Down and Out in Beverly Hills: Rolexes, Picassos Hit Pawnshops
from Bloomberg
Beverly Loan is a pawnshop. Not just any pawnshop, but the kind that caters to people who hock Cartiers, Harley- Davidsons and Oscar statuettes when they need cash. "I've never seen so many bankers, lawyers, doctors and actors'' with valuable things to pawn, said Jordan Tabach-Bank, the chief executive officer of Beverly Loan Co. in Beverly Hills, Calif. More

Pawnshops Doing Brisk Business
from USA Today
Randy Cohen, co-owner of Royal Redemption, a pawnshop in downtown Chicago, has never seen anything like the current parade of cash-strapped customers forced to sell their stuff. Want a 30-foot boat? Cohen has one. A big diamond? Cohen has plenty. Two Segway scooters? No problem. Many of his new customers are once-wealthy suburbanites. More

Cash Strapped Americans Pawning Precious Items
from Arkansas Matters
Brandon Burke, who manages Charleston Gold and Diamond Exchange in Mount Pleasant, S.C., says the number of people giving up gold and other precious metals "has skyrocketed." Firearms and electronics are popular too. “Anything that's collecting dust is getting melted," Burke added. The National Pawnbrokers Association says there are lots of first time customers and plenty of new bargain-hunters, too. More

Why Banks are Boosting Credit Card Interest Rates and Fees
from USA Today
In recent years, banks have sharply raised interest rates and penalty fees on credit cards. As the economy tanks and banks' mortgage-related losses balloon, some banks are stepping up such increases to boost revenue. Bearing the brunt are consumers for whom a jump in rates and fees can make it tougher to pay their bills at a time when household budgets already are being stretched. More

Pawn Biz Picks Up
from The Modesto Bee
The Pawn Shop in Modesto, Calif., has the sterile scent and hollow feel of a hospital. It's a clean business. There are no seedy deals, drama or emotion. That’s because there's a difference between emotion and heart – ask any pawnbroker. Sam Newnam, the shop’s owner, said many dealings with people in need of fast cash have taught him to keep his emotions out of the deal. More

Fears of a Dem Crackdown Lead to Boom in Gun Sales
from The New York Time
Sales of handguns, rifles and ammunition have surged in the last week, according to gun store owners around the nation who describe a wave of buyers concerned that the Obama administration will curtail their right to bear arms. More

As Economy Continues to Tank, More Mainers are Heading to Pawnshops
from the Morning Sentinel
Business might be slow in many places, but the consignment industry is booming. While there is no conclusive data, the National Pawnbrokers Association says its 2,400 members have seen an increase in business. More

Beating the Small Business Blues
from Forbes
Mom and pop shops didn't need the nasty headlines of the last two months to tell them things were bad out there. The National Small Business Association's annual survey of small-business owners published in August found that 67 percent of small-business owners are directly affected by the credit crunch–more than double the number expressing those fears a year ago. More

More White Collars Pawn Goods
from Asia One
White collar executives have become the newest group of pawnshop customers to be hit by the financial turmoil. The number of customers at over 90 pawnshops in Singapore has risen by about 10 to 20 percent in the last three months compared to the same period last year. More

Gold Prices Rise Modestly as Dollar Slips
from The Associated Press
Gold prices rose modestly Friday as the U.S. dollar weakened against other major currencies including the euro and the British pound. Energy prices also enjoyed a modest boost after a sharp sell-off earlier this week. Other precious metals and grain futures fell. More