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

92% of Americans support solar power development, study says

The vast majority -- 92% -- of Americans think it’s important for the country to develop and use solar power, according to a study released today, making the alternative energy option potentially one of the most popular things since puppies or ice cream.

The sentiment was echoed almost evenly across political parties, with 89% of Republicans, 94% of Democrats and 93% of Independents agreeing that solar energy is an important aim.

The 2009 Schott Solar Barometer, conducted by independent polling firm Kelton Research, found that 77% of respondents also believe the federal government should make solar power development a national priority. Nearly half are considering solar power options for their home or business, while 70% of those hope to make the switch in the next five years. Only 3% already use the sun for energy.

If, as president of the U.S., they had to choose one energy source to fund, 43% of respondents would chose solar, followed by the 17% who picked wind, the 12% who settled on natural gas and the 10% who selected nuclear.

And yet only 12% of those polled could say that they were extremely informed about solar power while 74% said they wished they knew more about solar power options.

The study, conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, was commissioned by German photovoltaic company Schott Solar and the Solar Energy Industries Assn.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Californians working harder and longer, says survey

More than half of the employees in California are working harder and longer with less job security than they did before the recession, according to survey results released today.

The survey of 600 adults, conducted by Canadian research firm Harris/Decima for Everest College, showed that 51% of Californians with jobs have heavier workloads. Meanwhile, 53% reported being less secure in their jobs than they did two years ago. To keep up with the state's booming cost of living, 45% of Californians are working longer hours.

In Southern California, 57% of workers said they were putting in more effort, compared to 46% of Northern Californians. More than 40% of Californians work more than 10 hours a day, including commute time, and 35% said they now have less time for family and friends due to their work schedules.

The suffering economy has led 43% of employed Californians and 50% of the state's job-seekers to think about returning to school. Among workers, 29% said they wanted to head back to the classroom to pick up skills for a new career; 27% said they wanted to enhance their careers.

Most workers -- 64% -- said they were generally satisfied with their jobs, but 53% said their workday stress has climbed. Around 40% said they would abandon California to look for new jobs if they lost their current one -- a likelihood in the next year, according to 27% of respondents. Four out of ten are anticipating pay or benefit cuts.

Everest College, which is owned by Corinthian Colleges Inc., has 14 campuses in the state, including several in Southern California.

-- Tiffany Hsu

AAA projects Labor Day weekend travel will drop 13.3% this year

Americans are putting the brakes on Labor Day weekend travel plans this year, as economic strains combine with a quirk of the calendar.

AAA said about 39.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from their homes between Thursday and Monday by car, plane and other means -- down 6 million, or 13.3%, from last year’s Labor Day weekend traveler tally.

A projected 4.74 million Californians will travel for the holiday weekend, down from about 5.44 million last year, the auto club said today in a report.

But, while fewer people are expected to travel this weekend, 2009 should still produce the third-busiest Labor Day weekend this decade, AAA said.

A total of 1,350 U.S. households were surveyed for the report about their holiday plans, the auto club said.

Though AAA is estimating that 2009’s holiday weekend will be calmer than 2008’s, this Labor Day should still end up with more people taking to the roads than Labor Day weekends from 2004 to 2007, the report said.

A big factor in the decreased travel estimate this year is Labor Day falling almost a full week later in 2009 than it did in 2008, AAA said. Also contributing to the projected slowdown is the fact that more children are back in school this late into the year, the report said.

But the lure of the last long summer weekend should temporarily dispel travelers' worries about joblessness and school-overlap concerns, AAA said. Consumer confidence is also rising despite the recession, which could result in more people feeling free to travel, the report said.

Gasoline prices also are down compared with this time last year. The U.S. average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.622 today, $1.05 less than a year ago, AAA said.

The survey for AAA’s 2009 Labor Day Travel Forecast was conducted by IHS Global Insight on behalf of the company.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Photo: A pedestrian walks on the nearly deserted boardwalk in Hollywood, Fla., last week. Credit: Getty Images

Optimistic investors more active in retirement planning, Fidelity says

Optimistic investors tend to be more active retirement planners than pessimists, according to data released by Fidelity Investments today.

Out of the 1,000 husbands and wives who participated in Fidelity’s survey, 89% of couples had one partner who tended to be more optimistic than the other and was more involved in making decisions about retirement.

More than 80% of optimists said they expected a comfortable lifestyle in retirement, while just 61% of pessimists agreed.

When the recession hit, 22% of pessimists said, they panicked and wanted to flee the market, compared with just 11% of optimists. Meanwhile, 77% of optimists -- but only 57% of pessimists -- wanted to stay the course.

Average family has completed less than half of back-to-school shopping

Although some students already have returned to school, the average American family still has more than half of its back-to-school shopping to complete.

According to the survey released today by the National Retail Federation, the average American family had completed 41.6% of back-to-school shopping as of Aug. 11; families of college students had completed 41%; and 30.5% of families with school-age children (kindergarten through high school) hadn't even started their shopping.

The retail trade group said in July that total back-to-school and back-to-college spending would reach $47.5 billion this year. According to the earlier survey, families of students in grades K through 12 will spend, on average, $548.72 on school merchandise, a decline of 7.7% from $594.24 in 2008. Families of college students will spend, on average, $618.12, up slightly from last year’s $599.38.

"Unique and creative marketing campaigns coupled with the right prices will be the key to driving sales as the summer comes to a close," said Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Assn., a division of the National Retail Federation.

Back-to-school shoppers are carefully watching prices and looking for deals and coupons this year.

Those who already have begun their shopping said sales or coupons have influenced nearly half (47.8%) of purchases so far this season; 43.4% said coupons influenced them to shop at a particular store. Advertising inserts (42.1%), newspapers (32.2%), in-store promotions (32.1%), word of mouth (29.9%) and direct mail (16.2%) also strongly influenced decisions on where to shop.

