Sales seminar

MARCH 31—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center will host “Break the Rules and Close More Deals” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at the university’s Rockwell Hall, Room 108, 600 Forbes Ave., Uptown. This is the first of three sessions in the Sales Series, Peak Performance Management will teach individuals about superior selling. Attendees will learn how to deal with lost opportunities, slipping margins, complacency and market share, among other topics. Registration is required and the cost is $45. Call 412-396-6233 or visit www.duq.edu/sbdc.

by Jesse Washington

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—In this banking center walloped by the Great Recession, where unemployment just hit a 20-year high and as many as one in three Black people are out of work, Blacks could easily be frustrated with President Barack Obama’s insistence that a rising economic tide for all will lift African-American boats.

SUPPORTS OBAMA— James Norris is shown in Charlotte, N.C., on March 17. In this banking center walloped by the Great Recession, where unemployment just hit a 20-year high and as many as one in three Black folks are out of work, Black people could easily be frustrated with President Barack Obama’s insistence that a rising economic tide will lift African-American boats.

Yet despite surging discontent among some Black advocates over Obama’s refusal to specifically target rising Black unemployment, it’s hard to find average Black folks here who disagree with the president’s approach.

WASHINGTON (AP)—The U.S. needs major changes to its financial system so consumers are better protected, banks fortified and the economy safeguarded from sliding into another Depression, President Barack Obama said Saturday.

President Barack Obama at the Patriot Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., March 19.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama told Congress to act quickly and pass “common sense rules that will our allow markets to function fairly and freely while reining in the worst practices of the financial industry.”

I recently read about a money merge account that can help you pay off your mortgage early. I am confused as to how this works. I think that you have to purchase some sort of software and deposit your income into a HELOC account that has a variable rate. Please educate me on this. Thank you for your advice!

Signed—Woman seeking to pay off her mortgage early.