CA unemployment rate as of May 2008

California as a whole had an unadjusted unemployment rate of 6.5 percent in May, with a 5.2 percent for the nation during the same period.

Bankrate.com Safe & Sound CAEL Rating samples

CAEL rating: 1 (best) to 5 (worst)

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Charles Schwab Bank: N/A (Charles Schwab Bank is a federally chartered thrift institution and an affiliate of Charles Schwab Corporation, a financial holding company. All bank products and services are offered through Schwab Bank.)

ETrade Bank: 4

ING Bank FSB, Delaware: 3

Washington Mutual Bank FSB, Utah: 1. (Note: S&P cut its credit ratings on the largest U.S. savings and loan one notch to "BBB," the second lowest investment grade, from "BBB-plus.") Link to additional bank profile info: http://www.ibanknet.com/scripts/callreports/getbank.aspx?ibnid=usa_2187071

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The FDIC insures approximately 8,500 institutions; 79 of them are on the agency's secret list of problem banks as of Dec. 31, 2007.

How safe is your money in the bank?

The FDIC, short for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, fully insures individual accounts up to $100,000 per deposit per bank, and $250,000 for most retirement accounts.

The FDIC does not cover money invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life-insurance policies, annuities or municipal securities.

The FDIC disclosed last month that it was closely watching 90 financial institutions on its "problem bank list." While that number is higher than it has been in the last few years, it is still relatively low, Williams-Dickerson said. In fact, there were 2,165 on the list in 1987. The FDIC does not publish the names of the trouble banks for fear of spurring a bank run.

To find out how safe your bank is, you can check out the Safe & Sound rating on Bankrate.com, which provides a sense of the relative financial strength and stability of commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions.

*Source: CNN

Good news if your home owner insurance is with Allstate

California insurance regulators have ordered Allstate Insurance Co. to cut rates for homeowners coverage by an average of 28.5 percent, representing a savings of $255 million for policyholders.

Allstate customers would save an average of $242 per policy per year, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said in a news release Thursday.

Digital TV Converter Box

According to many posts and reviews by various web sites and organizations, so far I found two models are probably the best quality and cost-effective:

. Insignia NS-DXA1
. Zenith DTT900

But wait! Both models currently in store are lacking of one feature: analog signal pass-through. This means any analog signal from your antenna is blocked by the converter box.

Good news is that both are coming out with new model to address this issue. Insignia is releasing NS-DX1-APT model. Zenith is releasing DTT901 model. If you haven't spent your $40 government coupon yet, it may be better waiting until the new models are available in stores.

Federal Unemployment Insurance Extended Benefits

ELIGIBILITY

These extensions can be filed on or after July 6, 2008. Workers potentially eligible for extended benefits:

• Are fully or partially unemployed on or after July 6, 2008,
• Have exhausted their entitlement to a regular UI claim,
• Are not qualified to file a new regular claim,
• Have had a valid claim that began on or after May 7, 2006, AND
• Meet all eligibility criteria.