“The days of mom or dad letting children put whatever they want in the shopping cart are over,” said Pam Goodfellow, senior analyst of strategic initiatives at BIGresearch, which conducted the survey. “Parents don’t want to send their kids to school in clothes that don’t fit or with a calculator that doesn’t work, but they are making careful spending decisions based on price instead of giving kids free rein to pick out whatever they want.” 

The survey also found six out of 10 (62.2%) American families who have shopping left to do will head to a discount store. Additionally, 44.8% will check out a department store, and 31.8% will head to a clothing store.

The poll of 8,543 consumers was conducted from Aug. 4 to 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1%.

 -- Andrea Chang

Photo: A mom and child shop in Omaha. Credit: Associated Press

ShopSmart puts teeth-whitening products to the test

There are plenty of ways to come by a dazzling white smile, many of them available in local drugstores.
But how to choose without potentially disastrous results? For the upcoming September issue of ShopSmart, from Consumer Reports publisher Consumer Union, 82 staff members volunteered their grins in order to test the performance of eight whitening kits.

Their conclusion: The best bet for pearly whites is Crest Whitestrips Supreme, which retail for $50. The strips are meant to be worn for 21 days in 30-minute intervals twice a day. Testers praised the product’s whitening power, but some complained about the time commitment and the higher-than-average sensitivity.

Runners-up include the $24 Listerine Whitening Quick Dissolving strips, which effectively brightened smiles but left residue and occasionally ripped when panelists opened the package.
The $35 Crest Whitestrips Premium, which are to be applied for twice a day for seven days, were considered easy to use but not necessarily effective enough to be worth the effort. Testers were more favorable toward the $45 Crest Whitestrips Advanced Seal, which are put on teeth once a day for 14 days.
A few staffers complained of gum pain and bad fit with the $37 Aquafresh White Trays, but said the taste was more tolerable than other products.

But the general consensus was to nix weaker products such as the $17 Target Whitening Dissolving Strips, which testers said stuck to the inside of their lips or felt slimy. The $30 CVS Easy Fit Whitening Trays caused mouth or gum pain, they said. The iWhite Light-Activated Teeth Whitening Kit, retailing for $38, was considered both unattractive and unwieldy with its large size and blinking light.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Surveyed parents say they could do more for their kids' financial education

Parents think they aren’t making the grade when it comes to discussing finances with their children, according to a recent study.

On average, moms and dads give themselves a B- on the money front, saying they often don't understand basic financial concepts, according to investment management company T. Rowe Price.

So maybe it isn't a surprise that 60% of parents said discussions about savings, inflation, diversification and other financial themes don’t happen enough with their children. Meanwhile, 57% said they were worried that they weren't doing enough to help their kids become financially competent by age 18.

Most moms and dads said they did not always use financial transactions, such as giving an allowance or birthday money or going shopping, to educate their children. And after the allowance money runs out, more than 40% of parents said their children came back for more.

Although nearly half of parents said that the rotten economy has prompted them to have more money-minded chats with their children, more than half said their kids were so forgetful that they have to occasionally review the lessons.

But 85% of parents said they used piggy banks for their children as an example of saving.

The Kids & Money Survey of 504 parents was released in conjunction with promotional efforts for “The Great Piggy Bank Adventure,” which T. Rowe Price created with Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online.

Finance lessons in the form of an online board game are available at www.thegreatpiggybankadventure.com.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Pet industry expected to grow in 2009

While the rest of the economy goes to the dogs, pet-centered businesses are still riding high, according to new research.

The pet industry is expected to generate $51.6 billion this year -- 1.3% more than in 2008, according to Los Angeles-based research firm IBISWorld. Even the number of cats and dogs as pets is expected to increase this year, by 2.4% to 169 million.

The veterinary services sector is branching into a wider range of services, offering chiropractics, ophthalmology, dentistry and dermatology, among others. Researchers anticipate that the segment will grow at an average annual rate of 4.3% over the next five years and pull in $22.3 billion this year alone in revenue.

Pet food producers also will grow steadily, making $15.2 billion this year as they experiment with natural and organic products. Demand for premium pet foods, with more owners asking for breed-specific brands and diet ideas, is helping to bolster the section.

Revenue from food, supplies and medicine will help pet stores earn $11.45 billion, with a minor contribution from sales of live animals as controversy builds over puppy mills and an increasing number of homeless animals ending up in shelters.

Pet grooming and boarding businesses will attract $2.69 billion in business in 2009, IBISWorld said.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Little teamwork when couples plan retirement -- survey

Despite the recession, most married couples are still mired in a no man’s land of miscommunication about retirement finances, according to research released today by Fidelity Investments.

A mere 15% of couples said they were confident that both the husband and the wife could take over joint finances if necessary, according to the Couples Retirement Study, which was conducted online in April.
Just 45% of married people make day-to-day decisions like budgeting and bill payment together, while only 38% talk to each other about how to invest to save for retirement.

Sixty percent can’t agree on how old they’ll be when they retire, and once they do, 44% don’t see eye to eye on whether they’ll keep working. As for the expected retirement lifestyle, 42% have a different idea than their partner.

But couples usually agree at least about which issues are most worrisome when it comes to retirement finances: first are healthcare expenses, followed by the effect of inflation on their savings and reductions to Social Security funds.

Meanwhile, market volatility has shaken husbands and wives alike -- 41% of married men and 54% of married women say the recession has made them less tolerant of risky investments.

Because of the shaky economy, husbands now plan to retire a year later, at age 64, while wives intend to retire at age 63.

-- Tiffany Hsu