A trading strategy is a systematic, step-by-step, approach to trading. Using a forex system to trade is of utmost importance to the long-term success of a forex trader. A forex trading system or strategy will equip a new trader with a set of steps to follow; a set of steps that will build discipline and self confidence in the trader. There are many traders in the forex market that don't have a set of strategies and simply go by "gut feel." This can be dangerous because the trader will eventually fall prey to one of his greatest enemies - his emotions. As part of our forex training program, we teach our traders to apply different trading strategies. The goal of Forex Trading USA is to educate traders to rely less on their fear and greed and more on a disciplined trading approach. The strategies tought will include:

• Which currencies to use
• Specific conditions to buy a currency
• Specific conditions to sell a currency
• Price stop loss placement and trade management*
• Application examples

No amount of technical analysis in the world can save a trader from a lack of direction. Having a forex system to trade provides the guidance a trader needs to succeed. In our forex trading training the establishment of a specific forex strategy is a primary goal. Generalities don't work in the forex market, so we don't want to fill traders with useless information. We want to create knowledgeable and powerful traders.

There were a few other non-financial reasons for opening the account. First, there’s no marginal cost to opening another savings account. HSBC has a well known international name and has consistently been among the leaders in interest rates. I would be hesitant to open an account at a lesser known bank. HSBC’s international presence is also a benefit. When we were in China and Taiwan, HSBC was everywhere (along with Citigroup) and that’s a side benefit. Lastly, my mom has an HSBC account, in part because of the China and Taiwan presence, and having that link is convenient as well.

Opening An HSBC Account

The HSBC account opening process is quick and painless (~10 minutes), though it requires more information than most banks because they try to set up everything in one pass. You start by giving the typical personal information all banks ask including social security number. They do a quick inquiry and ask you for three items from your credit history. Then, you get the option of linking a bank account right there.

They verify your bank account by requesting your login credentials and then login. My bank account was linked within seconds (and the transfer was initiated). No more waiting 3-5 business days for two small deposits, the verification process is done right there. Very nice touch.

After about two days, HSBC starts sending you emails (there are quite a few) about your registration, how to log on and set up your account for the first time. Specifically, they’ll email you a link to the Internet Banking Activation page and a registration code, but don’t bother going trying to activate until you get your temporary password by postal mail. Yeah, they mail your temporary password by pony express.

In all fairness, the letter got here pretty quickly. I opened my account on June 4th, received my temporary registration number by email on June 6th, and received the temporary password on June 7th (the letter was dated June 5th). However, because of the mail, any time that was shaved off in the bank linking portion is now definitely lost waiting for a password via mail (probably why they do that). It’s all done in the name of security but it strikes me as a bit unnecessary and overkill.

From here, you go to the activation page, enter in those codes, set up your account access credentials (which includes a username, password, and security key that must be entered by on-screen keyboard), enter two security questions, and you’re in! (whew!)

Bank to Bank Transfers

One of the features of online savings accounts that was once allowed but now stopped by many online banks was the ability to link online savings accounts. I used to have my Emigrant Direct and my ING Direct linked together so a transfer took only a handful of days, but about a year ago they severed the tie and began requiring paper checks to link accounts together.

Well, I was curious as to whether HSBC would let me link up with ING Direct and they did! I submitted a request through the Bank to Bank Transfer online form, HSBC made two trial deposits to my ING Derect account, I verified the transaction and the link was created. It’s important to remember that Federal Reserve Regulation D limits the number of transactions on a savings account to six a month, so I just expended two in the verification process.

Quicken & Money Data Support

Quicken and MS Money data addicts users will be happy to know that HSBC Direct offers support for both applications (for Quicken, you get Windows and Mac version support).

Thoughts

At the moment, I’ve been playing a little with my account and it seems pretty standard compared to other online savings accounts I’ve had. The one noticeable difference is that it’s not as sleek as the ING Direct interface and there doesn’t seem to be any way for me to easily create additional accounts. Of course, only ING Direct offers that option at the moment so it’s not like HSBC is really inferior to peers.

The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank.

If the bank is unable to raise the capital cushion by selling assets or stock, it would have to rely on the government, which has provided $45 billion in capital through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

It could satisfy regulators’ demands simply by converting non-voting preferred shares it gave the government in return for the capital, into common stock.

