Blog Posts by Stacy Curtin

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Happy New Year and welcome back to the presidential political circus which begins in earnest today with the Iowa caucus followed closely by the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10.

Three candidates are in a dead heat for Iowa, according to a poll released Sunday. Public Policy Polling had Ron Paul with 20% of the vote, Mitt Romney at 19% and Rick Santorum at 18%.

Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital and a former Republican Senate candidate joined The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget to discuss the presidential election and his top pick in Iowa.

"I hope it is Ron Paul who wins Iowa and not just Iowa but obviously New Hampshire, the nomination and the presidency," says Schiff who considers himself a true supporter of limited government, like Ron Paul, as opposed to the many Republicans who just talk the talk and do not walk the walk. (See: It's Time to Roll Back Big Government: Rep. Ron Paul Says 'No' to Debt Ceiling Increase)

Schiff

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As 2011 comes to a close, we're taking a look back at how we covered some of the biggest news stories of the year.

Arguably the most talked about story over the course of the past twelve months was the passing of Steve Jobs at the much too young age of 56 and the future of the most innovative and revolutionary company of our time, which he helped create.

Below are links to our coverage of Steve Jobs' death, the coolness factor of Apple and its ability to blow away The Street's earnings expectations. But as with anyone or anything that grab's the attention of the masses, there is always also the controversy — we've included those stories too.

The Passing of Steve Jobs

The Future of Apple Without Steve Jobs

Apple Founder Steve Jobs Dies: Reflections on His Legacy

Actually, Apple Will Be Fine Without Steve Jobs

EXCLUSIVE: Biographer Describes What Steve Jobs Didn't Like About Bill Gates and Microsoft

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Jobs' Inspiration

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As 2011 comes to a close, we're taking a look back at some of our most important interviews of the year from President Bill Clinton to House Speaker John Boehner to the CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz and "The Donald."

Below are links to our episodes with some of the country's biggest names in business and politics.

President Bill Clinton

President Bill Clinton: Yes, the American Dream is Under Assault

Bill Clinton's Advice to President Obama on Jobs: Start With Clean Energy

House Speaker John Boehner

Speaker Boehner: Uncertainty About Govt. Policy Is Crippling the Economy

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz

Why the Starbucks CEO Doesn't Drink Frappuccinos

Onward: CEO Howard Schultz on How Starbucks Got Its Groove Back

Grover Norquist

Grover Norquist: America's Most Powerful Man?

Grover Norquist: History Proves Tax Increases Lower Economic Growth

Donald Trump

The Trump Interview: How to Fix the Economy

Trump Is Still Not Ruling Out a Run at

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This year marks the 10^th anniversary of Yahoo!'s Year in Review. It puts a spotlight on the top stories and trends of the year based Yahoo!'s network of nearly 700 million monthly unique visitors and billions of consumer searches.

The top search term on Yahoo! for 2011 did not go to a person or an event. It went to one of Apple's most sought after products: The iPhone. With all the news surrounding Apple over the course of the year — from the company's ability to smash earnings expectations time and time again to the failing health and final passing of CEO Steve Jobs — it is not at all surprising the gadget garnered so much attention.

But what is surprising is the Year in Review's findings for the top 10 financial searches of the year. Unemployment fell from the number one most searched financial term in 2010 to nine on the list in 2011, perhaps showing a bit of optimism in the job market. And instead of being curious about

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If this year is anything like last, baby boomers and older Americans should be on guard this holiday season. Instances of financial abuse and fraud against the elderly increased from November 2010 to January 2011, according to a recent report from MetLife, which found overall investment fraud targeted towards older Americans is on the rise.

Americans over the age of 65 lost nearly $3 billion to financial abuse from April to June 2010, up 12% from the same period in 2008, according to the report. During that time, 51% of the fraud cases reported were perpetrated by strangers, 34% by family, friends and neighbors and 12% by businesses.

But in a separate look at the holidays, MetLife reports fraud by family and friends increased to 45%.

With the baby boomer generation reaching retirement age and comprising 25% of the U.S. population, financial investment fraud is becoming a bigger and more problematic issue facing the country.

The North

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As 2011 comes to a close, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created in the wake of the financial crisis, remains without a director. It is still trying to do its best at protecting you, the consumer.

Since the agency officially opened its doors at the end of July, it has focused on making it easier to understand the costs and benefits of many financial products like credit cards, mortgages and student loans.

"It is about making it clear to people what they are getting into when you get into a mortgage or into a credit card agreement or into a student loan," says Raj Date, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury and acting head of the agency. "These are great products for a great many people, but you should understand the costs of what they are and you should understand the risk that you are signing up for."

After receiving more than 5,000 grievances over credit cards in its first three months of operation, the

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'Tis the season to travel, travel, travel and like almost everything else this year, the cost to fly is not getting any cheaper, especially when you factor in all the additional fees.

There are fees to change your travel plans and fees to use your frequent flier miles. There are checked-bag fees, fees for bags that exceed a certain weight and now Spirit Airlines even charges a fee for carry-on luggage. Once onboard, there are often are snack and beverage fees and fees to watch TV or movies.

If that wasn't already enough, you will likely be hit with yet another fee for any flight that takes you to or through the European Union. The EU is the first nation to approve sweeping cap-and-trade measures that charge airlines for their pollution. These rules take effect starting Jan. 1.

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Three-plus years since the subprime mortgage crisis -- aided and abetted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- triggered the collapse of Lehman and bailouts of the big banks and AIG, scant little progress has been made to safeguard the markets, investors or the economy.

To add insult to injury, the big banks are bigger and more profitable than ever, but still not a single person has been held accountable for causing the worst recession since the Great Depression.

"Nothing has changed since AIG," says Nomi Prins, author of Black Tuesday. "These companies are too complex [and] the regulators too inept."

The most recent fallout from lack of regulatory oversight of the banking and investing industry is the collapse of MF Global, run by former Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine. A stunning $1.2 billion in client funds are still missing more than month after the company buckled on fears of its leveraged bets on European debt. (See: It's the Leverage,