Selling Possessions to Pay Bills, Buy Gasoline and Food
from The Flint Journal
As Wall Street stumbles and Washington argues about what can be done, people who frequent pawnshops do what they must to make ends meet. Beyond the working-class folks who regularly come up short, these days the middle-class lines up at pawnshop doors, as well. More

Shops Relish License to Deal
from The Longview News-Journal
Texas might be a low-tax state, but there are plenty of user and permit fees. In Longview, Texas, fees and permits accounted for $3.4 million of the $55.079 million in the city's general fund during the 2008 fiscal year that ended Sept. 31. Dealers in secondhand jewelry and other merchandise said they appreciate the involvement of local law enforcement agencies in their businesses. More

South Florida Pawnshops Becoming Banks of Last Resort
from The Miami Herald
In T-shirt and baggy shorts, Marc Howard rolls into work dressed like he's ready for the gym. No, he's not a personal trainer – try loan officer. But the business Howard runs in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is packed with electronics, tools and jewelry, is no bank. It's a pawnshop. More

Pawns Taking Over as Kings of Weak Economy
from The Colorado Springs Business Journal
The collections of DVD players, television sets, car radios and jewelry just gets larger and larger at Colorado Springs pawnshops. Volume is up at most stores — but brokers say that the kind of clients they’re seeing is changing. More

Gold Rises 1 Percent as Dollar Weakens, Equities Firm
from Reuters
Gold rose more than 1 percent in Europe on Monday as the dollar softened against the euro, boosting interest in bullion as a currency hedge, with firmer equity markets also cheering investors. The dollar has been pressured by a return in risk appetite, analysts said, after recording its biggest monthly gain in more than 17 years in October. More

Flint, Mich., spends $6,000 on Ceremonial Keys to City
from The Associated Press via MLive.com
The struggling industrial city of Flint, Mich., has shelled out $6,000 over the past year to a pawnshop owned by the mayor's wife to buy at least 200 ceremonial keys to the city as gifts. The purchases were detailed in records obtained by a local news station through the Freedom of Information Act. More

Utah City Requiring Detailed Records from Pawnshops
from Deseret News
Buying and selling items at a pawn shop in American Fork, Utah, will now require a little more attention to detail from shop employees. The City Council discussed and passed the first phase of changes to its ordinances for pawnshops and pawnbrokers within city limits. The new law requires pawnshops to record the name, address and physical description of the person buying or selling an item at the shop. More

The Basics of Greening Your Business
from MSNBC
The key to going greener is thinking greener, and today many people are already in the environmentally responsible mind-set. It may be easier than you think to get everyone in your company onboard. More

There's Easy Money at Spring Hill, Fla.'s Newest Pawnshop
from Hernando Today
One stroll into EasyMoney pawnshop in Spring Hill, Fla., is like taking a tour of somebody's garage - if that somebody is an obsessive collector. There is a charcoal drawing of Winston Churchill behind the counter. On the opposite end of the shop is an Angelina Jolie print and an original "Serpico" movie poster. More