7 September 2018
Question: According to MSN, what are 30 things that can mess up your credit score?
South Africa’s central bank chief seeks to fend off emerging market contagion – Pg. 1
– …acknowledged that new threats to central bank independence were emerging, in part because of proposals by the ruling African National Congress to nationalize its shares. The Reserve Bank is unusual among peers in having private shareholders
End of Australia housing boom sparks fear of disorderly crash – Pg. 2
– …Sydney prices have fallen 5.6% in the past year while the national market has slipped 2%
– It marks the end of a five-year expansion, which saw prices in Australia’s biggest city rise 70% and household debt surge above 120% of GDP – one of the highest levels in the developed world
– …property markets from London to Toronto are seeing price declines as central banks begin to unwind record-low interest rates, consumers balk at paying record high prices and regulators or banks impose tougher lending criteria on consumers
– Australia is becoming a test case of whether regulators can manage a soft landing rather than a disorderly crash
– …forecast that house prices in Australia would fall 12% over four years, which would likely cause slower economic growth
– ….20% chance of a recession in the country and a 10% chance of a financial crisis over the next five years
– At the height of the property boom in 2015, investors accounted for more than 40% of mortgages …
Hedge funds and Wall St banks ride wave of carbon credit revival – Pg. 21
– Carbon credits, introduced by the EU to curb pollution by companies in the trading area, have soared almost fourfold in the past year to over 20 (euro) per tonne of Co2 after legislative changes designed to get the scheme working
– Companies that produce pollution in excess of the carbon allowances they are assigned need to buy extra in the market while those that use less – by switching to clearer fuels or suing less energy – are free to sell them
Answer: (1) You never check your credit report; (2) You pay your bills late; (3) You have too many credit cards; (4) You carry high balances on your credit cards; (5) You don’t have any credit cards; (6) You close old or inactive credit cards; (7) You ask for a higher credit limit; (8) You consolidate debt onto one card; (9) You pay off all your cards at once; (10) You use the wrong credit card; (11) You co-sign on debt; (12) You have an off-balance credit mix; (13) You pay down the wrong debt first; (14) You don’t fix credit report mistakes; (15) You make too many credit inquiries; (16) You have negative records; (17) You have unpaid parking tickets; (18) You have overdue library fines; (19) You have court judgments; (20) You pay your rent late; (21) You carry medical debt; (22) You don’t pay your taxes; (23) You fail to build your own credit after marriage; (24) You think a divorce decree eliminates your debt; (25) You let debt go to collections; (26) You have charge-offs on your report; (27) The bank forecloses on your home; (28) You file for bankruptcy; (29) You rent a car with a debit card; (30) You don’t pay child support