But that would make the government one of the bank’s largest shareholders.

Executives at the bank, one of the largest being examined, sparred with the government over the amount, which is higher than executives believed the bank needed.

But J. Steele Alphin, the bank’s chief administrative officer, said Bank of America would have plenty of options to raise the capital on its own before it would have to convert any of the taxpayer money into common stock.

“We’re not happy about it because it’s still a big number,” Mr. Alphin said. “We think it should be a bit less at the end of the day.”

The government’s determination that Bank of America doesn’t need as much capital as it has already received from taxpayers is an indication that even some of the most troubled banks may not need more government money than has been allocated to them.

The Treasury Department declined to comment on Tuesday evening.

Citigroup, by contrast, has already decided to allow the government to convert some of its investment into common stock.

Under the arrangement worked out between the Treasury and Citigroup earlier this year, the Treasury will receive mandatory convertible preferred shares, meaning preferred shares that can be converted to voting shares of common stock at the will of the government.

If Bank of America relied on that conversion for the majority of the capital it needs to maintain, the government would become one of the bank’s largest shareholders.

Regulators have told the banks that the common shares would bolster their “tangible common equity,” a measure of capital that places greater emphasis on the resources that a bank has at its disposal than the more traditional measure of “Tier 1” capital.

Citigroup, the largest and most deeply troubled of the banks, is expected to need to raise capital as insurance against any further downturn in the economy.

The government told the bank it would need $50 billion to $55 billion in capital, a requirement that would force it to raise $5 billion to $10 billion in new capital, according to people briefed on the final results.

Citigroup executives say the bank can easily cover any shortfall, and is considering several options to close that gap.

The Obama administration plans to publicize the results of stress tests on Thursday.

The results are expected to reveal that a number of them need additional capital, and many banks have negotiated with the government on what the actual capital requirements should be since they learned of the preliminary findings last week.

The tests are also expected to show that several banks, including Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are healthy enough to repay TARP funds.

Mr. Alphin noted that the $34 billion figure is well below the $45 billion in capital that the government has already allocated to the bank, although he said the bank has plenty of options to raise the capital on its own.

“There are several ways to deal with this,” Mr. Alphin said. “The company is very healthy.”

Bank executives estimate that the company will generate $30 billion a year in income, once a normal environment returns.

The company has faced criticism over its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the troubled investment bank, and last week, shareholders voted to strip the bank’s chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis, of his title as chairman of the board. The board said last week that it still unanimously supports Mr. Lewis in his role as chief executive.

Mr. Alphin said since the government figure is less than the $45 billion provided to Bank of America, the bank will now start looking at ways of repaying the $11 billion difference over time to the government.

In the case of Citigroup, which has also received two taxpayer lifelines, executives say the bank can easily cover any shortfall, and is considering several options to close that gap.

Among them are efforts to accelerate the sales of several businesses within Citi Holdings, a holding tank for assets it plans to shed, or to expand its common stock conversion plans to a broader base of private investors who hold Citigroup preferred stock. Both measures would avoid an increase in the government’s expected 36 percent ownership stake.

Taxpayer-supported Banks have been eager to wean themselves from the government’s purview, and many analysts have questioned how useful the stress tests will be in assessing their true health.

Also Tuesday, senior government officials said the Treasury Department is planning to require taxpayer-supported banks seeking to free themselves from the government’s grip to show that they can repay the lifelines without additional subsidies that have helped them survive the financial crisis.

Banks have had an indirect subsidy adopted by the government last fall that allows them to issue debt cheaply with the backing of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The Treasury is expected to announce as early as Wednesday that healthier banks must show that they can issue debt without the guarantees before they are allowed to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

The banks also must demonstrate that they will be able to sell stock to private investors and pass a government stress test to show that they are healthy enough to survive without the taxpayer aid.

Fully capitalizing on the opportunities with the State’s measures to increase domestic demand and stimulate economic growth, BOC accelerated its pace in loans and deposits expansion and achieved rapid growth. As at 31 March 2009, the Bank’s domestic RMB-denominated loans increased by RMB 569.4 billion or 24% compared with the end of 2008 and the market share increased by 0.62 percentage point. Domestic RMB-denominated customer deposits also increased by RMB 723.1 billion or 18% from the end of 2008. Market share of the Bank’s domestic RMB-denominated corporate deposits and savings deposits also increased by 0.79 and 0.14 percentage point respectively, compared with the end of 2008.

