Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Schwab: Just Say No Accounts*

Schwab say no t

Finally, a stock brokerage account where you don’t get charged a ton of fees or high commissions.

The claims: (1) Our commission prices start as low as $9.95  (2) Just say no to account service fees.

*MOUSE PRINT: (1) “$9.95 trade pricing is for clients who have $1 million in qualifying household assets or trade at least 30 times a quarter.”  (2) “Accounts exempt from account service fees are subject to a minimum balance charge of $30 per quarter for brokerage accounts … [if after notice] … assets remain below… $2500.” [US News, April 3, 2006]

I think Charles Schwab is just saying no to little accounts (under $1 million) with respect to the advertised commission rate, and does not consider a “minimum balance charge” to be an “account service fee.”

Share this story:

 

ADV
Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Napster to Go: Fill Your MP3 Player with Disappearing Songs*

Napster MP3 TNapster provides unlimited access to over 1.5 million songs online through their subscription service. Pay a monthly fee, and you can listen to all the songs you want, and “with Napster to Go, you can?fill and refill any compatible MP3 player with music without paying per song or album* “.

So it sounds like you can load up your iPod-like device with all the songs it can hold and listen to them all your want.? Well, not exactly, according to the foonote.

*MOUSE PRINT: “It is necessary to maintain a Napster subscription in order to continue access to songs downloaded through the Napster service.” [Website, March 23, 2006]

Translation: Unlike an audio tape onto which you have recorded music which can be played over and over forever, music transferred to smart electronic devices can in essence self-destruct if you do not continuing paying your monthly subscription fee.  The technology is called digital rights management.

To Napster’s credit, they disclose this limitation right on their homepage. Other music subscription services bury the self-destructing nature of conditional downloads in their terms and conditions in less than clear language, if they disclose it at all.

Share this story:

 

ADV
Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Fishscam.com: Don’t Worry About Mercury in Fish*

Fishscam TMany consumers are concerned about the cumulative health effects of eating certain fish because of its possible mercury content.

This ad says there is no reason to worry unless you are eating a lot of whale meat.

The only identification of the source of this ad is at the bottom: fishscam.com

Who is behind “fishscam”?

*MOUSE PRINT:  Fishscam is part of a nonprofit called the Center for Consumer Freedom.  Sounds like a conventional consumer group, right? Not exactly. While they do have individuals who are members, they list restaurants and food companies first as members of their coalition.  [US News, March 27, 2006]

That is not to say that restaurants and food companies don’t have legitimate gripes about junk science, or other matters they have weighed in about (such as the ‘McDonald’s made me fat’ lawsuits).

In any event, health claims are very hard for consumers to evaluate. It seems like one day a study says that certain foods are bad for you, and the next day another study says they are not problematic at all. Who and what can you believe?

Share this story:

 

ADV