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Ben Bernanke presided over his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman in March 2006 believing the nation could achieve a “soft landing” from falling home prices. Three months later, Bernanke had begun to grasp that he and others might have underestimated the risk housing posed to the economy.

Newly released transcripts of Fed meetings during Bernanke’s first year as chairman show that, among Fed officials, he often expressed the most concern about housing. But no official, according to the transcripts, recognized the extent of the damage a housing bubble would cause Payday advance. A year later, its collapse helped send the nation into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

In fact, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, then a Fed official, expressed confidence in September that “collateral damage” from housing could be avoided.

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As with fast payday loans, this recently used to be the case, but competitive lenders and higher demand has taken this loan type to mainstay levels.

The great tax holiday of 2011 for air travelers is just about over.

By Monday, most U.S. airlines had raised fares to reap the benefit of lower federal taxes on airline tickets. A few airlines that were passing the savings on to consumers changed their minds.

Several federal taxes on airline tickets expired over the weekend after Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running at full speed.

Raising the fares allows the airlines to charge the consumer the same amount as before, while pocketing money previously collected for the government.

It could turn into a windfall for airlines if the stalemate in Congress drags on. The government estimates that the expiring taxes total $200 million a week. And with fuel prices much higher than last year, airlines can use the cash.

But some travel experts called the fare increases a public-relations mistake.

“One of the major airlines could have said, `Hey, at least for a week we’re going to give this money back to the consumers,’” said Rick Seaney, who tracks prices as CEO of FareCompare.com. “I’m surprised no one made promotional hay over this.”

Airlines collect various federal fees, including a 7.5 percent tax on all tickets that expired at midnight Friday night. Once the taxes expired, airlines began raising fares by an equal amount. On some tickets, the expired taxes can top 10 percent of the price.

A spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, a trade group for major U.S. airlines, said consumers will benefit if the tax savings increase airline profits.

“This short-term additional revenue for airlines, which does not mean a fare increase for consumers, benefits all stakeholders _ customers, employees and investors _ by temporarily improving tiny industry margins to better cover costs and enable airlines to invest in their product and service,” the spokeswoman, Jean Medina, said in an email.

US Airways and American Airlines were the first to raise fares. They were joined quickly by United, Continental, Delta, Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue.

Virgin America, which at first bragged about passing the savings on to consumers, changed its mind by Monday. So did Frontier Airlines. Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines said Monday they had not raised fares.

George Hobica, founder of travel website airfarewatchdog.com, said stores don’t raise prices during tax holidays, and neither should airlines.

“It seems predatory,” he said. “I realize the airlines have to make money, but this is kind of a cheap shot. It’s tone-deaf.”

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The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has struggled for years to deal with an issue that lies at the heart of Internet services in Canada: how can it foster greater competition from independent Internet providers while also addressing telecom and cable company concerns about network congestion.

In 2009, the CRTC believed it found the right solution. It established Internet traffic management guidelines (often referred to as net neutrality rules) that created limits on how Internet providers could throttle or limit download speeds and it encouraged providers to use

The nation’s top credit card companies are seeing a boost to their bottom lines as consumers are getting better about paying their bills on time.

Five of the top six card issuers on Friday said the rates at which their customers defaulted on their accounts fell in June. Bank of America Corp. reported the biggest drop in defaults, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Discover Financial Services also showing significant improvement.

Late payments were also down. Only Capital One Financial Corp. saw an uptick in payments late by 30 days or more, and that increase was tiny.

Among the top six, only Citibank had not yet submitted its monthly regulatory filing detailing card performance for the month. Its parent, Citigroup Inc., reported second-quarter results earlier in the day, however, giving some insight into its card performance.

The latest data followed reports that show credit card users have far better payment habits than a year ago, when the industrywide charge-off rate peaked at 10.9 percent, according to Federal Reserve data. For the first three months of this year, that rate was down to 6.96 percent _ a significant improvement, but still well below the industry average of 3.82 percent before the recession, which indicates banks will benefit further as default and delinquency rates further improve.

And they should continue to do so. Banks have already written off the balances of most customers expected to default, and those individuals have a hard time getting new credit.

The impact of the improved payment habits was reflected in banks’ second-quarter financial results this week.

Citigroup said that it pulled $757 million out of the pool set aside to cover uncollectable credit card bills, adding to its $3.3 billion profit for the quarter. That followed a report from JPMorgan Chase on Thursday, which posted a $5.4 billion profit for the period, boosted by a $1 billion reduction in loss reserves cash advance no faxing.

And much of Capital One’s 50 percent profit leap reported Tuesday was due to the $579 million it released from reserves. Analyst Henry Coffey of Sterne Agee estimated 81 cents of the $1.97 per share profit, or about 41 percent, came from that reserve release.

Last month, Discover Financial Services said it released $401 million from its reserves, helping to more than triple the company’s second-quarter profit.

Also goosing bank bottom lines: Card holders are using their credit cards more. That trend is now clear, after 51 percent of the U.S. card market has reported its second-quarter results, said Morgan Stanley analyst Glenn Fodor.

Citigroup said purchase volume rose 1.5 percent.

JPMorgan Chase’s customers spent 10 percent more using their cards. Discover said sales volume on its namesake cards rose 9 percent.

Bank of America and American Express Co. are slated to report next week, and both are expected to show similar gains in spending.