In the mean time, BOC proactively adjusted its assets/liabilities structure, increased the proportion of high yield assets and lowered funding cost. The proportion of foreign currency-denominated assets of the group at the end of first quarter was reduced by 6 percentage points compared to the end of 2008 to 29%. RMB-denominated investment securities increased to RMB 1,219.482 billion, up by 18.29%, whilst the amount of foreign currency-denominated investment securities was reduced by 4.30% to USD 86.157 billion. Demand deposits represented 44.85% of the total customer deposits, an increase of 0.23 percentage point compared to the end of 2008. Loans account for 49.73% of the balance of interest-earning assets, up 0.43 percentage point. Loan to deposit ratio increased by 0.28 percentage point to 64.88%.

In the first quarter of 2009, net interest income amounted to RMB 36.838 billion, down 9.74% against the same period of 2008. Net interest margin was 2.14%, down by 63 basis points year-on-year, or 34 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2008.

In the first quarter, total export and import trade volume in China decreased by 24.9% year-on-year, but BOC’s international trade settlement volume still reached USD 137.862 billion and maintained its market share. Also, the Bank capitalized on the business opportunities arising from credit expansion and domestic consumption demands; financial advisory fee income increased by 70% year-on-year, and bank cards related fee income also rose by 21%. The bank achieved net fee and commission income of RMB 11.263 billion, a strong rebound of 38.95% compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, representing 22.32% of operating income, an increase of 1.84 percentage points compared with the same period of 2008.

While expanding business size and optimizing business structure, BOC further enhanced its cost management. Staff cost in the first quarter dropped by 3.79% year-on-year. Operating expense dropped by 15.07% year-on-year. Cost to income ratio decreased by 1.57 percentage points to 33.06%.

BOC continued to exercise stringent credit quality control, fortify its effort in non-performing loan recoveries, and strictly control the growth in non-performing loans. As a result, the Bank’s total identified impaired loans decreased by RMB3.652 billion from the end of 2008 to RMB 87.227 billion, with impaired loan ratio at 2.29%, a decrease of 0.47 percentage point from the end of 2008. The impaired loan coverage ratio reached 123.43%, up 6.25% from last year end. Non-performing loans amounted to RMB 85.127 billion, down by RMB 2.363 billion. Non-performing loan ratio dropped by 0.41% to 2.24%, and non-performing loan coverage ratio rose by 4.75 percentage points from the end of 2008 to 126.47%. Impairment losses on loans and advances for the first quarter were RMB 2.752 billion and credit cost was 0.31%.

As at 31 March 2009, the carrying value of US subprime mortgage related debt securities, US Alt-A mortgage-backed securities, Non-agency US mortgage-backed securities, debt securities issued by and mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by US Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae held by the Bank amounted to USD 13.145 billion, a decrease of USD 2.861 billion from the end of 2008. The aggregated amount of allowances for these securities was USD 4.838 billion, up by USD 0.378 billion. Impairment losses on investment securities for the quarter amounted to RMB 3.013 billion.

Borrowers looking for a new mortgage deal can now add Bank of China to their list of potential lenders, as the Chinese state-owned bank is targeting the UK with competitive loan rates.

Bank of China has been providing mortgages to the Chinese community in the UK but has recently broadened the availability of its loans. It is now offering two tracker deals to a wider pool of UK borrowers.

The rates – of 2.5 per cent over the Bank of England base rate for residential borrowers and 3.5 per cent over base for buy-to-let customers for the lifetime of the loan – are among the best on the market and undercut many UK lenders.

HSBC and Woolwich have similar lifetime trackers but a number of shorter-term trackers from lenders such as Abbey and Lloyds charge considerably higher rates.

Borrowers need a minimum deposit of 25 per cent and must pass tough credit checks, as well as a personal interview at a Bank of China branch. The bank has five branches across the UK’s major cities.

Mortgage brokers said the entry of one of the world’s biggest banks would bring a much-needed boost to the UK market. Mortgages are in scant supply as many of the UK’s banks still have limited access to finance and are focused on repairing their balance sheets rather than increasing new lending. Many of the best mortgage deals have disappeared in recent weeks as lenders have increased rates to ease strong demand.

