Current Events in May 2012

Homeowners are “underwater” when they owe more on their home than it is worth. While underwater mortgages remain a big problem in the U.S., household debt data suggests family finances are in even worse shape.

According to a new University of Michigan (U-M) report, about one out of every five U.S. households owes more on credit cards, medical bills, student loans and other non-collateralized debts than they have in savings and other liquid assets. In the business world, that's known as a “negative balance sheet” and is usually a precursor to bankruptcy.

Until the housing collapse, homeowners could refinance their mortgages for increasing amounts, taking equity out of their homes as cash to finance purchases. They are no longer able to do that and those so-called equity raids are one reason so many homeowners are underwater.

Not out of the woods on mortgages

The report predicts more trouble ahead with home mortgages, with 1.7 percent of families surveyed in 2011 saying that it is “very or somewhat likely” that they will fall behind on their mortgage payments in the near future. This represents an improvement from 2009 when 1.9 percent of families expected to fall behind.

“Our data suggest that the mortgage crisis will continue for the next few years, although a somewhat smaller share of families will experience mortgage distress” said Frank Stafford, an economist at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). “And even though average savings levels have gone up since 2008, our data show that there has been no improvement in financial liquidity between 2009 and 2011, except among families with more than $50,000 in savings and other liquid assets.”

The report is based on an analysis of home ownership, mortgage and other debt, and financial resources among the same 8,121 families interviewed before and after the downturn. The families were interviewed as part of the ISR Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the longest running longitudinal household survey in the world.

Key findings

Among the key findings, the report says about 3.5 percent of families owned a home and were behind on their mortgage payments in either 2009 or 2011, or in both years. While these percentages are low, the number of families affected is significant – approximately 4,100,000 on a national level.

The proportion of families with no savings or other liquid assets rose to 23.4 percent in 2011, from 18.5 percent in 2009. About the same percentage of families in 2009 and 2011 had $30,000 or more in credit card and other non-collateralized debts and about the same proportion had no such debt in both years.

“Some families have not been able to make substantial headway,” said Stafford. “Even if they’re not underwater with their mortgages, they are struggling to save money and reduce their debts.”

The main difference between families struggling with debt and those that aren't is an adequate nest egg – in this case at least $50,000 in liquid assets.

“The rest of American families are simply treading water, if they’re lucky,” Stafford said.

Google has produced an automobile that drives itself, but just how practical is it? Practical enough that authorities in Nevada have granted it a license for road testing.

As long as there are at least two people in the car during the tests, it's street-legal.

The vehicles use sophisticated radar, GPS systems and other high-tech gear to accelerate, brake and make turns. Drivers can take control at any time by turning the wheel or stepping on the brake.

In the video below, Google demonstrated how a legally blind “driver” could take the car for a spin.

Why have a car that drives itself? Giving mobility to a visually impaired person is one reason. But safety is also a factor. Self-driving cars should be safer, in theory at least, and less vulnerable to human errors.

With the Baby Boom generation moving into their senior years, that could well be a factor, and allow older drivers to keep driving longer than they might if they had to rely solely on their own skills.

There are already cars that parallel park themselves. Google says it's cars just taken the concept farther. Google engineers say they hope to begin mass-producing these vehicles within a few years.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is considering rules  that it thinks would simplify mortgage points and fees and bring greater transparency to the mortgage loan origination market.

These rules, which the CFPB expects to propose this summer and finalize by January 2013, would make it easier for consumers to understand mortgage costs and compare loans so they can choose the best deal.

“Mortgages today often come with so many different types of fees and points that it can be hard to compare offers,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “We want to bring greater transparency to the market so consumers can clearly see their options and choose the loan that is right for them.”

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) places certain restrictions on the points and fees offered with most mortgages. The CFPB is considering proposals that would:

• Require an Interest-Rate Reduction When Consumers Elect to Pay Discount Points: Discount points are a fee, expressed as a percentage of the loan amount, to be paid by the consumer to the creditor at the time of loan origination in return for a lower interest rate. Discount points can benefit consumers by allowing them to reduce their monthly loan payments. The CFPB is considering proposals to require that any discount point must be “bona fide,” which means that consumers must receive at least a certain minimum reduction of the interest rate in return for paying the point.

