Consumer Confidential: Foreclosures, cleaning products and video games

Here's your thick-as-Thursday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- Things are still tough on the housing front but maybe not as tough as before. Market researcher RealtyTrac said foreclosure filings were down 3% last month from the month before, but were up 19% from a year earlier. Analysts say we aren't out of the woods yet, but the trend line suggests that the housing market is gradually improving. About time too.

-- Is it possible to keep your home too clean? A new report says yes. The group Women's Voices for the Earth says many households overdo it with disinfectant products, making people more vulnerable to asthma, hormone imbalances and other health problems. "Companies are working hard to convince consumers, and especially moms, that they need to regularly disinfect every surface in their homes to protect their families from illness," Alexandra Scranton, a staff scientist with the group. "But that’s simply not true, and it may not be healthy."

-- I wrote the other day about visiting with people in line at a Best Buy store for the latest "Call of Duty" video game. Today, I can close the loop by reporting that Activision Blizzard sold $310 million worth of games -- 4.7 million copies -- within the first 24 hours of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" going on sale. And that's just in North America and Britain. Could it be that a few of us have some aggression issues to work out?

-- David Lazarus

Consumer Confidential: Jobs, DVDs and gold

Here's your full-frontal-Friday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--The unemployment rate hit 10.2% last month. OK, we've seen it coming for weeks, and President Obama and Fedatollah Ben Bernanke have been doing their best to prep us for the eventuality. But now that it's here, well, it stings a bit. The pencil pushers say things will probably grow even worse on the jobs front before they get better, with the jobless rate perhaps hitting 10.5% by the summer. Time for all those employers who are seeing their profits creep back up to do their thing ... please.

--But for those with jobs, there's always some shopping to do. And our friends at Target are offering some of their most popular DVDs at a bargain-basement price of just $10, with free shipping. The move is intended to match a similar price point from Walmart, and signals that heavyweight retailers are prepared to duke it out for what little consumer spending we can expect this holiday season.

--Gold futures have jumped to a new record -- more than $1,100 an ounce. Note to wife: Forget about any jewelry this Christmas.

-- David Lazarus

Consumer Confidential: Shopping, jobs and cable

Here's your throbbing-Thursday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--The retail industry posted its second straight month of gains in October as shoppers decided maybe, just maybe, the economic picture isn't as grim as all that. That doesn't mean we've been on a spending spree -- far from it. But some of the big boys, including Costco and Gap Inc., say their cash registers have been getting a little extra activity in recent weeks. This, as the lady says, is a good thing.

--One reason we seem to be feeling a little better about the economy is because more of us are working. Not much more, to be sure. But any job in a storm, right? The Labor Department says first-time unemployment claims fell by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 512,000 -- the lowest level in 10 months. That doesn't mean all's hunky-dory. But it does mean things are moving in the right direction.

--Time Warner Cable, the dominant cable provider in Southern California, says its profit fell by 11% in the most recent quarter. The company's chief exec, Glenn Britt, blamed the lousy economy for Time Warner's less-than-stellar performance. Another way of looking at it is the relatively high prices the company charges for services that some may feel aren't worth the cost. But who am I to say?

-- David Lazarus

Consumer Confidential: Credit cards, banks and trains

Here's your tardy-Tuesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Sign o' the times: MasterCard Inc. says its quarterly profit rose as consumers put more stuff on plastic, which is yet another indication that the economy is on the upswing. Robert Selander, MasterCard's chief exec, said it looks like the worst of the downturn is now in our rear-view mirror. But he also said that things won't be entirely hunky-dory until next year. So go easy with your credit card. We're not through the rough stuff yet.

--These little town blues: Bank of America says it wants to attract a higher caliber of exec for its next CEO, so the company reportedly may move its executive suite from North Carolina to New York. Probably doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. But it shows that many of our too-big-to-fail companies are beholden to no particular community -- except, perhaps, Wall Street.

--Warren Buffett is buying a railroad -- the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., to be precise. Clearly the guy known how to play Monopoly. The railroads always pay off over the long run.

-- David Lazarus

Pomona company bets Coleman brand will lift sales of its hot tubs

For hot tub manufacturers and the small retailers that sell the majority of the industry's goods, the recession arrived about six years ago, pushing sales down dramatically.

Hot tub sales are expected to tally only about 180,000, down from a high of 452,000 in 2004, said Lauren Stack, a spokeswoman for the Assn. of Pool & Spa Professionals.

The massive drop-off in sales has resulted in about 60 spa manufacturers closing over the last six years and many big-box retailers pulling hot tubs from the stores in favor of selling them online only or not at all.

But LMS Inc., a Pomona company known for its CalSpas brand and outdoor furniture, recently bought the rights to build a new line of hot tubs under the Coleman Spas name.

LMS is hoping the strength of the Coleman name -- known for camping gear such as coolers, lanterns and sleeping bags -- can get hot tubs back into mass retailers like Home Depot, Lowe's and Wal-Mart and win back sales among consumers, said Casey Loyd, LMS' president.

The new Coleman Spas, built by LMS, should be available by February, Loyd said.

