Remember when the Federal Reserve and general public were blasting companies like AIG for going on retreats and holding conferences at luxury resorts? Well, on October 29, it was reported that the Fed has held its conferences at "exotic high-prices locales."

The Washington Post reported on October 28, that the San Francisco Fed hosted a conference at the "spectacular Bacara Resort and Spa" in Santa Barbara, where it paid $300 a night for the rooms -- an off-season price. Perhaps we should be praising the frugal nature of the Fed, as suites can run $2,000 during the peak season. Ben Bernanke attended this conference, which has drawn the ire of some. This conference was followed by a conference held by the Boston Fed at an Inn that charges up to $320 a night for regular rooms and nearly two grand a night for suites.

The U.S. dollar continued to decline today, and has helped push gold prices up sharply in today's action.

The dollar has been very weak lately, and as more concern mounts of the dollar's strength more investors are rushing into the precious metal, which traded up as high as $1,069.70 today, and is currently up $1.70 an ounce to $1,059.20.

Kroger, the nations largest grocery chain, will be reporting its fiscal first quarter earnings tomorrow before the market opens.

The current slowdown in consumer spending has actually played into the hands of Kroger (NYSE: KR). Households have been cutting back on dinners at restaurants, and looking for cheaper ways to feed the family. As a result, grocery sales are up, and for Kroger, its name brand products have also been on the rise.

Mark to market is R.I.P. But that's good news. Sentiment is building in the punditosphere that unemployment has not yet peaked and might not peak until 2010. TechCrunch reports that not a single venture-backed company IPOd in first quarter and M&A transactions were down by half compared to a year ago. Twitter is the next MySpace, according to this post. Too many impostors, follower counting and other sad parallels.

We may need to have a talk with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) ... a talk about tact and smart spending. Remember last week? You know, when President Obama lowered the hammer of shame on banks that were wasting their money? Perhaps BAC doesn't.

I was going to avoid writing about the Super Bowl today (mainly because I am a Cincinnati Bengals fan that hates the Steelers), but I found a story questioning the thought process of BAC and its sponsorship of the NFL Experience. This traveling exhibit has been a mainstay at the past 18 Super Bowls and it features sports games and interactive entertainment stretched over 850,000 square feet.

We all know the harsh reality of the tough economy we are in. We are dealing with a recession that no one can foresee ending at this point. This morning we got another hint at how bad things are with the release of 2008 construction figures, which showed construction spending in 2008 fell by a new record amount.

The Commerce Department released December construction figures today, which showed spending in December fell for the third month in a row, with a reported 1.4% decline during the month. This was a bit worse than the revised 1.2% decline that analysts had been expecting to see for the month. Previously, the November figure was showing a drop in spending of only 0.6%.

We all know that the current economic slowdown was bound to hurt holiday spending, and today we get news of just how much an impact it had on online shopping, as comScore announced that shoppers spent 3% less this year compared with 2007.

The report was based on spending between November 1 and December 23, and showed that consumers spent $25.5 billion online, compared with $26.3 billion in the same period last year, another clear signal that people are cutting their spending because they are worried about the economy.

A bright spot in the report did show that Cyber Monday, the Monday immediately following Black Friday, was the second biggest day ever for online spending, with an increase of 15% in sales from last year, to $846 million in sales.

If the markets are concerned about the U.S. consumer starting to weaken, we're now seeing global consumers curb their retail spending as well.

Bloomberg reports that Marks & Spencer Group Plc, the U.K.'s largest clothing retailer, dropped severely in London trading this morning off the back of a surprisingly weak holiday sales period.

Bloomberg reported, "Marks and Spencer shares slid as much as 21 percent after Marks said today that revenue fell 2.2 percent at stores open at least a year in the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 29, the first same-store sales drop in 2 1/2 years. The median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 1.1 percent."

Oof. That's almost a -3.5% surprise to the downside.

"If you are an average person on an average salary in the U.K., you are having a very tough time,'' Chief Executive Officer Stuart Rose said in an interview on Sky television. "About the only thing that isn't going up is the cost of clothing. People are being squeezed.''

Zack Miller the managing editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

I went on a shopping expedition with some friends last night and, like many other shoppers was lured in by a a rack at H&M bearing the following sign: "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" with the usual caveat that the free item must be of equal or lesser value.

I picked out some shirts and stood in line for about 15 minutes while the customer in front of me argued with the cashier about the way she was being charged for her "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" purchases. The cashier patiently explained that, if she really wanted to, she could save some money by paying for everything separately, which would require about nine separate transactions. What?

Here's how it works. Let's say that you buy four items from the "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" sale, with the following prices:

I've heard lots of excuses for weight gain -- depression, stress, work, injuries, kids, but this is a new one: Blame your credit cards!