• Require Lenders to Offer Consumers a No-Discount-Point Loan Option: It is often difficult for consumers to compare loan offers that have different combinations of points, fees, and interest rates. Under the proposal the CFPB is considering, consumers must also be offered a no-discount-point loan. This would enable the homebuyer to better compare competing offers from different lenders.

• Ban Origination Charges that Vary with the Size of the Loan: Brokerage firms and creditors would no longer be allowed to charge origination fees that vary with the size of the loan. These “origination points” are easily confused with discount points. Instead, under the rules the CFPB is considering, brokerage firms and creditors would be allowed to charge only flat origination fees.

In addition to regulating origination points and fees, the proposals the CFPB is considering would also address mortgage loan originators’ qualifications and compensation. Mortgage loan originators, who take mortgage loan applications from consumers seeking to buy a home or refinance a mortgage, include mortgage brokers and loan officers. The rules the CFPB is considering would:

• Set Qualification and Screening Standards: Under state law and the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement Act, loan originators currently have to meet different sets of standards, depending on whether they work for a bank, thrift, mortgage brokerage, or nonprofit organization. The CFPB is considering rules to implement Dodd-Frank requirements that all loan originators be qualified. 

• Prohibit Paying Steering Incentives to Mortgage Loan Originators: In 2010, the Federal Reserve Board issued a rule that prohibits loan originators from directing consumers into higher priced loans because they could earn more money. The Dodd-Frank Act requires the CFPB to issue rules as well. The proposals the CFPB is considering would reaffirm the Board’s rule, which bans the practice of varying loan originator compensation based on interest rates or certain other loan terms. The CFPB’s proposal would also clarify certain issues in the existing rule that have created industry confusion.

The proposals that the CFPB is considering are designed to preserve consumers’ choices while increasing transparency. In developing a formal proposal, the CFPB plans to engage with consumers and industry, including a Small Business Review Panel that will meet with a group of representatives of the small financial services providers that would be directly affected by the proposals under consideration.

The documents that the CFPB will be sharing with these small providers include an overview of the proposals under consideration and a list of questions for input. The small provider representatives will provide feedback to the panel on the proposals the CFPB is considering and suggest alternatives. The Panel will issue a report summarizing this feedback, which the CFPB will consider when formulating the proposed rules.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning about injuries and death associated with the use of an experimental procedure sometimes called “liberation therapy” or the “liberation procedure” to treat chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).

Balloon angioplasty

Ford is recalling about 10,500 Expedition, F150, Mustang and Lincoln Navigator vehicles from various model years. The company said the transmission may not go into reverse or, in some cases, the back-up lights on the rear of the vehicle may not illuminate when it is shifted into reverse. 

Ford will notify owners and dealers will inspect and replace the transmission range sensor as needed. Owners may contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332.

Making healthy choices at the grocery store can be a real challenge. Supermarket strategists are aware of this, so they have all kind of sneaky tactics to make customers choose the wrong things. Like strategically placing the sugary, salty, and processed foods at eye level, or by putting the easy-to-sell unhealthier items near the entrance, so you're enticed upon walking in.

Some supermarkets have tried to be more responsible in the area of healthful consumer shopping, by placing certain labels and nutritional information around the store to assist customers in making wiser food choices. But many past reports confirmed this does little to impact consumer decision, as the listings are often un-noticed or very confusing to understand.

Researchers from the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Arizona State University ran a study consisting of 153 local shoppers at a grocery store, to see if they would make healthier shopping choices with the help of an in-store nutritionist instead of store labels and warnings.

Participants of the study were brought to a supermarket that used shelf-labeling based on health tips from the American Heart Association. Each label either read "low sodium", "heart healthy", "calcium rich", "immune booster", or simply "healthier option".

Half of the volunteers shopped and only used the labels to make their product choices, and the other half of the group shopped with no labels, but received a counseling session from a nutritionist for 10 minutes.

Items documented

After each group made their purchase selections, researchers documented each item from the group that only used the labels, and each item from the group that received the 10-minute nutrionist counseling session. They noticed that the shopping group that had the counseling, bought a larger amount of fruits, vegetables and healthier products.

"Food purchasing patterns are predictive of actual dietary intake, and even the modest effects from our study could translate into meaningful health benefits if sustained longer term," said Dr. Brandy-Joe Milliron, postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University, and head author of the study.

