Briefcase

Avoid identity theft

While you’re shopping during the holiday season, you should take steps to be sure your identity isn’t stolen by thieves looking to run up big bills in your name. The legal and research publisher LexisNexis has a few tips to help you:

  • Don’t keep a Social Security card or copy of it in your purse or wallet.
  • Don’t use your birth date or other obvious numbers as the PIN for your bank or debit cards.
  • Make sure you take your credit card receipts and carbons after you buy something.
  • Limit the number of credit cards you carry.
  • Be wary of requests for your Social Security number when you buy something.
  • Know your account numbers and where to call to report a problem if your account information is lost or stolen.

Survey

Men more optimistic about economic outlook

Is the U.S. economy ready to swing into prolonged prosperity, or is the current upbeat data a mere blip, taunting us with good news before reverting to the doldrums?

Among the wealthy, men and women don’t seem to agree on the answer to that question.

JPMorgan Fleming, the asset management arm of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., asked people with at least $500,000 in investment assets for their thoughts about where economic matters are headed.

More than half of men, 59 percent, said the economy would improve in the next year. But only 43 percent of female investors felt that way.

As for the financial markets overall, men were more enticed: 81 percent said they were investing more, compared with only 56 percent of women investors.

The telephone survey involved 159 people.

Motley Fool

Name that company

I define myself as “a services company providing integrated technology solutions that enable our customers to maximize their self-service capabilities.” Founded in 1859 and based in Ohio, I introduced the concept of a cash-dispensing automated teller machine in 1966 and make a lot of them today. I’m a global leader in voting machines, with some 33,000 of my units in use across America. I’ve long specialized in security, offering safes, vaults and electronic security systems. I employ more than 13,000 people in more than 88 countries and rake in about $2 billion annually. Who am I?