With an economy that is in a recession that feels like a depression in many cities across the country…the sharks (financial predators) are in the water. Many companies prey off of public fear and ignorance and wanted to provide a “cheat sheet” for all readers to use in case they happen to come across one of these leeches whose only desire is to suck you dry of all of your money for their own selfish advancement. The days of going to ANY professional without being properly educated are over and let’s use this most recent recession as a teachable moment for all of us moving forward.

Federal regulators have warned Charles Schwab Corp. that they could bring civil charges against the discount brokerage over two fixed-income mutual funds. Schwab has been dealing with civil lawsuits and regulatory investigations of the two funds, the Schwab YieldPlus Fund and the Schwab Total Bond Market Fund

BAGHDAD — In its drive to expand and modernize Iraq’s oil sector, the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is stumbling over the competing demands of attracting foreign investment and acting as a vigilant guardian of the nation’s natural resource wealth as parliamentary elections loom in January.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce–the self-proclaimed voice of business in Washington–has been wrong on virtually every major public-policy issue of the past decade: financial deregulation, tax and fiscal policy, global warming and environmental enforcement, consumer protection, health care reform …

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan pushed back against her fellow Democrat, Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.), on Wednesday, sending a letter (PDF) opposing her effort to block states from having the ability to write bank regulations that are tougher than those imposed by a federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The letter followed a meeting between the two politicians; Madigan also wrote to Democratic Illinois Reps.

The Daily Mail reports that cereal maker Kellogg’s is planning to laser etch their logo on individual Corn Flakes in an effort to set themselves apart from imitations and generic brands. A limited number of boxes with the laser toasted cereal will be put into production before they move foreword with branding some cereal pieces in every box.

Faced with a Thursday midnight deadline to avoid possible prosecution, more than 7,500 Americans have come clean about secret foreign bank accounts, a senior IRS official said in an interview for broadcast tonight on “ABC World News with Charles Gibson.”