Does this mean we'll start seeing white-coated nutritionist at our local food markets? Or will we pay stricter attention to important product labels? Maybe not, as many U.S. consumers select their food products by price and what their able to afford.

In a separate 2008 study conducted by Amarach Research on behalf of the National Consumer Agency of Ireland, researchers found that 56 percent of supermarket shoppers choose their stores and food products by price, and that's before the current recession truly hit hard.

Hopefully, grocery store managers will step up their efforts in making it easier for consumers to make educated health choices, by way of labeling, nutritionists, or by simply making healthier products more affordable.

When a new baby is on the way one of the first things expecting parents do is go out and purchase all of the necessary baby products. Blue items for a boy, pink items for a girl, and yellow products for those parents who choose to wait to learn the baby's sex. But not all baby products share equal levels of safety.

In 2011, 40 percent of all recalls were for kids products, according to the latest report from Consumer Reports. Published in the June 2012 issue ofShopSmartmagazine, the report focuses on 12 baby products than can be extremely harmful to your little one, and also discusses what parents should do to ensure child safety when purchasing products for them.

The report also provide suggestions on how to keep your child safe while you're using specific products such as, baby monitors, safety gates, and jogging strollers.

"Many people think that if a product is for sale in stores that it must be safe," noted Lisa Lee Free, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart. "But that's not always true. Many widely sold baby products can put your child at risk of injuries or even death."

The first piece of advice when buying baby products according to the report, is to mail in the product's registration card, as this is typically used to keep parents abreast of any safety problems with the product.

Cribs

When putting babies to sleep in their cribs, parents should stay away from certain sleep barriers like, blankets, pillows, bumpers or sleep positioners. They can all lead to potential suffocation if your child moves the wrong way. The report tells consumers to place your baby in an empty crib with just one fitted sheet. Also, parents should use footed or heavier pajamas to keep babies warm instead of thick blankets or comforters.

Also, when purchasing a crib, parents should select a full-sized crib with immovable sides, as opposed to a crib that has sides that drop. They should also stay away from bedside sleepers as both products can cause suffocation. As previously reported by ConsumerAffairs in Febuary of 2011, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the drop-side crib, but no safety regulations were applied to bedside sleepers. Parents should avoid both, according to the report.

And when its time to give baby a bath, avoid using infant bath seats. They are used so the baby can sit upright above the water, but many children can tip over in the seat, or it can give way by excessive movement. The report explains how these bath seats provide a false sense of security, and parents should instead use hard plastic baby bathtub's to ensure better safety.

More tips

• To avoid strangulation, keep cords from baby monitors and window blinds, curtains and shades out of baby's reach.
• For items with harnesses -- such as car seats, high chairs, bouncers and strollers -- always opt for a model with a five-point harness, as they are much safer than those with a three-point. Always fasten the harness and keep it fastened until you are ready to remove the baby from the product -- babies have been killed or injured when their harness was not fastened securely and they fell, sometimes from a height of several feet.
• Babies should be at least a year old before taking them jogging in a jogging stroller. A young infant who can't hold his or her head up risks asphyxia if not properly reclined. Instead, take brisk walks using a stroller that lets babies lie on their backs or one that accepts a car seat.

• Warm-mist humidifiers can be a fire hazard.

  A pressure-mounted safety gate can help keep your babies from going up the stairs, but are not strong enough to keep them from falling down. Use a hardware-mounted model at the top of stairs, indoors or out. No gate is a substitute for careful supervision of a baby or toddler.
• Use cool-mist humidifiers in your child's room instead of warm-mist humidifiers or vaporizers whose steam can cause burns or that have dangerously hot surfaces. When not in use, remove the humidifier from the room so children can't spill the water or play with the power cord, risking electrocution.

If you get an email from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), it's not what you think it is.

USPS reports some postal customers are receiving bogus emails about a package delivery or online postage charges. They look legit but they aren't. The messages deliver a link or attachment that, once opened, installs a malicious virus that can steal personal information from your PC.

The emails claim to be from USPS and contain fraudulent information about an attempted or intercepted package delivery or online postage charges. You are instructed to click on a link or open an attachment.

Like most viruses sent by e-mail, clicking on the link or opening the attachment will activate a virus that can steal information such as your user name, password, and financial account information.

