The following is the recent exchange with the person looking for credit repair. He wants to

The second biggest 2-day gain in 5 years and the reason was ... the rate cut, evidently. Call me stupid and all those investors smart, but according to Mrs. Gump who was a very wise woman, stupid is as stupid does. With oil prices closing on $100 USD for barrel and gasoline prices at over $3 a gallon, many have to spend a huge chunk of salary just for work commute. The heating bills will go through the roof. US dollar is worth about 68 Euro cents and home values has dropped dramatically, further eroding consumer purchase power.

Q: I've just begun the task of

From November 1 of 2007, consumers in all 50 states should be able to freeze credit reports at all three major credit agencies to prevent identity theft. By that date, all three major credit bureaus will offer security freeze protection to all consumers living in the 11 states that have not passed laws requiring it and the 5 states that currently limit this protection to identity theft victims only. Currently 39 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws requiring the credit bureaus to allow consumers to protect their credit files with a security freeze.

The 11 states that have not adopted security freeze laws are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia. For these Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion will provide the freeze at no charge to identity theft victims and charge non-victims $10 to initiate the freeze and $10 to lift it temporarily or remove it altogether.

4 states - Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, and South Dakota, have security freeze laws limited to identity theft victims only. Washington state has law that currently limits the freeze right to identity theft victims, but all consumers will become eligible next September. On November 1, all three major credit bureaus made this protection available to all consumers in these states, even if they haven’t had their identities stolen.

Lower fees are mandated by security freeze laws in the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana (no fees allowed), Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, N