“There are lots of reasons why banks and building societies aren’t lending at the volumes they would like,” said Mark Harris, managing director of Savills Private Finance, the broker. “If some of the slack can be taken up by new foreign entrants, then that is good for the consumer.”

Brokers expect more foreign banks and other smaller lenders to enter the mortgage market over the next few years, which could put pressure on UK banks to launch cheaper deals.

Low interest rates make margins on loans attractive and demand from borrowers is far exceeding supply. Overseas banks such as Kleinwort Benson, Investec and Standard Chartered already do some mortgage lending in the UK.

March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s third-largest by value, will offer at least 500 billion yuan ($73 billion) in new loans in 2009, boosting credit along with other banks after the government directed them to support the economy.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao set a new loan growth target of 5 trillion yuan for 2009 this week as he prods banks to help support a 4 trillion-yuan stimulus package. Collapsing exports have dragged the world’s third-largest economy to its weakest growth in seven years and cost the jobs of about 20 million migrant workers.

Domestic lenders offered a record 1.62 trillion yuan in new advances in January, more than double the previous all-time high set a year earlier, according to central bank data. Bank of China Chairman Xiao Gang said the company needs to balance the increase in loans with the need to avoid another episode of the bad-debt accumulation that prompted a decade-long bailout of banks.

“We want to share at least 10 percent of the nation’s lending target,” said in an interview in Beijing today. “But we won’t loosen the lending standards. We just can’t go back to the old path or receive any more government bailout.”

New lending in February exceeded 800 billion yuan, more than triple the amount extended a year ago, Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said yesterday.

Xiao also said the bank has no plans to raise its stake in Bank of East Asia Ltd. or bid for any assets belonging to U.S. insurer American International Group Inc.

Hiring Spree

Xiao also said shareholder Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s $130 billion state-owned investment company, had agreed not to sell its stake in Bank of China until at least June 30. Temasek owns 10.48 billion Hong Kong-listed shares, or 4.1 percent in the lender.

Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, the biggest government- controlled bank in U.K., in January sold its entire stake in Bank of China for $2.3 billion to replenish capital depleted by writedowns.

Bank of China is planning to add about 10,000 new employees in 2009, Xiao said, bucking the global financial meltdown that has cost more than 280,000 jobs worldwide so far. The new hires will mainly be college graduates, he said. Bank of China had 237,379 employees at the end of 2007.

China dropped lending quotas and unveiled the stimulus package in November to maintain economic growth and counter the global financial crisis.

The surge in credit has prompted the central bank and the banking regulator to survey lenders for details on the recipients and terms of the loans, in part to ensure that lending isn’t funneled into the stock market, a person with knowledge of the matter said last month.

Despite stock market shocks, falling returns for investors and many other forms of bad news, I recently completed one of the most important financial objectives of my life. No, not to repay the mortgage or furnish myself with an adequate pension; both of those goals still lie some way off in the future.

about next year and the years after that?

Many other parents of an estimated 600,000 children being educated in the private sector would, like me, have sold the house and traded down to a smaller property, or happily worked beyond retirement age, rather than switch schools prematurely. It is a great relief to no longer have to worry about where to find fees that, in my favourite part of London, ran up to considerably more than the £9,000

The saving graces Page 2 of 3

Shorter-term objectives are probably most safely met by cash deposits in a reputable institution.

Thinking ahead

However you choose to save or invest, the mathematics of compound interest demonstrate that the earliest invested pounds have longest to work for your benefit. But the fact remains that many parents rely heavily on income and take this daunting task one term at a time. We did. t's worth stating that some schools may have set up a fighting fund to help families in difficulty at this time. The message is to speak with the school, as they may be able to help.

Many regard a good education as the most valuable gift you can give to children. Given the substantial sums involved, it's an effective form of inheritance tax planning because it will certainly reduce your estate.

On a brighter note, I used to cheer myself up with Enron-style

Welcome to Deal Stocks, where we focus on a handful of select public companies involved in activity across the deal spectrum -- including M&A, private equity, IPOs, bankruptcies and corporate restructurings. These are the transactions that define The Deal and are likely contributors to a stock's gains or losses. Join in the conversation on Twitter @dealstocks.

The market was celebrating on Thursday as the Dow topped 9,000 for the first time since January. The Dow skyrocketed up 188.03, or 2.12%, to 9,069.29 reaching a new high this year while the Nasdaq closed up 47.22, or 2.45%, to 1,973.60. The markets were buoyed by a host of M&A deals from Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc. (NYSE:BMY), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Bankrate.com Inc. (NASDAQ:RATE) while earnings announcements generally registered better than expected.

Goldman Sach Group Inc.'s (NYSE:GS) decision to go with the Treasury's valuation of its TARP warrants could score it some good PR. And only days after it was bailed out by it bondholders, CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) is still considering restructuring through Chapter 11. Speaking of maintaining good PR, American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) is holding off on $2.4 million bonuses for 43 executives. This comes after public backlash on AIG, which paid $165 million in bonuses in March. Here's a closer look of other factors that swayed the performance of Deal Stocks on Thursday:

• Shares of Bristol-Myers finished up as it opened its wallet late Wednesday, purchasing Medarex Inc. for $2.4 billion.
  

• Amazon.com's all-stock acquisition of Zappo.com Inc. after market close Wednesday sent shares of the online retailer higher as investors applauded its growth prospects. The deal also puts another feature in the cap of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which invested about $35 million in the company roughly four years ago.
  

• Shares of Bankrate.com, although finishing in the red Thursday, still closed above the takeout price of $28.50 that private equity firm Apax Partners agreed to buy the company for in a debt-free deal Wednesday. The $571 million deal had Apax laying out all the cash itself instead of using leveraged debt, the key component in the firm's business model. (The Deal Pipeline subscribers can read the full story here.)
  

• On the other hand, shares of rating agency Moody's Corp. (NYSE:MCO) fell after National Indemnity, an insurer owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK), reported that it sold almost 8 million shares of Moody's this week.
  

Meanwhile on the earnings front:

• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported second-quarter profits fell 29% to $3.05 billion blaming weak consumer sales. The tech titan's revenue fell for the first time since it went public in 1986.
  
• Meanwhile, Netflix Corp. (NASDAQ:NFLX), which was rumored to be a takeover candidate of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) two weeks ago, saw a 22% increase in second-quarter earnings to a profit of $32.4 million.
  
• Swiss banking group Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) said its net income rose 29% in the second quarter, topping market expectations with a profit of $1.47 billion.

• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) beat analysts estimates, sending the stock higher. The Cincinnati bank said loan losses increased, but it reached an overall profit after a gain from selling part of its transaction processing unit. The bank reported net income of $856 million, or $1.15 per share.

• Ford Motor Corp. (NYSE:F) also rallied Thursday morning as it pulled a $2.4 billion profit with the help of one-time gains tied to debt restructuring.

• The New York Times Co.'s (NYSE:NYT) second-quarter profit rose 85% to $39.1 million. The media company has been undergoing a massive restructuring as it sold its classical radio station for $45 million as well as reached a $20 million agreement to cut costs at The Boston Globe. - George White and Gerald Magpily
  

In a recent "2009 Selection of Values of Chinese Listed Companies & The 1st Selection of The Most Popular Network of Listed Company for Investors", ICBC won 6 big awards including "Top 100 Valuable Chinese Listed Companies", "Excellent Management Teams of Chinese Listed Companies", "Top 100 Secretaries of Board of Directors of Chinese Listed Companies", "The Best Chinese Listed Company with Social Responsibility", "The Most Popular Network of Listed Company for Investors" and "The Best Network of Chinese Listed Company in Information Disclosure".

According to introduction that "2008 Selection of Values of Chinese Listed Companies" was hosted by Securities Daily, aiming to praise some excellent listed companies with prominent financial performances, outstanding corporate governances, the first-class brands, strategies and management teams by which they can create great values for the shareholders persistently. Based on the financial condition, operational performance, corporate governance, investor relationship and other indicators, this selection established a database and made a comprehensive assessment on over 150 listed companies. By taking consideration of experts' opinions and the results from network votes, the winners were finally determined.