Spam emails are a common way for scammers to spread so-called “key logger” viruses that can steal sensitive information and give them control of victims' computers. The use of the USPS is actually pretty clever, since nearly everyone in the country is a customer. In the past that have masqueraded as a bank or credit union. But recipients who didn't use that particular institution were much less likely to open the email.

Consumers who receive this message should simply delete the email without opening it. The Postal Inspection Service said it is working with security experts to resolve the issue and shut down the malicious program.

U.S. consumers continue to do more of their shopping online rather than visit a brick and mortar store. In the first quarter of this year, spending with online retailers reached $44.3 billion, a 17 percent increase over the first quarter of 2011.

This represents the tenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, according to comScore, a digital industry analyst.

"The first quarter of this year was especially strong for retail e-commerce as we returned to year-over-year growth rates in the high teens, numbers we haven't seen since 2007," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Fulgoni says that means the economic numbers that point to a slow recovery might be a little misleading. Yes, brick and mortar sales are down, but there is a definite shift to online shopping, and there the activity remains robust.

Challenges and opportunities

"This presents opportunities but also challenges for brick-and-mortar retailers if they can't hold onto their offline market share in the digital world,” Fulgoni said. E-commerce has reached critical mass in several product categories, and it will be important to monitor these sales trends by category in order to correctly gauge the impact e-commerce is having on overall retailer performance."

As you might expect, the top-performing online product categories were digital content and subscriptions, computer software, and consumer electronics. But jewelry and watches also made the list, as did event tickets. All of those categories showed double-digit gains.

The report shows that 48.8 percent of e-commerce transactions included free shipping, the highest percentage for a quarter on record outside of the holiday season.

According to comScore's 2012 Retail survey, 38 percent of tablet owners have made a purchase on their devices within the past month. Apparel was the most popular category for purchase among tablet shoppers.

Picture this: you quickly move through your weekday morning attempting to get out the door earlier than you did yesterday. You frantically grab your phone, keys and bag and race out the door faster than Olympian Usain Bolt.

Avoiding another mean look from your boss is all the motivation you need to make it to work on time today, but at the subway station you notice something you've never seen through the corner of your eye. Then you ask yourself, 'Did I just see rows of digital grocery products at my local train station'?

If you live in Chicago the answer would be a surprising yes, as the online grocers Peadpod have created a virtual supermarket right inside one of the city's "El" train stations. And more digital food markets are on the way.

Several virtual shelves are shown on the walls of the train station, and contain 70 products to choose from, where people can use their smartphones to scan and purchase items on the spot.

Customers can buy typical grocery products like shampoo or fresh produce after downloading a free Peapod app on their Androids or iPhones. Once an item is scanned and added to the app's grocery cart, the products will be delivered to your home the next day.

But how happy are Peapod consumers? In a word, quite. A ConsumerAffairs sentiment analysis of about 20,000 comments on Twitter, Facebook and other social media finds positive net sentiments as high as 94% at some points during the past 12 months.

Game-changer

"It kind of changes the game for the out-of-home advertising medium, almost as a kind of service rather than branding," said Dave Etherington, senior vice president of marketing for the media company Titan.

Although new to the windy city, Peapod's virtual market is the second city in the U.S. to offer this Jetson-esque way of shopping, as it was introduced earlier at a Philadelphia train station. Peapod is giving the virtual supermarket in Chicago a 12-week test run to determine if it will choose to open up more stores in other cities.

As smartphones continue to be a common tool for shopping among many consumers, it only made sense for Peapod to find a way to bring its online store to the consumer.

The virtual supermarket was first introduced by U.K. based grocer Tesco, which established digital stores at South Korean subway stations in the summer of 2011. Since Peapod kind of established the online grocery store concept many years ago, it desired to be the first to jump on this futuristic way of buying and bring it to the United States.

Virtual shelves allow hurrying commuters to shop while they wait for the train, and also serves as a stunning visual advertisement for the virtual supermarket concept itself.

"It does a fantastic job of branding, but in a very transparent measurable way, it ships products and it generates revenue, explained Etherington.

Good reviews

As noted above, reviews from of the virtual store have been consistently high, as consumers have praised its convieniance and time saving ability.

What is it consumers like about Peapod? It mostly boils down to convenience and, interestingly, there's almost no negative emotions to counterbalance those warm, fuzzy feelings.

