NewsTrust - Most Recent Stories

A rescue plan for the rest of us

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Consumer Reports - Jan. 26 (Special Report) - The federal government has given Wall Street a taxpayer-financed cash infusion of up to $700 billion in an attempt to avert a steep economic downslide. But people on Main Street are also hurting, and a majority of Americans think the government hasn't done enough for them, according to a new poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. Fifty-six percent of respondents said the government needs to do more to help average citizens through these difficult economic times. But only 17 percent of those polled said the government needs to do more for banks and financial institutions. In the poll, a nationally representative telephone survey of 2,000 adults conducted in late October, 29 percent said the government went too far in bailing out the financial industry. Thirty-nine percent were unsure whether the financial rescue plan went too far.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average - 6 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Rebuilding your retirement nest egg

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Consumer Reports - Jan. 26 (Special Report) - When bad investments happen to good people, there's only one thing to do short of weeping: Turn to Plan B. That's where most of us are now. We're viewing the shards of our broken retirement nest eggs and making choices we'd hoped to avoid. We might have to work harder to slash debt, cut spending, and save more. We also might need to continue working longer than we had expected and to change our living situation. Plan B means seizing the reins in every area of our finances over which we have control.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Toshiba pulls plug on HD DVD

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Consumer Reports - By James K. Willcox - Feb. 20 (News Report) - Following in the wake of rumors this past weekend that Toshiba was ready to throw in the towel in its almost single-handed campaign to promote HD DVD as the high-definition successor to the DVD, the company this morning confirmed it is pulling the plug on its HD DVD business. As a result, Blu-ray will become the de facto high-definition DVD format, a move that will now end the high-def stalemate that many believe has delayed mainstream consumer acceptance of a DVD successor. In a statement released early this morning, Toshiba says it expects to be completely out of the standalone HD DVD player business by the end of March 2008, and will stop volume production of PC drives and recorders while it assesses the market for computer-based products, such as notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives. It's not yet clear what options early adopters of the HD DVD format will have. As of this morning, there were no announcements from the two major studios exclusively supporting the HD DVD format, Paramount and Universal, about their plans, but it's unlikely they will continue supporting a dying format for much longer. It's possible that one or more of the Blu-ray player manufacturers could offer HD DVD player owners an exchange program or some other kind of promotional offer to bring them into the Blu-ray camp. In the statement, Toshiba said that after undertaking a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD, it "decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders." The move, the company says, is the result of "recent major changes in the market," most likely the decisions by Warner Bros., to stop issuing movies in the HD DVD format and Wal-Mart to stop carrying HD DVD products.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer