Among the hazards of modern communication tools is disruption of daily life by unsolicited calls from telemarketers. Many times a person is engaged in some important activity which makes such interference a nuisance at best and a hazard at worst. Also there is a security aspect to unsolicited calls as one does not know where they are coming from. In such a scenario phone call filters become necessary to block out unwanted calls.

PhoneSpamFilter.com is a free service which lets the users decide which calls are from unsolicited telemarketers and thus need to be blocked. The site has the largest user-generated database of phone solicitors which includes more than 100,000 numbers of those trying to sell their products and services over phone lines.

PhoneSpamFilter.com is completely user-generated. The filter’s automated blocking system enables the users to identify the number from which the unwanted call is being made. They can then complain about that number and go on to block it from reaching their phones in future. Finally PhoneSpamFilter.com offers the only filtering service that has been designed to provide users with scoring algorithms so that they can automatically block unwanted calls from telemarketers.

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates untouched at its meeting scheduled on Tuesday even as the economy continues its slowdown and inflationary conditions begin to relax.

According to analysts the Federal Reserve will most likely refrain from making any changes to current interest rates. However it might have to review its position later this year when a key rate cut may become necessary to boost growth in the midst of deteriorating conditions in job market, banking and consumer spending.

The Federal Reserve has kept the key rate steady at 2% since April 30 this year after it slashed rates to avoid economic disaster due to large scale collapse of the financial and housing markets. The federal funds rate determines what the banks charge each other for overnight loans and banks also use this rate as a pointer to determine rates for personal and business loans.

Some finance experts believe that the continuing slow down in the economy warrants rate cut in future. According to recent data released by the Labor Department, unemployment is the highest in five years while home values are falling and employee pay is trailing behind inflation by the widest margin in 17 years. However other economists believe that any rate cut would have a minimal effect on growth unless banks are more willing to lend.

Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama raised $66 million for his election campaign in August which included donations from half a million new contributors.

Sen. Obama’s campaign sources revealed on Sunday that a whopping $66 million were added to the funds raised by the Democrat candidate in the month of August for the upcoming US presidential elections. This is the largest amount raised by any presidential candidate within a period of one month. In the same period Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate raised $47 million which was till date his personal best.

The $66 million raised in August broke the previous record set by Sen. Obama when he collected $55 million in February this year. Since he began his election campaign at the beginning of 2007, Obama has taken in more than half a billion dollars till date.

However, Obama still might not have the strong financial edge of McCain who has been generously supported by the Republican National Committee. In August the RNC raised $23 million and together with its state and federal deposits, enabled McCain to start September campaign with $110 million in the campaign kitty. Even though the Democrat campaign has not revealed its overall funds it is estimated to be much lesser than the Republican totals.

Bank of America is set to acquire Merril Lynch, one of the most reputed investment banking firms in the US, for $44 billion, say industry sources.

According to the agreement, Bank of America has agreed to pay $29 for each share of the Merril Lynch stock and $44 billion for the country’s largest retail brokerage. The deal has been approved by the boards of both banking firms and is presently under review by the lawyers. A formal statement announcing the deal is expected on Monday

Bank of America is the nation’s largest consumer bank and the acquisition of Merril Lynch will mark a profitable addition to its consumer financial business. Merril Lynch brings with it an attractive franchise and its purchase will make the Bank of America the country’s largest brokerage firm besides already being the biggest retail bank, credit card company and mortgage lender in the US.

The deal comes in the wake of news that the Bank of America had been considering the acquisition of another major investment firm, Lehman Brothers. However Lehman is in deeper financial trouble than Merril Lynch and the latter has a much more profitable franchise. These factors finally led Bank of America to finalize the deal with Merril Lynch.

Hurricane Ike caused the death of four people in Texas and Louisiana and brought about severe damage to property in the states before weakening and moving inwards towards the eastern Great Lakes states on Monday.

The storm hit Galveston on early Saturday morning as a 600 mile-wide, Category 2 hurricane with wind speed of over 100 miles an hour. Over the weekend the hurricane destroyed thousands of homes and buildings, washed away roads and led to outbreak of fires. State officials say that it will be some time before the full extent and financial cost of the damage can be estimated.

With President Bush declaring parts of Texas and Louisiana major disaster areas, federal aid would be made available to the affected people in order to find temporary lodging repair their homes, take loans to cover uninsured property as well as other financial relief measures for individuals and businesses.

CenterPoint Energy, the main power provider of Houston, said that till late Saturday evening as many 1.99 million of its total 2.26 million customers were without power. The impact of the hurricane was also expected to be felt on gasoline prices which were likely to rise on account of suspended operations at many of the oil refineries.

Fertility industry is big business in many industrialized countries where the birth rate is falling every year and women keep off having children until late in their child-bearing years. These factors coupled with limited state-funded fertility treatments mean that private players are raking in the cash. In the United Kingdom alone, the fertility industry is estimated to be worth 500 million sterling pounds while in the US, it includes business worth 3 billion pounds annually.

While in the earlier decades, infertility treatment was undergone by a handful of patients, now it has become firmly entrenched into mainstream medicine. In the UK, only 342 babies were born in the first five decades whereas in between 2003 to 2004 as many as 10,242 babies were the result of IVF treatment which amounts to 1% of all live births in the country.

Another reason why fertility treatments are such good business is because most of these patients are repeat customers. . According to an estimate, of the 29,688 British women undergoing IVF treatment in 2003, only a quarter were finally successful and on an average, the successful patients required three treatment cycles before they could have a baby. Since the NHS in Britain pays for only 25% of the bills related to fertility treatment, the rest is paid for by the patients themselves which offers a good opportunity for private fertility clinics to mint money.

Barbados Islands are one of most favored destinations of tourists from UK, US and other parts of the world. Located in the Caribbean Sea, the white sandy beaches of Barbados are a true tropical paradise. Currently there are hundreds of online tour operators who provide Barbados Holiday deals and one of the most reliable among them is Letsgo2.com.

Barbados Holidays have something for every taste – fantastic beaches for those who love the sea, vibrant nightlife for the party animals as well as activities such as diving and snorkeling for the adventure freaks. Or one might just chill out in the balmy weather with the sun and sand for company. Letsgo2.com offers attractively-priced deals on Barbados holidays which not only cover flight and hotel reservations but also include airport transfers and in-resort representation.

The Letsgo2.com website provides information on a varied range of Barbados Holiday packages to suit every budget and requirement. Travelers can choose from self-catering or hotel options under ready package deals or use the simple search facility on the site to create a customized package according to date, duration, number of travelers, accommodation type and budget. Moreover Letsgo2.com is accredited by the ABTA and ATOL which means travelers can count it to provide reliable and efficient tour services. Overall a great site that can fit in your holiday Barbidos plan.