"Grocery shopping doesn't necessarily happen the way it used to," said Mike Brennan, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Peapod. "It's becoming more of a task that happens in multiple steps throughout the week."

And he's right. How often have you sacfrificed a home-cooked meal for consecutive days of fast food, simply because you were too busy to make it to the grocery store?

This may be a great answer for today's shopper who usually doesn't have time to shop.

It seems like shoppers can't keep up with the ever-changing warnings from studies and researchers. First, customers were told to immediately stop using plastic bags for environmental reasons and use reusable mesh bags. Some localities like Montgomery County, Maryland even charge customers for using plastic, paper, or any other old-school shopping receptacle.

The latest consumer warning, this one from an Oregon research group, suggests that reusable shopping bags can carry and pass along the dreadful and very painful stomach flu virus. It's not the first such warning. In April, a study found that only 15 percent of shoppers routinely wash their reusable shopping bags, thus creating a breeding zone for harmful bacteria. 

In June 2010, another study randomly tested reusable grocery bags carried by shoppers in the Los Angeles area, San Francisco, and Tucson and found significant enough to cause a wide range of serious health problems and even lead to death -- a particular danger for young children, who are especially vulnerable to food-borne illnesses.  

In the latest study, researchers explain that vomit and fecal virus particles can stick to the bag and reside there for long periods of time. This came about after a group of student soccer players became ill and possibly spread the virus through the reusable shopping bags they were carrying.

How it happened

Here's how the whole shopping bag stomach virus caper went down, according to the study:

One of the soccer players became suddenly ill while in a hotel room at an away game. She had with her a reusable shopping bag filled with food, and left the bag in the hotel room, while one of the coaches immediately drove the her home. While driving the soccer player home, the coach became sick too.

A second coach happened to retrieve the shopping bag to distribute the food items to the other players on the squad. Big mistake, as all of the other team members got sick right after as well.

Here's where the grocery bag comes in: The first soccer player that was ill, along with the coach who drove her home never came in contact with the rest of the team, as they were in separate areas of the hotel. The Oregon researchers believe the shopping bag could be the perpetuator in spreading the flu virus to everyone.

"Everyone has suspected that the noro virus can be transmitted this way, but they haven't been officially linked, said Kimberly Repp, an epidemiologist at Oregon Health and Sciences University.

But was it really the bag or the food? A fair question since we do not know how long the food items were sitting around, and exactly what type of food it was. But what adds a little more mystery to this plot is that not everyone ate the food. The coach who drove the sick player home didn't eat from the bag, but still got sick.

Whether all of this is enough to blame the shopping bag for actually passing the virus is still a long stretch, but at the very least it shows that the constant reuse of anything needs to be thoroughly cleaned and eventually replaced.

"As long as something can land on it, it can transmit the virus," cautioned Repp. "It doesn't matter what the substance is." The full study is published in the current edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

With fewer people able to qualify for a home mortgage, there are more renters, meaning competition for available rental properties. Some scammers are taking advantage of that.

It starts when a scammer gets access to a home or apartment, either by obtaining a key or even by picking a lock. He then places an ad – usually on craigslist – offering the property at an attractive rent.

The low rent brings out plenty of people who are interested in renting it. The scammer arranges to meet the prospective tenants and shows the property. If they show interest he tells them he has others who want to see it and if they want it, they'd better sign the lease immediately.

The scammer then produces a boiler-plate lease and has the victims sign, asking for a deposit or the first and last month's rent.

Here is the dead giveaway that it's a scam: the scammer says it must be cash or money order, not a check. The scam will be exposed fairly quickly and if the victim has written a check, there may be time to stop payment. So any scammer will insist on cash.

If the victim hands over cash or a money order, the “landlord” will disappear, but probably not before collecting money from two or three other “tenants.”

It's a racket

Real estate agents say it's becoming a huge racket, with scammers usually targeting foreclosed homes that are unoccupied. The chances of them being caught are much less.

But these properties usually have a realty company's “for sale” sign with the name and number of the agent. If you become suspicious, call the number on the sign and ask questions. If the sign says that it is "bank owned," then the property will not be for rent.

A request for payment in cash is another red flag, although the scammer may try to justify it by saying he's been burned in the past. An unusually low rent can also be a sign that something isn't right about the deal.

