro Inc. has announced a voluntary recall of a model of its Nerf Blasters because a child's skin could get caught in moving parts.

28. Images show how thousands are at risk from untreated glaucoma

    Thousands of people in England and Wales are at risk from undiagnosed glaucoma, experts have warned.

29. Mulgrew red card appeal dismissed

    The Scottish FA upholds referee Mike McCurry's decision to send off Aberdeen's Charlie Mulgrew against Hibernian.