Meanwhile, "The Selection of The Most Popular Network of Listed Company for Investors" was the first introduced in this year in order to select some outstanding networks with the most friendly interfaces, most convenient accesses, most timely information disclosures, most positively mandatory disclosures of information, the closest, most efficient interactions and communications with investors, continuous innovations in communicating contents and strong capacities. The awards set include The Best Interaction Platform of Investor Relationship, The Best Network in Information Disclosure and The Most Popular Network of Listed Company for Investors.

An relevant officials of ICBC' said, the fact that ICBC won the 6 big honors fully demonstrates ICBC has been recognized by the market and investors in many ways such as operational performance, corporate governance, investment value and information disclosure. This year is the third consecutive year that ICBC won the "Top 100 Valuable Chinese Listed Companies". ICBC also obtained the "The Most Popular Network of Listed Company for Investors" that was set for the first time, "The Best Network of Chinese Listed Company in Information Disclosure" and other awards related to investor relationship and information disclosure. ICBC will continue to follow the strategic prospect of building the "most profitable, excellent and honorable" international first-class commercial bank, persistently enhance operational performance, continuously perfect corporate governance, earnestly fulfill its social responsibility as well as enhance the investor relationship management and information disclosure so as to create new values for shareholders, clients, employees, and other stakeholders.

Bank of Scotland International has recorded strong financial result during 2006 and has seen operating profits increase to £39.4m from £37.8m in 2005.

Financial highlights include:

• A record year for savings balance growth, with the value of savings deposits increasing by 23%. In particular, Bank of Scotland International's fixed deposit offering has been spectacularly successful, contributing £600m of the £1bn increase in balances.
• £1bn additional Treasury deposits.
• The highest year-on-year increase in mortgage volumes, which increased by 56%. This was assisted by a strong sales performance and the distribution partnership with the UK BOS Residential Mortgages team.

Neale Smith, Finance Director at Bank of Scotland International, said,"These are strong results, reflecting a high level of commitment from all of our staff. Our growth strategies are really starting to pay off."

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Updated May 6, 2009

Over the last decade, through an aggressive series of acquisitions, Bank of America has transformed itself from a regional institution into the nation's largest brokerage house and consumer banking franchise. But its largest and boldest move -- the September 2008 purchase of Merrill Lynch, when that famed brokerage house was at death's door -- may have been a deal too far. On Jan. 14, 2009, the Treasury announced that it was injecting $20 billion into Bank of America (on top of $25 billion it received in the financial system bailout) and pledging to absorb as much as $98 billion in losses on toxic mortgage assets that Merrill brought with it.

The Merrill Lynch deal drew heavy criticism, and in April 2009 shareholders voted to strip the bank's chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis, of his title as chairman of the board -- a stinging blow that leaves his stewardship and legacy in doubt. The board said that it still unanimously supported Mr. Lewis in his role as chief executive.

In May 2009 the government told Bank of America that its so-called stress test indicated that the bank would need to raise $33.9 billion in new capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn. If the bank is unable to raise the capital cushion by selling assets or stock it would have to rely on the government, possibly converting converting non-voting preferred shares it gave the government into common stock. Such a move could make the government one of the bank's largest shareholders.

Credit card issuers have drawn fire for jacking up interest rates on cardholders who aren't behind on payments but whose credit scores have fallen for other reasons. Now, some consumers complain, Bank of America is increasing rates based on no apparent deterioration in their credit scores at all.

The major credit card lender in mid-January sent letters notifying some responsible cardholders that it would more than double their rates to as high as 28%, without giving explanations for the increases, according to copies of five letters obtained by BusinessWeek.

Fine print at the end of the letter -- headed "Important Amendment to Your Credit Card Agreement" –- advised calling an 800-number for the reason, but consumers who called say they were unable to get a clear answer.

"No one could give me an explanation," says Eric Fresch, a Huron, Ohio, engineer who is on time with his Bank of America card payments and knows of no decline in the status of his overall credit.

• Talk back: Has your card company jacked up your interest rate?

Bank of America spokeswoman Betty Riess confirms some bank cardholders could be receiving rate increases for reasons other than declines in credit scores, such as running higher balances with their Bank of America cards or with other creditors. She says the increases are part of a "periodic review" that assesses customers' credit risk.

Reiss declined to say if the Charlotte, N.C., bank had changed its credit standards, thereby bumping some consumers' rates, or how many cardholders were being affected by the review. Bank of America has 40 million U.S. credit card accounts.