And if the “landlord” tries to pressure you into a snap decision by saying he has other eager would-be tenants, then that pretty much clinches it – it's a scam.

In the latest attempt to create a cross-platform, one-click shopping service, MasterCard says it will release a digital wallet called PayPass Wallet Services that can be used for purchases, whether in-store, online, or on mobile phones.

MasterCard's new venture will be part of its PayPass point-of-sale-system, which includes almost 500,000 stores and brands around the globe, where customers can make purchases by easily tapping a card or phone with NFC (near-field communications). However, the difference with PayPass Wallet Services is that associated businesses will be able to create payment systems under their own brands.

Among the first merchants to join the PayPass system are Barnes & Noble and American Airlines. Customers will be able to click a purchase button on each of the company's websites after first providing the needed personal  information.

Convenience, flexibility

"Consumers are looking to pay for goods when, how and where they choose. Merchants want flexibility to easily accept digital payment so they can convert more browsers to buyers both online and in store," said Ed McLaughlin, chief merging payments officer for MasterCard. "We realize that when it comes to payments, no single wallet will rule them all. PayPass Wallet Services simplifies the shopping experience while providing flexibility and choice to merchants, brands and consumers."

Here's what PayPass Wallet Services comes with:

• Acceptance Network (PayPass Online and PayPass Contactless) - Provides a globally consistent way to help merchants accept electronic payments across multiple channels whether the purchase is made in a store at the point of sale with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology or online using a computer, tablet or smartphone. PayPass Online also provides consumers with a simple check-out process by eliminating the need to enter detailed shipping and card information with every purchase.

• Wallet - A full suite of digital wallet solutions enabling banks, merchants and partners to white label their own wallets. It makes online shopping safe and easy by allowing consumers to store payment and shipping information in one, convenient and secure place. The wallet is open, which means that consumers can use American Express, Discover, Visa and other branded credit, debit and prepaid cards.

• API - Allows partners to connect their own digital wallets into the PayPass Acceptance Network, leveraging MasterCard's check-out, fraud detection and authentication services and enabling their customers to make purchases wherever PayPass is accepted - online and in store.

In the third quarter of 2012, MasterCard will make PayPass Wallet Services accessible to U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. Other countries will be included in the near future.

"MasterCard Canada led the adoption of innovative technologies in the payments space with the introduction of PayPass in 2005," stated President of MasterCard Canada, Betty K. DeVita. "With millions of Canadians now tapping with PayPass millions of times a month, we are ready to once again lead the market with innovations in mobile and eCommerce."

Millions of people slather on sun screen when they head for the beach or spend extended time outdoors in the summer, in hopes of reducing the risk of skin cancer. But could they actually be increasing the risk?

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology believe it's possible.

Zinc oxide, a common ingredient in sunscreens, undergoes a chemical reaction that may release unstable molecules known as free radicals. Free radicals seek to bond with other molecules, but in the process, they can damage cells or the DNA contained within those cells. This in turn could increase the risk of skin cancer.

Dr. Yinfa Ma, Curators’ Teaching Professor of chemistry at Missouri S&T, and his graduate student Qingbo Yangalso found that the longer zinc oxide is exposed to sunlight, the greater the potential damage to human cells.

“Zinc oxide may generate free radicals when exposed to UV (ultraviolet) sunlight and those free radicals can kill cells,” Ma said.

There have been accusations, and even lawsuits in recent years suggesting most sunscreens don't work very well at blocking out the sun's harmful rays. This is the first research to suggest they could actually be harmful.

Zinc oxide

Why does Ma conclude that zinc oxide, an ingredient used in sunscreen to help block harmful UV rays, cause cells to deteriorate when exposed to sunlight? He explains that when the zinc oxide nano-particles in the solution absorb the UV rays, the reaction releases electrons, which in turn may produce unstable free radical molecules in the zinc oxide solution. Those free radical molecules then bond with other molecules and act as parasites, damaging the other molecules in the process.

That said, Ma isn't suggesting you throw away the sunscreen. He says his research is still in the early stages, so he cautions people from drawing conclusions about the safety or dangers of sunscreen based on this preliminary research.

“More extensive study is still needed,” Ma said. “This is just the first step.”

