Today in Money & Finance - Monday, July 23 - 'Simpson's' Hype, Extreme Credit Cards, Best Summer Gear, Best Frequent Flier Programs

In the News:

UAW to Hold Talks With Ford, GM

U.S. Stocks Head for Higher Open

Wal-Mart to Cut Back-To-School Prices

Merck's 2nd-Quarter Profit Rises

Toyota, Mazda, Honda Set to Resume Output

Halliburton Income Doubles on KBR Deal

Hasbro Posts Lower Earnings

Schering-Plough Profit More Than Doubles

Barclays Raises Bid for ABN Amro

Oil Prices Drop to Mid-$75 a Barrel

New HIV infections outpace treatment

Netflix to cut rental fees in battle with Blockbuster

Federal minimum wage rising this week

'Simpson's' Hype: 7-Elevens Become Kwik-E-Marts

The Simpsons TV series on Fox is known for its outrageous characters, oddball phrases and unexpected guest stars. It only makes sense, then, that promotions for The Simpsons Movie, which opens Friday, would be in the same offbeat mold. One stunt was the overnight transformation of 12 North American 7-Eleven stores into Kwik-E-Marts. The Kwik-E-Mart, run by clerk Apu, is Springfield's convenience store. But the real star at the Kwik-E-Marts may be the "Sprinklicious" doughnuts, frosted in hot pink and coated with sprinkles. Homer, as any fan of the series knows, loves doughnuts. The Dallas Kwik-E-Mart is ordering 1,000 Sprinklicious doughnuts a day.
'Simpsons' hype tries for a homer with ads - USATODAY.com

New: Extreme Credit Cards
The "Black Card" is a status icon. Not only does it offer a range of exclusive privileges, but it looks cool when you pull it out of your wallet. And the titanium it's made out of makes a nice clinking sound when it taps on the counter at the register.. But now there's an influx of new high-end cards, offering their own fancy perks and services in an effort to take a bite out of the black card market. Whether they'll steal any of the dark card's thunder remains to be seen. http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/18/lifestyle/luxury_credit_cards/index.htm

Best Summer Gear
From a waterproof wrist camera to a water bottle splash guard, outfit yourself for hiking, biking and more with eight cool products made by small companies.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fsb/0707/gallery.summer_gear.fsb/

Ads We Can't Get Out of Our Heads
Even in a TiVo world, some TV commercials just can't be zapped from our cultural psyche. But selecting the 25 most-memorable TV commercials from the past 25 years almost caused USA TODAY's Ad Team to blow a tube. Here are the 25 TV spots - love em or hate em - that left the most indelible marks on their collective memory.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/top25-ads.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Most Rewarding Frequent Flier Programs
If you want to get more rewards from an airline frequent flier program, it may be time to stop looking for free flights. That's because the reward miles market is over-saturated--too many people have too many miles, causing intense competition for a limited number of reward seats. Only 7% of airline seats per year are designated as reward ticket seats. And ever financially vulnerable airlines are becoming more reluctant to give up seats for rewards tickets that can otherwise be filled by a customer willing to purchase the ticket. Instead, they're looking for different ways to compensate and retain their most loyal customers.
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/2007/07/20/travel-fliers-frequent-forbeslife-cx_ls_0720rewards.html
Slideshow: Most Rewarding Frequent Flier Programs

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