Banking Experiences

I was reading this article by this real estate guru that I've been following for the last few years (Greg Habstritt) and the article really struck home with me. I recently spent the weekend with a banker and I believe I had the opposite experience. I found the experience very educational and shocking at moments, having learnt new and interesting ways to free up capital. I went in to ask about a line of credit, how it works etc. I found out that they can help me even though I haven't lived in my residence long. I learnt that they can give me 75% of the equity that I have in a line of credit and can do it at PRIME. Its also a floating prime that goes up and down with the lending rate. They can tie it to a credit card (which would be way cheaper than what I'm presently paying). I only have to pay the Interest rate as a minimum monthly payment. They can increase the line of credit as equity builds relatively easy, thus freeing more capital.
I can also see how for the individual that can't control their spending can get into a heaping load of trouble using their line of credit for consumer expendable good that have no real asset value.
I must admit I'm not a first class financial guru but I see that you've got to do your own research, because no one cares about your finances more than you.

Toyota & Honda still #1

Consumer Reports has just come out with their latest vehicle issue. In it they have asked participants to rate their vehicles 1.3 million participants. The findings... Toyota and Honda are still ranked among the most reliable. I find this fascinating as I have seen many news related reports professing that the American automakers are really stepping it up and trying to regain favour with the consumer. If this is true why are they still not ranked closer to their competitors?

American automakers, shape up or ship out!