Ma said he next plans to conduct electron spin resonance tests to see whether zinc oxide truly does generate free radicals, as he suspects. In addition, clinical trials will be needed before any conclusive evidence may be drawn from his studies.

In the meantime, Ma advises sunbathers to use sunscreen and to limit their exposure to the sun.

“I still would advise people to wear sunscreen,” he said. “Sunscreen is better than no protection at all.”

Online retail giant Amazon is tackling the high-end clothing world.

The selling of clothes isn't exactly new for the mega-company, as Amazon has been selling clothes for quite some time, but recently they've partnered with several high-end brands like Jack Spade, Vivienne Westwood, Michael Kors, and Catherine Malandrino to name a few.

Earlier this week, Amazon provided a live stream of the Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which it hopes will awaken the public's perception of the internet company being linked to the upper crust of the fashion world.

Historically, Amazon and high-end clothing designers haven't exactly been allies. "It has the latitude to set prices and charge whatever it wants," said SucharitaMulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research. "That is a huge threat for brands."

High margin

Gross profit is apparently the main reason for Amazon's new interest in high fashion. Since the company spends the same amount whether it ships a low-priced book or a pricey jacket, it stands to make a lot more dollars on expensive fashion garments.

"Gross profit dollars per unit will be much higher on a fashion item, said Jeff Bezos, chief executive at Amazon. He also said the company has sincere intentions as it pertains to pricing their items to make both the consumer and fashion companies satisfied. Bezos said they really want to make sure "the designer brands are happy."

No stranger to apparel, Amazon purchased Zappos.com for over $1 billion in 2009, and also birthed the shoe websites MyHabit and Endless.com. And in 2006 the company bought Shopbop, which retails designer clothing and accessories for women.

Although Amazon has made steps towards higher-end fashion designers, designers chose not to take steps back in order to avoid linking themselves to the site, which doesn't really have a high-end product reputation.

"It's not a place where you look at it and are like, 'Oh, my clothes look and feel really good,'" said Andy Dunn, who is founder of the men's fashion brand Bonobos.

Amazon has already taken steps to fight this perception by hiring fulltime models to properly showcase the clothes so none of the details and actual look of the garment are lost. The company is also rumored to be changing the look of its site, and its packaging to better to match the look and feel of expensive designs.

Sizes and body measurements of the Amazon model will also be provided to assist the customer with proper sizing.

The question remains however, will the public ever really go to Amazon for high-end clothing when the company has been associated with discount and convenience for such a long time? Time, as they say, will tell.

The state of Texas has secured a court order resolving the state's year-long investigation into Arizona-based JAWA and its owners, with the court requiring the defendants to pay $2 million for defrauding wireless customers in Texas.

“After a thorough investigation, the state determined that JAWA was improperly adding expensive, unauthorized charges to Texans’ monthly cell phone bills,” said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. “As a result, we charged JAWA and related entities with deceptive trade practices and sought to force the company’s owners to repay the customers they defrauded.”

Abbott says JAWA must not only pay the $2 million to Texas, but repay customers for all unauthorized charges, and establish both a toll-free telephone number and a website to help all affected customers.”

Cramming suit

In early 2011 Texas, along with Verizon Wireless, sued JAWA claiming the company was defrauding cell phone customers by “cramming” their bills for unwanted and unauthorized content.

In an unusual move, JAWA pushed back, waging a public relations battle with both Texas and Verizon Wireless. In the end, a Travis County, Texas court sided with the state.

Abbott says the defendants’ current customers all received a text message informing them of their right to obtain a full refund. He said former customers should review their billing statements for unauthorized charges.

To obtain a refund, eligible customers should call (800) 482-5392, visit www.jawa.com or any other website for which JAWA has active customers. Customers must submit their cell phone number to request and obtain a full refund of amounts they paid to the defendants.

Additional terms

The judgment also includes an injunction that imposes detailed restrictions that will govern the defendants’ provisions of services to existing customers and in any possible future sales of PSMS (premium short message services). For any future PSMS sales, the injunction requires that the defendants provide:

Detailed disclosures regarding the costs and material terms of services in all aspects of the marketing and sale of PSMS.

A comprehensive compliance program that will require the implementation of a written program with the assistance of an independent third party professional with expertise in compliant PSMS sales and periodic training of employees.

