For the week ending Friday, July 20, 2007

Keep cool without pricey AC

Housing troubles begin to snowball

New cars that are too hot to handle

Broken China: A dysfunctional nation

One of the highlights of my job here is getting to meet MSN Money readers at the annual Money Show in San Francisco.

I know many of you are planning to take us up on our invitation to attend the show free (click the link or phone 1-800-970-4355; be sure to mention priority code No. 008097). But I also know that many more of you who would like to join in the fun can't manage to work a trip to San Francisco into your schedule. If you fall into that second category, I've got good news for you.

You can now have a front-row seat for a free live webcast of a panel discussion by our Strategy Lab experts that I'll be moderating. We've just started a new round of our long-running stock-picking game, and on Friday, they'll discuss their best bets for the next six months. I hope that you will join us from your home or office for "MSN Money's Strategy Lab: Beat the Market While Everyone's Watching" (click the session title for details and to register).

And you can tune in on Thursday as MSN Money SuperModels columnist Jon Markman presents his "Top 10 Stocks For Global Growth" in another live webcast from the Money Show (click the session title for details and to register).

And as always, drop me an e-mail me and let me know what you think. And if you're reading this newsletter online, click here to get it free by e-mail every Friday.

Richard Jenkins, Editor in Chief

New this week on MSN Money:

IN THE CARD: If the Dow can get back above 14,000 this week and stay there, credit-card giant American Express will probably be a big part of the move. Jon Markman this week takes a look at this brand name and finds the stock seriously undervalued. Read "The right credit card for your portfolio."

FAT BILLS: But be careful with those cards. You know about the bills, but a new study finds that card users who can now charge fast food at many places tend to chow down ever more heartily. Read "Credit cards can make you fat."

MAKING WAL-MART WORK: In a look at another brand-name company, Michael Brush this week digs into the giant retailer's latest plan -- for slower growth -- and suggests it's a turnaround strategy that works. Read "Wal-Mart's rebound worth buying into."

FIVE-YEAR OIL CRUNCH: Just when we were all getting used to $3-per-gallon gas, Jim Jubak this week suggests the worst hasn't even begun yet. Demand will grow much faster than supply for years to come, he writes in "The oil squeeze has just begun."

BAD COMPANY: Here's a twist on the customer-service wars. Turns out that if you complain too much, too loudly or too vehemently, more and more companies might just cut you off. Liz Pulliam Weston this week asks, "Are you a bad customer?"

STRATE-GO: Lastly, you've got just a little more than week left to sign up for the Strategy Lab Open, our new game that lets you play along with the pros in our Strategy Lab stock-picking contest. Meanwhile, our pros started the latest round of our game with a more than three dozen picks for the second half. Take a look via our Strategy Lab summary.

Next week on MSN Money:

CELLULAR ROBBERY: The big price tag for the hot iPhone only helps illustrate a problem every cell-phone user faces, Liz Pulliam Weston writes. That's that the calls, a little Web surfing and a few text messages add up to a whopping bill. (You can always find her latest articles on her MSN Money home page, where you can sign up to get a free e-mail whenever she publishes a new article.)

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