Read more about the state of the hot tub industry and LMS' acquisition of the Coleman Spas brand in today's article.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Consumer Confidential: Amazon, Netflix, hookers

Here's your finally-a-Friday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--It's shaping up to be a merry e-Christmas. At least that's the message from our friends at Amazon.com, who reported a hefty 69% increase in quarterly profit and said things should continue looking swell right through the holidays. Significantly, the company's turbo-charged results were fueled primarily by sales of electronic goodies, which indicates that consumers are more comfortable buying big-ticket items -- at least if they're offered at the right price. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Watch out for aggressive sales this holiday season. Retailers know you care mostly about price, and they'll be fighting to get your business.

--Build a better mousetrap and investors will beat a trail to your door. That's the takeaway from Netflix, the online DVD-rental service, which has all but decimated brick-and-mortar rivals. The company's stock hit a 52-week high after Netflix reported a 48% spike in profit, based mostly on more people taking out subscriptions. Up next: A bigger push into online streaming of movies and stuff.

--A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Craigslist alleging that the site contributes to prostitution with its listings for adult services. The judge ruled that sites can't be held accountable for their content. Hookers rejoice.

-- David Lazarus

Online merchants to reach out to holiday shoppers with deals and through social media

Online sellers will be pulling out all the stops to try to attract frugal shoppers this holiday season, including offering discounts earlier and turning to social media outlets to promote their merchandise.

According to a survey by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, one-third of retailers (34.3%) said they would offer holiday deals earlier this year.

Social media will also be a popular avenue to attract shoppers. According to the survey, 47.1% of retailers will be increasing their use of social media this holiday season. More than half of those retailers said they have added or improved their Facebook pages (60.3%) and Twitter pages (58.7%) this year, and 65.6% said they have added or enhanced blogs and RSS feeds.

"Retailers know that times are tough so they have created promotions and incentives to help Americans save money this holiday season," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. "From free shipping to Facebook, online retailers are combining new initiatives with tried-and-true tactics to make their companies stand out."

Like brick-and-mortar retailers, online sellers are also making operational changes to help protect profit margins. According to the survey, 41.4% have scaled back on inventory levels.

-- Andrea Chang

Dodd unveils bill on overdraft fees

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said that he would introduce a bill to protect consumers from abusive checking account overdraft fees. According to Moeb's Services, banks will collect a record $38.5 billion in fees for customer overdrafts this year.

Customers are often unknowingly enrolled in "overdraft protection programs" that enable them to overdraw their accounts when they make debit card purchases, electronic transfers, ATM withdrawals or use checks, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs said in a news release today, adding that people can incur fees upwards of $30 for this "courtesy" even if their account is only overdrawn by a few cents. 

The news release said that the bill would:

·  Require banks to get customers' consent before enrolling them in an overdraft protection program for ATM and debit card transactions;

·  Limit the number of overdraft coverage fees banks can charge to one per month and six per year;

·  Require fees be proportional to the cost of processing the overdraft;

·  Stop institutions from manipulating the order in which they post transactions in order to rack up extra fees;

·  Require customers be notified when they overdraw their account and be given the option of being notified by e-mail, text or traditional mail; and

·  Require that customers be warned if an ATM or branch teller transaction will overdraw their account, and be given the chance to cancel the transaction.

-- Melissa Rohlin

Amazon offers same-day shipping to selected cities (none in California)

In anticipation of the holidays, Amazon.com has unwrapped a same-day delivery service to recipients in seven U.S cities. Local express delivery will be available in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Seattle and Washington, D.C., according to the company, and will soon be extended to Chicago, Indianapolis and Phoenix.

So what's wrong with California? Amazon has overlooked our sunny cities filled with deep-pocketed consumers ready to satiate their shopping cravings. On the bright side, perhaps the exclusion is tacit acknowledgment of Californians' ability to plan.

According to Amazon, "Now, if a customer needs a last-minute present for a birthday or wants a copy of their book club book before the weekend starts, they can order from Amazon instead of the hassle of a last-minute trip to the mall."

The service costs $5.99 per item for Amazon Prime members. For others, charges depend on the price of the purchase.

-- Melissa Rohlin

Consumer Confidential: Sales, stuff and soda

Here's your whoopee-it's-Wednesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Retail sales fell last month, but not really. They're only down because they were up by a lot because of the "cash for clunkers" program, which lured car buyers back into showrooms. Discounting the program's effects, retail sales were actually up by 0.5%, which is a bit better than what economists had been expecting. The betting line among the pocket-calculator crowd is that the economy's still crawling its way toward recovery.

--Some more upbeat news from the statistic front: Business inventories were down by 1.5% in August, the 13th straight month of declines. Why do you care? Because as companies clear stuff away from their shelves, that just makes it more likely they'll need to order more stuff as the economy improves. More stuff means more production, which means more jobs. At least that's the general idea.

--Our pals at PepsiCo are drawing heat for a new iPhone app designed to help guys score with women. Seriously. The app, called "Amp up before you score," is intended to push the company's Amp energy drink. It allows users to pick the type of women they prefer -- "foreign exchange student," say, or "cougar" -- and offers helpful pickup lines. Pepsi apologized via Twitter (natch) that it was just trying to be funny. Yeah, I love it when big companies show off their sense of humor.

-- David Lazarus