Gold Buying Rising with the Price
from The Associated Press via Forbes
Pawnshop operator First Cash Financial Services Inc. reported its second-quarter profit rose 42 percent. The company posted net income of $11.6 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with $6.7 million, or 44 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. On a continuing operations basis, the company earned 31 cents a share compared with 30 cents a share a year ago. Analysts expected profit of 30 cents per share on revenue of $83.2 million. More

Money Market
from Detroit Metro Times
Pawnshops are the new bank in these troubled times. At Al's Jewelry and Loans in Detroit, the line for loans ebbs and flows, but lately it's been long. The hard times are displayed every day here, as the desperate hock belongings for fast cash. More

Cincinnati Police Look for Suspects in Elaborate Pawn Scheme
from WKRC-TV
Fraud investigators in the Cincinnati Police Major Offenders Unit are looking for a man and two women who defrauded a pawnshop out of a large sum of money. Officers say a woman named "Mary" called the pawnshop, claiming to be corporate headquarters. She asked for the manager by name and had detailed knowledge of recent events and personnel changes in the company. More

Recession Probably Abated Last Quarter: U.S. Economy Preview
from Bloomberg
The worst U.S. recession in five decades probably eased in the second quarter as trade and government stimulus mitigated the damage from declines in housing, inventories and consumer and business spending, economists said. The world's largest economy shrank at a 1.5 percent pace following a 5.5 percent drop in the first three months of 2009, according to the median forecast of 66 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News ahead of Commerce Department figures due July 31. More

High Gold Prices Push Buyers to Sell
from KOMU-TV
With the weak economy the price of gold has gone up. Times are tight. One way thousands of people have found the cash they need is to simply go through their old gold and broken jewelry and exchange it for cash. More

Chicago Suburb Still Trying to Bar Pawnshop
from The Chicago Tribune
The La Grange Village Board in Illinois has taken further steps to prevent a pawnshop that already has a business license from opening in the heart of downtown. The board last week not only banned pawnshops but also said any such proposed businesses would not be granted building and occupancy permits. Officials hope that move will stop Andrew Grayson of Berwyn from opening All-Star Jewelers, which received the business license in May. More

Slow Economy Doesn't Slow Gun Sales
from the Green Bay Press Gazette
Gun sales in Wisconsin are booming and local dealers attribute the increase to concerns about possible future firearms restrictions and the continued economic strife. Requests for firearms background checks, a good barometer of gun purchases in Wisconsin, are on pace to best 193,000, according to FBI data. Federal authorities handled 96,917 background checks in the first six months of 2009, about 16 percent ahead of the same period last year. More

EZCorp Profit Rises
from Austin Business Journal
EZCorp Inc. increased its fiscal third quarter profit by 33 percent on higher revenue the company reported. The Austin-based operator of pawnshops and payday lending stores made $14.4 million, or 29 cents a share, in the three-month period that ended June 30. That's up from a profit of $10.8 million, or 25 cents a share, a year ago. The company logged revenue of $147.8 million, up 37 percent from the year-earlier period. More

Ballistic Microstamping Law as it Relates to Pistols Huge Waste of Money
from Utica Observer Dispatch
The ballistic microstamping law as it relates to pistols (semi-automatic handguns) is a huge waste of money. Some pertinent points need to be made to help non-gun owners understand the existing gun laws throughout the nation so they will hopefully realize I and many other law-abiding gun owners feel this way. Forty-four states do not require any type of license to purchase or own a handgun. Thirty-one states do not have any prohibition on public open carry of a handgun. More