Prosper.com - P2P lending site
Zopa.com - P2P lending siteINGDirect.com - The Electric Orange account
EmigrantDirect.com - More investment options

A week or two ago, Clark gave listeners advice on how to draw up a holiday budget. But what if you need some help drawing up your wish list? WalMart.com now allows kids (or adults) to set up a holiday shopping list online and e-mail it to relatives. There are even animated elves named Wally and Mary to guide kids through the process. The website also pops up gift suggestions as you make your list. If the user doesn't want the suggested gift, it will get tossed into a virtual dump truck. If you do want it, there's a bell that rings when you add the gift suggestion to your list. This is one idea that's sure to find a lot of supporters and detractors alike. It's just another way the Internet is interacting with Christmas in a controversial manner. On one hand, parents are worried that they won't be able to afford what their children select. On the other hand, it takes the guesswork out of shopping for your kids. Clark says he always knows what his kids want because they talk about it constantly. When it comes to his teenage daughter, it's always jewelry!

Prosper offers people the chance to borrow or lend money online and completely bypass the banking system. As a borrower, you usually get money at a lower interest rate than you would at a bank. As a lender, you minimize your risk by lending in little slices to a lot of people. But some folks are still scared off by even the thought of losing money if they were to lend. One possible solution comes from Zopa, a European-based business that has just launched in the United States. This peer-to-peer lending site works with credit unions to get FDIC insurance on the money you lend out. So even if your borrower defaults, you still get your money back! The catch, of course, is that the rate of return is much lower than at Prosper. But Zopa is really a novel idea. Instead of completely bypassing the banking system, it uses a credit union as an intermediary. Clark promised a few weeks back that he would try out some of the P2P lending sites and report back on his findings. But he hasn't gotten around to it yet. Stay tuned for more…

Last year, Clark stated that women would rather buy and receive jewelry than electronics. Boy, did he get an earful from that! A poll on Clarkhoward.com proved that Clark's statement was a chauvinistic one. Now when he's in stores, more women than men ask him for advice on buying HDTVs. Women have their heads spinning like Linda Blair in The Exorcist with all the choices out there. With that in mind, Clark wants to offer a primer on the three types of HDTVs that dominate the market: LCDs (liquid crystal display); DLPs (digital light processing); and Plasma TVs.

Get an LCD if you're looking to reduce energy consumption and want something with a small cabinet. LCDs are also good if there's a lot of natural sunlight available. DLPs are great if you have space for footlong cabinets and huge screens. They may look huge, but they are actually very light. One drawback with DLPs is that you have to look straight at your TV to see the image. They're not good if your room has lots of side viewing angles. In that instance, you probably want a Plasma because the picture is rich and true from any angle. But Plasmas are bad in rooms with natural sunlight, which washes out the picture. For his money, Clark prefers Plasmas over LCDs for picture quality. But keep in mind that Plasmas use more energy though than LCDs.

A lot of shoppers also get confused by the 1080p vs. 720p resolution issue. The manufacturing industry is moving toward 1080p, but all the programming is in 720p. Clark's advice is to buy a cheaper 720p set for now. By the time all the programming switches over, 1080p sets will be more affordable than they are now. Don't overbuy at today's prices for something that is steadily dropping in price. Finally, here are some target price points to keep in mind. For 32-inch LCDs, look for deals in the $400s. Don't pay more than $600. 42-inch Plasmas should go for around $700, while 50-inch ones will go up to $900. If you're going to spend around $900 for a DLP, make sure you get a 60-inch set. DLPs tend to have more repair issues than the other two, but they're all basically reliable. Do not under any circumstance buy an extended warranty!

Clark is a confessed warehouse club maniac. He joined his first club back in the early '80s. At one point, he was a member of all five clubs that operated around the country. Anyone remember Price Savers, Pace Membership Warehouse or Price Club? Some of the ones that used to exist have since been absorbed by competitors. Today we have BJ's, Costco and Sam's Club. Clark, of course, is a member of all three. He likens them to having children; it's impossible to pick a favorite one. When pressed, Clark thinks that Costco is first among equals. In fact, he loves it so much that sometimes it can be an exercise in excessive spending for him. So he's developed his Costco rule, which states that he doesn't get a cart and only buys what he can carry in his arms. When he brings his 2 year old in a stroller, he'll sometimes hang a small number of items off the stroller too.

There's no doubt that Costco is habit-forming. The New York Times reports that the power elite in Washington, D.C., have become frantic Costco shoppers. The Costco by the Pentagon has become the "in" place to shop. Republicans and Democrats can't agree on anything, but they both look for a deal at Costco! Another new trend in D.C. is to hire a caterer to prep food items that have been bought at Costco. Clark's son, meanwhile, thinks the sole purpose of going to Costco is to get a hot dog for $1.50. That's one food item that never goes up in price at Costco. People may revolt if that ever changes. Meanwhile, Clark's producer Joel thinks that IKEA offers a better deal on dogs: two for $1!