The Federal Reserve said total balances on revolving credit, which is mostly cards, rose slightly in May to $793.13 billion. That’s still nearly 19 percent below the peak balances of $973.64 billion in August 2008, but reflected an uptick in spending after months of belt-tightening by consumers.

What’s less clear is if the higher spending will continue.

Borrowing is typically a sign of confidence in the economy, and the weak jobs market and higher unemployment last month may discourage further spending.

And even when the recovery gains steam, few economists say they expect consumers to pile on debt again after spending the last two years paying it down.

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Nike Inc.’s fourth-quarter net profit rose 14 percent to beat expectations as the company’s sales improved around the globe.

The world’s largest athletic shoe company reported Monday that it earned $594 million, or $1.24 per share, for the quarter. That’s up from the $522 million, or $1.06 per share, it earned in the same quarter last year.

Nike’s total revenue rose 14 percent to $5.77 billion

The results handily beat the $1.16 per share on revenue of $5.53 that analysts polled by FactSet were anticipating. The news sent shares of the company, based in Beaverton, Ore., soaring in after-hours trading.

Nike had warned investors that higher costs would cut into its profit margins. The company, like many of its peers, is dealing with higher costs for materials, labor and freight.

The company was able to make up for the rising costs with higher sales volume. Revenue improved in every market except Japan during the quarter.

“We delivered exceptional results in extraordinary times,” Mark Parker, Nike’s CEO said.

For the full year, Nike earned $2.13 billion, or $4.39per share, compared with $1.9 billion, or $3.86 per share, for the prior year.

Shares of Nike jumped $3.15, nearly 4 percent, to $81.62 in after-hours trading.

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LM Ericsson AB has signed a deal to buy U.S.-based software development firm Telcordia for $1.15 billion, the Swedish wireless equipment company said Tuesday.

Ericsson said it will buy 100 percent of the shares in Telcordia from private equity firms Providence Equity Partners LLC and Warburg Pincus and expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter 2011.

Telcordia, based in Piscataway, New Jersey, develops mobile, broadband and enterprise communications software and services. It reported revenues of $739 million during the fiscal year, ending January 31 and employs 2,600 people who will now be transferred to Ericsson.

The Swedish company said Telcordia has a leading market position within the operations and business support system field _ producing computer systems that are used by telecommunications operators to handle the growth in mobile and fixed broadband traffic easy payday loans.

“The importance of operations and business support systems will continue to grow as more and more devices are connected, services become mobile and new business models for mobile broadband are introduced,” Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg said.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

Shares in Ericsson rose by 1.8 percent to 88.80 Swedish kronor ($13.99) in Stockholm.

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Business at the region’s six casinos eeked up in May, with gaming revenue climbing 1.4 percent from the same month last year, to $96.4 million.

It’s the latest sign of stability, and slow growth, in the region’s gaming market, which hasn’t seen any new casinos open now in more than a year - since River City opened in early March 2010 in south St. Louis County. Year-over-year revenue has increased each of the three months since River City’s one year anniversary, a sign that the market is growing organically, not just through expansion.

Once again, River City powered much of the gains, boosting its revenue 29 percent from the same month last year. Harrah’s Casino in Maryland Heights grew 4.4 percent, inching out rival Ameristar Casino St. Charles as the region’s busiest property guaranteed high risk personal loans. Ameristar’s revenue was basically flat. Lumiere Place downtown saw revenue climb 3 percent, while both Illinois properties - the Casino Queen and Argosy Alton - lost ground relative to last year.

Through the first five months of the year, revenue is up 2.8 percent for the whole market. All data comes from Missouri and Illinois regulators.

Casino May rev. Change Ameristar $23.4 0.17% Argosy Alton $6.5 -5.51% Casino Queen $11.0 -3.70% Harrah’s $24.0 4.42% Lumiere Place $14.8 3.31% River City $16.7 28.87%

Market $96.4 1.35%

(dollar figures are in millions)

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Nintendo stock plunged Wednesday in Tokyo amid doubts about the consumer appeal of the Wii U, the much ballyhooed successor to its hit Wii video game console.

The demonstration of a prototype at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry’s annual convention, in Los Angeles on Tuesday, appeared to leave investors disappointed and skeptical.

Nintendo Co. shares closed at 16,970 yen ($212.44), down more than 5 percent. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended flat.

Shuji Hosoi, analyst at Daiwa Securities Co., said it was unclear how successfully the machine would compete against smartphones and tablet PCs, when device-based gaming was already having to vie against social networks.

It is hard to see how it was different enough to woo users of smartphones and tablet PCs back to gaming, he said.

“People are puzzled whether this will really sell.”

Hosoi acknowledged the stock price may recover if Kyoto-based Nintendo could convince investors that the new machine was as fun as smartphones and other new devices.

“But it would be extremely difficult because the competition is so intense,” he said, referring to products such as the iPad from Apple Inc. and other rivals. “People have already changed.”

The Japanese gaming giant behind Pokemon and Super Mario games said the Wii U will broadcast high-definition video and feature a touchscreen controller that can detect motion. Its price was not disclosed.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told E3 the new controller for Wii U, with its 6.2 inch built-in screen, means players don’t necessarily have to watch the TV set.

Nintendo said the Wii U will be released between April and December next year and will be compatible with older Wii games and controllers.

Sales of the Wii have slumped for two years. But the Wii remains the overall top-selling home video game console against Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3.

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Where did all the workers go?

The labor force