I Suffered a Rough Divorce at 50 and Was Drowning in Massive Debt -- Here's How I Paid It All Off

A disabled, retired Navy vet, Alesia Butts found herself mired in debt after a divorce. Unexpected costly house repairs sunk the 50-year-old based in Jacksonville, Fla. quickly into $30,000 of credit card debt. The interest rate on one credit card skyrocketed to 30%, making her monthly payments unaffordable. "I got divorced and had to consolidate my debt to get my former husband off the mortgage, plus I needed a new roof and air conditioner," she said. "I would pay my bills and give a little extra, but payment was the same each month. That was highway robbery and something had to give." Credit Card Debt Increasing Consumers are once again relying on credit cards to fund their expenditures, as

Why Nordstrom is beating all of its department store competitors

Calls for the death of brick-and-mortar retail have increased as many major department stores continue to report gloomy sales performance. “Nordstrom appears to be years ahead of its peers in digital initiatives and development of its off-price concept,” according to Susquehanna’s Bill Dreher. The company’s 1.7% same-store sales growth in the second quarter bucked the trend of negative sales from peers like Macy’s (M), Kohl’s (KSS) and JC Penney (JCP).

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  Sales declines at US department stores belie claims of economic recovery

  wsws.org
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  Nordstrom Shows Department Stores May Not Be Hopeless

  Bloomberg

Japan is in striking distance of North Korea — but here's why the yen is rallying anyway

Despite Japan being a likely target of freshly erupting North Korean ire, traders still see the yen as a safe-haven play, and they're pushing the currency higher. The yen has surged, with the dollar fetching around 109 yen, having shed more than four big figures in the last month. If Washington wished to avoid military action , it should stop "recklessly" provoking Pyongyang, a separate statement from another military spokesperson said, according to the stat-run outlet.

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  North Korea talk drags stocks lower; gold, yen rise

  Reuters
• Dollar hits eight-week low vs yen, North Korea tensions spook investors

  Reuters