• occ.treas.gov - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
• megabus.com - take the bus for a buck
• clearwire.com - high speed Internet through Wifi
• homesales.gov - get housing and foreclosure prices

eBay has been in the news again lately regarding the number of fake items sold on its site. One recent report stated that nearly 80 percent of the designer items sold on the site are fake. That is phenomenally high. If you’re into designer items, you want it to be the real thing, right? Well, people are getting ripped off every day on eBay. Now, Clark wants you to know that he thinks eBay is a great company and a great concept. But eBay has failed to do anything tangible to help the fraud situation on its site, and it seems to be about time to do something. Christa, Clark's executive producer, thinks ebay should bond its sellers as a way of ensuring products and protecting people. But Clark doesn't think that's enough.

American car sales are down almost 20 percent, with GM down the most at 27 percent. On the other hand, Asian automaker sales are taking off. Asian automakers have had a focus on fuel economy that goes back several decades, in part because their gas prices have been so high. Their perspective is different than ours because they were paying $4 a gallon when we were paying $1. As a result, Asian car makers can’t keep cars on their lots, especially those that get more than 30 miles per gallon. Now, American car makers are pulling out all of the stops to sell more cars. They are offering employee discounts, zero financing and 30-day returns. It cost 5 percent of the vehicle to return it, which isn’t cheap. But it’s still unheard of in the car business. American workers can make cars that are just as good as those made in other countries. They just haven’t put the effort into it. And what is an American car anyway? Is a Chevy made in Korea an American car? What about a Japanese car made in Kentucky? It’s all pretty mixed these days. But the bottom line is if you want a GM, Ford or Chrysler, you can get a great deal. Used vehicles are also heavily discounted right now. So, shop around.

Clark forgot to do Clark Stinks yesterday, but we wouldn't let that stop us from delivering it to you today. Listen now to posters complain about Clark's failure to give Web sites and his tendency to wear a "politician's hat." Just remember to disable your pop-up blocker by holding the "Control" key when you click on the link.

How would you like to travel from one city to another for $1? It’s possible through a European-owned bus service known as megabus.com and it’s running now. Megabus is already in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Louis. It’s a piggyback to the service operating in the Northeast corridor that cost about $10 to ride from DC to New York, for instance. But this bus service is going to cost about $1.50 and up to take a bus ride from city to city. It’s incredible when you think about what it costs to keep your car on the road and how much it costs to take a trip. The average trip costs about 50 cents a mile. In addition, airlines have been moving rates up so it’s always expensive to fly. The bus, however, is an idea of the past that may be more popular in the future. It could work in several markets right now, including mid-sized cities in California, North Carolina and Florida.

Bill collectors come in all shapes and sizes. Some play it straight up and follow the law. Others don’t follow the law at all and the number of rogue collectors is growing out of control. The Federal Trade Commission reports that its No. 1 complaint is about scavenger bill collectors, also known as “zombie collectors.” The tactics they use are shocking, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. For instance, you get a letter or call out of nowhere for a bill that was never yours. The person may have the same or a similar name, but it’s a different person. These collectors try to browbeat the money out of the wrong people by filing suit against them. If those people don’t respond to the court and defend themselves, a judgment is entered and the debt is passed on to them. Yes, even though the debt was never yours, it legally becomes yours. That’s why you have to protect yourself. The only way to preserve your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is to mail a certified letter with proof that it’s not yours. You want to keep a copy of the letter in case they come back later and try to pin it on you. If you don’t, the debt will sit there and it could prevent you from closing on a home in the future. If you don’t act, a lie becomes the truth.

Clark has been a big fan of high-speed wireless Internet in cities because it’s a way of breaking up the monopoly companies that offer high-speed Internet. Typically, it’s been only cable and phone companies offering this service. But now there is a third option. One company, Clearwire, is about $20 a month and it requires no installation. It works via satellite signal and it’s cheap. Clearwire has been operating quietly and hasn’t been making big waves. But Motorola and Intel are putting about $1 billion into Clearwire to increase the number of markets in which it’s offered. This is great news! Capitalism responds to fear, and fear is a great motivator. So, now that there is a third competitor, it’s going to shake things up.