For the next five years, random semi-annual assessments conducted by independent auditors will ensure full compliance with the injunction, Abbott said.

Abbott said the defendants employed sophisticated “cloaking” technology to hide their advertised Web pages from regulators and cell phone carrier auditors, instead of displaying completely different versions of the pages when a regulator or auditor visited them. The compliance program and audits will ensure they cannot engage in these tactics in the future, he said.

Walmart is recalling about 92,000 Sportspower BouncePro 14' Trampolines. The netting surrounding these trampolines can break, allowing children to fall through the netting and be injured.

Sportspower has received 17 reports of the net breaking, resulting in 11 injuries including broken bones, back and neck injuries, and contusions.

The recall involves the Sportspower BouncePro 14’ Trampolines with brown mesh netting. UPC codes 68706404210, and 68706404244 are printed on the trampoline box. “Sportspower BouncePro 14” and “TR-14-63-A” are printed on a plate on the leg of the trampoline frame. The trampolines are surrounded by brown netting measuring about 6 feet high on the perimeter of the trampoline. The netting is designed to contain individuals bouncing on the trampoline.

Walmart stores sold the trampolines nationwide from February 2009 through February 2012 for about $275. They were made in China.

Consumers should stop using the trampolines immediately and contact Sportspower to receive replacement black netting for the trampoline.

For additional information, contact Sportspower’s customer service hotline toll-free at (888)-965-0565 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s website athttp://www.sportspowerltd.net/recall-bouncepro-14ft.html, or send an e-mail to Sportspower at customerservice@sportspowerltd.net

Nearly two years after it recalled more than half a million 1998-2003 Windstar vans sold in 21 states and the District of Columbia, Ford is recalling 27,000 of the vehicles that were sold or are currently registered in Virginia.

The problem is that corrosion from salt and other chemicals used to melt ice and snow from winter roads can cause the rear axlw to corrode and possibly fracture.

Although the District of Columbia and Virginia are adjacent to each other -- and, in fact, what is now Arlington County, Va., was part of D.C. prior to the Civil War -- regulators apparently assumed that snow and ice stopped at the Potomac River's edge when they mounted the larger recall in August 2010.

Ford will notify owners of the vehicles, which are no longer in production, and install rear axle reinforcement brackets, or replace the axles if necessary. Owners may contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332.

Through TV commercials and overall public chatter, Amazon's Kindle Fire is certainly growing in popularity, but popularity doesn't always translate into sales, which has been the case for the newly released Amazon tablet in the first quarter.

After a very strong sales run in the fourth quarter when the Fire was first released, the Fire fell from its No. 2 spot behind Apple in tablet sales. Reports show the company's shipments decreased from almost 17 percent of total sales during the fourth quarter to only 4 percent during the first, pushing Amazon to No. 3, while giving the No. 2 spot up to Samsung.

Although Apple remains at the top of the heap, its tablet sales also fell, shipping 11.8 million iPads in the first-quarter, which is down from 15.4 million in the fourth. But it's not all dismal news for the Cupertino, Calif., company, as it still was able to raise its market share from 55 to 68 percent.

Rounding out the top five spots in tablet sales were Lenovo at No.4 and Barenes & Noble at No. 5, with its Nook tablet.

Price points

"It seems some of the mainstream Android vendors are finally beginning to grasp a fact that Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Pandigitial figured out early on: Namely, to compete in the media tablet market with Apple, they must offer their products at notably lower price points," said IDC Research Director Tom Mainelli, in a statement to the press.

"We expect a new, larger-screened device from Amazon at a typically aggressive price point, and Google will enter the market with an inexpensive, co-branded ASUS tablet designed to compete directly on price with Amazon's Kindle Fire," Mainelli added.

With Amazon's plans to release an improved version of the Kindle Fire 7-inch, as well as introducing future tablets that will run Windows 8, the company anticipates a promising future as roll-outs will begin near this years fourth-quarter.

"The worldwide tablet market is entering a new phase in the second half of 2012 that will undoubtedly reshape the competitive landscape," said O'Donnell. "While Apple will continue to sit comfortable on the top for now, the battle for the next several positions is going to be fierce. Throw in Ultrabooks, the launch of Windows 8, and a few surprise product launches , and you have all the makings of an incredible 2012 holiday shopping season.