Federal Legislation Could Snuff Out Quick Loan Shops
from WLBT-TV
Imagine the landscape of Mississippi business changing, with the absence of check cashing, payday loan, title pledge shops and even pawnshops. House Bill 1608 and Senate Bill 500, both in Congress, could effectively root them out by requiring a 36 percent cap on the interest rates Americans can be charged for short-term loans. More

Senate to Hurt Pawnshop Business
from KYTX-TV
With her gas tank on "e" Bonnie Allen just needs a few bucks to make it home, so she's pawning her microwave. "You don't want a big high dollar loan that's just going to take you forever to pay out, but you can go to the pawn shop and get $10-$15 loan and pay it out within 30 days and that's fine," said Allen. A proposed bill would put a 36 percent cap on the loan rather than the current 240 percent. More

Retail Giant Mack & Dave's Celebrates 60th Year
from The Charleston Gazette
Dave Cohen decided he would make his living selling papers. "My original thought was to be a big paper man," he said. "I was selling newspapers and making pretty good money for four or five hours a day." Then, Ralph Masinter offered him a job in his pawnshop, B&B Loans in Charleston, W. Va. "I told him I couldn't take the job," Cohen recalled. ̎ I wouldn't be making as much, just $18 a week. Dad told me to give up the newspapers and take the job. He wanted me to learn something… It's the best thing I ever did." More

The Dental Gold Rush is On
from The Los Angeles Times
Outside the Continental Coin and Jewelry Co. in Van Nuys, an electronic marquee draws prospective sellers by flashing images of money-making opportunities ‒ a dazzling gold ring here, a bright gold dental crown there. The market in dental gold hasn't reached bonanza heights, but people squeezed by the recession are making a few extra bucks by selling old gold caps, bridgework and other bits of what is known in the trade as "dental scrap." Depending on weight and other factors, a gold tooth can go for $50. More

Public Pawnbroker Keeps Parisians' Secrets Safe
from Reuters
From Napoleon III's mistress to cash-strapped modern-day bankers, Parisians have for centuries stored their jewels and secrets in a discreet building not far from the Seine: the public pawnbroker. Set up in the 17th century in response to usurious moneylenders, the non-profit Credit Municipal has a new task ‒helping Parisians weather the economic crisis with traditional loans and cutting-edge financial services. More

Cash America Quarterly Profit Higher than Estimates
from The Fort Worth Business Press
Payday lender Cash America International Inc. reported on April 23 better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter, boosted by higher revenue from U.S. and Mexican pawn operations and lower loan losses on its short-term cash advance product. The Fort Worth-based pawnshop operator reported a net income of $23.9 million, or 79 cents a share, for the first quarter, compared with $25.8 million, or 86 cents a share, a year ago. More

Recession Triggers Pawn Loan Boom in West-Central Texas
from San Angelo Standard-Times
Relief and salvation are words not usually associated with pawnshops, but in times of economic troubles, their practice of making short-term loans against goods can be a source of help at San Angelo, Texas, pawnshops, the strain of cash shortages during a recession means high demand for loans, but low sales for goods out of pawn. More

Hattiesburg American
from the Santa Monica Daily Press
At the Terry Road Pawn Shop in Jackson, Miss., military-style long guns don't stay in the cases long. What's more, it has become increasingly difficult during the last few months for owner Kevin McDonald to stock his shop with auto-loading rifles such as AR-15s and SKSes. More

Faltering Gold Rally Could Weigh on Pawnbrokers
from Reuters
Shares in British pawnbrokers, among the stock market's stronger performers thanks to soaring numbers of credit-starved consumers, could lose some of their luster as a blistering rally in gold prices falters. Spot gold is down 10 percent from its late Feb intraday peak of $1,005 an ounce, using Reuters data, and some analysts reckon the precious metal has further to fall as rebounding stock markets dent its safe haven appeal to investors. More

Big Cash Pawn Opens
from Clay Today
A new pawnshop opened in Green Cove Springs, Fla., offering great prices on everything from guitars to jewelry. Still Big Cash Pawn manager Jeff Dixon understands if some people in town seem reluctant to come inside the new store. "Pawnshops get such a bad rap on TV," Dixon said. "It’s not remotely like that … People should come in here to see how clean and how friendly this place is. We are a very retail type environment. Not cluttered." More