According to a piece on BankRate, people tend to spend more when they use a credit card instead of cash, and that also applies to food purchases: "A Visa study of 100,000 restaurant transactions found that customers spent, on average, 30% more than those who paid with cash. That 30% can be the difference between a small order of fries and soft drink and a supersize order, or it can be the addition of a high-calorie dessert."

That an increase in the size of the check at a restaurant would lead to an increase in consumption is a no-brainer. So here's a diet tip: Pay cash when dining out. It'll keep your wallet heavier and you body lighter.

While there are plenty of fast-talking late-night gurus out there who want to give you the information you need to get rich (all for the three easy payments of $29.95, but wait there's more...), the New York Times's Damon Darlin has some of the best personal finance advice that graduates don't want to hear:

• Save 10% of your income right off the top.
• Buy stuff used.
• Enroll in a 401(k).
• Don't borrow money to buy depreciating assets.
• Make your own coffee.

He offers two compelling reasons to start saving early. First, there's the most obvious one. Starting the cycle of compound interest early means your money will grow more. But then there's another one that I hadn't really thought about. Living below your means conditions you to be comfortable with a less expensive standard of living, which will also save you money in your retirement years.

There's another important thing to remember, and it's probably the best reason of all for being wise in your money management. I first realized this paradox when I was talking to my friend "Jim," who, after years of poor spending habits, has run up a huge amount of credit card debt, and lies awake at night worrying about money. He used to make fun of me for my Scrooge-like spending habits and obsession with saving as much money as possible. The other day, we sat down to discuss his problem.

According to a piece in today's Wall Street Journal, the troubles in the subprime lending industry could spill over into retailers [subscription required] catering to the same low-income customers. The logic works like this: People who are struggling to pay their mortgages (as so many are, as evidenced by the troubles in the subprime industry) will have to cut back on their spending. Companies that could suffer include Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Sears Holdings Corp.'s (NASDAQ: SHLD) Kmart, and convenience stores, as well as other companies catering to lower income Americans such America's Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT).

So what are some companies that investors could look to to avoid exposure to the subprime collapse and its repercussions? Basically, any company catering to an upscale clientele: Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH), Inter Parfums Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAR), and similar stocks.

And, from that Wall Street Journal article, one of the best quotes I've seen in a long time:

"Having a credit card is kind of like being a millionaire," says Scott Davis, a 37-year-old facility maintenance worker who lives in Arlington, Texas. He says he and his wife, whose household income is $38,000 a year, had "seven or eight" credit cards they used to buy sporting goods, go on vacations and remodel their home.

Hmm...

This is an article that I've been wanting to see for a long time: The new issue of Money features a story called The Weird Science of Pricing: Seven elementary lessons in why things cost what they do and how to use that knowledge to get a better deal. The story is not currently available online, but it's worth picking up a copy of the April issue for it, or you can just read it in the grocery store.

The piece focuses on the tricks retailers use to get you to think you're getting a good deal. Did you know that pricing items at $9.99 instead of $10.00 works because we read from left to right, and process information in that order? This makes me wonder -- would someone who is in America but speaks Hebrew (which is read right to left) for their first language be susceptible to the 99 cent gimmick? Also, what is up with Wal-Mart's "Every Day Low Price" of $1.97?

If the psychology of marketing and money interests you, order a copy of Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the New Science of Behavioral Economics. On Amazon, it's only $9.75.

According to a piece recently in the Wall Street Journal (Subscription required), Capital One is offering a new credit card with a flat 1% cash refund on card spending, with another 0.25% annual bonus each November. Fidelity Investments offers a card with a 1.5% cash refund, and EmigrantDirect.com has one offering 1.4%. What makes Capital One's card unique is that if offers very few restrictions and really is a "flat" refund on all spending. Capital One's card has no annual fee and no limits on earnings or other restrictions.

Here's the kicker: Of course, in order for this to work, lots of people have to pay off only a portion of their bill each month. With so many consumers paying 15%+ interest, the 1% cash refund may not be that great of an expense. This is a glaring reminder of how much money credit card companies are making: They can afford to literally give people money. Americans have a serious addiction to consumer credit, and it will result in disaster. With the nationals savings rate below 0, how exactly are we funding our retirement?

If someone handed me one million dollars and said "Write an interesting, easy to understand book about credit scores and how to improve yours," I would hand the money back and say it cannot be done. Liz Pulliam Weston is probably one of the only people on the planet who is able to that successfully with her book Your Credit Score: How to Fix, Improve, and Protect the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial Future.

As a responsible saver and spender, I figured that I knew enough to get by without reading this book. I was wrong. The credit scoring formula is just that: a formula, with all kinds of idiosyncrasies that may cause your credit score to have little do with how responsible you are. For example, as a young person with little credit history, I thought that I could build my credit up by getting a credit card, using it instead of a debit card, and paying it off in full each month. This is certainly a financially sound thing to do, but there's one problem: Surprisingly, it could impact my credit score.