Credit Card Deals (U.S.)

5 Surprising Personal Finance Tips

Of course you want to use our free tool to compare and find the best possible credit card promotions. But beyond that, how can you streamline & dramatically improve your personal finances?

Good question. Here are five free and fast ways to take greater control of your money.

Credit Card Promotions: UPDATED

Here's an updated look at Outlaw's favorite credit card deals and promotions for this month. (U.S. only; Canadian and U.K. offers coming soon!)

Outlaw's Donald Trump Interview

Donald Trump graciously gave Credit Card Outlaw's founder some time this morning to pick his brain -- he sounded off on our biggest economic problems, how to fix them, and also discussed his possible candidacy for President.

Click to listen now.

Don't forget: Find a lucrative offer by browsing this week's featured credit card deals -- a couple of the airline bonuses over there are awesome, especially Delta's 20K bonus miles offer.

The Real Problem With Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)

Above: CNN Money still seems to have a positive opinion on the bank's stock.

I wrote an interesting piece on the real reason why Bank of America has been slammed by investors in recent days, and why they "needed" that $5 billion cash infusion from Warren Buffett.

Helicopter Shout Out

She loves our credit card deals:

American Express Premier Rewards Gold

Quick note that there's a great deal on the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card in our offers portal at the moment -- go check it out for the full promotion details or to apply!

You can get 15,000 bonus Membership Rewards points (= $150 gift card) plus they'll take care of your membership fee for the first year if you apply via the link in our portal. Not bad at all if you've been waiting for the right excuse to get a Premier Rewards Gold Card.

--Outlaw, Las Vegas, 6/25/2011

Grab While They're Hot: Credit Card Deals and 100 Commission Free Trades

DEALS UPDATE 6/21: Wanted to briefly point out... aside from the great new credit card deals posted in Outlaw's card offers portal this week, if you're looking for a new online brokerage account, definitely check out OptionsHouse.

Use the special offer link located here to sign up for a new account with them and you'll be given 100 commission-free stock or options trades. That's a $395 value.

The folks at OptionsHouse are super friendly, if you ever have any questions or concerns tell them Outlaw sent you -- they will take good care of you. The free streaming stock charts and research tools over there are top-notch as well.

What Else Isn't Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) Telling Us?

Sounds like Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) definitely downplayed the size and extent of the hack-in that occurred, compromising many North American credit card customer accounts.

Via today's New York Daily News: "Citigroup waited until last week to reveal that customers' private info had been hacked on May 10. Turns out hackers stole the personal information of more Citigroup customers than originally reported - almost double the amount."

Don't worry, though -- if your account was compromised, Citi will be automatically sending you a replacement card in the mail (in fact, you've probably already received it).

Heading into this weekend, be sure to check out our latest credit card deals and special promotions right here. We feature the best new deals from Discover, American Express, HSBC, and other major credit card issuers.

-- Outlaw, Houston, TX, 6/17/2011

Further Losses For Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) But I Remain Bullish

Shares of Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) are down just more than 1 percent this afternoon, to $37.60 per share.

I remain bullish long-term on the financial services giant.

Another large bank stock that has been oversold lately, in my view, is Spanish banking leader Banco Santander S.A. (NYSE:STD) -- the stock currently trades at $10.72 per share, and has a strong div yield that makes it a 'buy' in my view.

I expect Santander to be trading above $15 per share within 12 months, ignoring any unlikely 'black swan' events that could occur as the result of an EU economic meltdown.

Black Swan: 40 Percent Market Correction Ahead?

Scary, and unlikely, but not impossible according to some...

This was published on CNBC earlier today:

The S&P could be bound for a correction of 40 percent or more in the next three years, according to a research paper issued by Universa Investments, otherwise known as the “Black Swan” fund for its affiliation with author Nassim Taleb.

Universa, which helps its clients brace for the worst potential market scenarios by purchasing options and other forms of insurance against downturns, argues in a June 13 paper that today’s stock valuations, put in the context of 110 years of stock-market history, are poised for a deep decline.

“At current valuations…there is…a 20 percent chance of a well-over 40 percent correction in the S&P 500 within the next few years,” argues the paper, authored by Universa chief investment officer Mark Spitznagel.

What do you think? Could an unexpected "black swan event" massively de-rail markets, or would even a natural disaster or major war fail to stop the inevitable rise in equities?