You’re the owner of a small business and need advice. Or you’re a senior citizen concerned about fraud. Or you’ve lost your checking account and you’re wondering what to do.

The latest issue of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s “Consumer News” is free and it can provide answers to your questions.

The winter edition can be read or printed at www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnwin1112.

The publication offers financial tips for small businesses:
• Finding loans to start and grow a small business;
• Paying for everyday expenses, noting that some consumer protections with credit cards and debit cards do not …

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If you take a cup of uncertainty, add a measure of mild panic, fold in a spoonful of speculation, combine with a refinery fire and cook under the hot media lights, what do you get?

If the last few days of gasoline price escalation here and across the country are an accurate indicator, the result of that recipe is a rocket ride for gas prices at the pump.

Take gas prices in Tacoma, for instance. Filling a 15-gallon tank today in Tacoma on average cost 75 cents more than it did yesterday and $2.55 more than it did just a …

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Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler today announced he has has issued fines and enforcement actions to nine insurance agents or companies.

The violations involved offenses ranging failing to handle consumer complaints properly to misappropriating funds.

Here’s Kreidler’s list of offenders and their punishments:

* National Title Insurance Co. and Chicago Title Insurance Co.: Fined $100,000 for wrongfully offering discount club memberships to people who were in a position to send title business to the companies.

* Aetna Life Insurance Co.: Fined $20,000 for failing to promptly handle appeals from consumers.

* Charter Warranty Services, Inc., Mechanical Breakdown Protection, Inc., and

…

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Stand by for higher gas prices, Tacoma.

If pump prices continue to rise as they have in the last week and last month, we could see gas prices well over four dollars a gallon by mid-spring. Or not.

Several factors point to escalating prices here and across the country.

Here are the facts: Average prices for a gallon of regular gasoline in the Tacoma area tracked by TacomaGasPrices.com have risen more than 8.5 cents a gallon in the last week.

In the last month, those prices have increased by more than 15 cents a gallon.

Compared with this …

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The lesson is: Don’t send them money via Western Union and don’t give them personal information unless you’ve checked their credentials.

The state Department of Financial Institutions on Tuesday said it has received complaints from consumers regarding Manchester Capital Trust.

The complaints allege that consumers receive an e-mail or a telephone solicitation announcing that they are pre-qualified to receive an unsecured loan. The consumers then contact the company, which confirms that a term of the loan is that a certain number of months of payment must be provided to the company in advance.

Occasionally, the consumers are told that …

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What with TV weatherpeople forecasting the worst snowfall since the inauguration of President Coolidge, here’s a few wintertime tips from the folks at Angie’s List.

• Ask if the company accepts credit card payments. Some may require cash. Add the numbers of a couple of reputable towing services to your cell phone so you have good help literally at your fingertips.

• (Or else join AAA.)

• Beware the truck driver who shows up unannounced in an unmarked vehicle offering to drag your car out of the ditch. Reputable towing companies will display their Department of Transportation certification number on …

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It’s those darn cellphone people. And the Internet people.

The Better Business Bureau on Friday released its list of the Top 20 Western Washington industries that generated the largest number of complaints in 2011.

Cellular telephone service and supplies topped the list, followed by Internet selling services and Internet service access providers.

Rounding out the Top 10 were computer software and services, computer software publishers and developers, travel agencies and bureaus, collection agencies, new car dealers, online networking, and coupon book promotions.

Filling the Bottom 10 of the Top 20 were searchers of records, used car dealers, television cable and …

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Here’s a financial tip for the New Year: If you’re going to take out a loan online, check the company sending the money.

The state Department of Financial Institutions has issued an alert concerning an outfit called Action Payday, which uses the website actionpayday.com.

A state consumer alleged that Action Payday withdrew excess fees from his account. That’s how it works. You ask for some money, the company asks for access to your checking account. The company sends money and then withdraws the loan repayment.

And sometimes the company withdraws more than you expected.

Action Payday is not licensed by …

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