Consumer alert!

Not that anyone has been drinking too much or is planning to drink soon, but I thought I’d pass along a little advice on dealing with a hangover.
Of course, the key is to pace your drinking and combine it with food, which will absorb some of the alcohol. Beyond that, unless your bed is spinning when you hit the sack, try to first slug down a glass of water or maybe Gatorade. It will offset the dehydration effects that alcohol induces, which usually produces that uncomfortable day-after hangover headache.
For more tips on avoiding a hangover or dealing with one, click here.

When the Detroit Red Wings play the Chicago Blackhawks during the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Jan. 1, some merchandise connected with the event might be counterfeit, according to the National Hockey League.
To make sure the souvenirs you might pick up at regional retailers or on the street are genuine, the NHL offers the following tips:
To avoid being victimized by counterfeiters, the NHL urges fans to:

· Look for the NHL hologram sticker or hangtag and a sewn-in label identifying the merchandise as “official” and authorized by the NHL.

· Shop at shop.nhl.com, the Blackhawks official team store and other legitimate retailers, rather than buying questionable items from street vendors, flea markets, or other such sources.

· Beware of ripped tags, typographical errors, poor quality screen-printing, or irregular markings on apparel.

· Be suspicious of items when the price is too good to be true.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that at least 25 products on the market as weight-loss pills contain unapproved drug ingredients that could harm users. Check out the list here.

The Federal Trade Commission lists nine handy reminders about how to avoid fraud and manage money in the New Year.
Check them out here.

Michigan’s unemployment rate in November rose by three-tenths of a percentage point to 9.6 percent, according to the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth (DLEG). Total employment fell by 35,000 and unemployment rose by 16,000, as the state labor force contracted over the month.
Michigan’s November 2008 jobless rate was 2.2 percentage points above the state’s November 2007 rate of 7.4 percent. In the same period, the national jobless rate recorded a similar advance, increasing by two percentage points.
“Michigan’s labor market has rapidly deteriorated in the last several months due to the fallout of the ongoing national recession,” said Rick Waclawek, director of DLEG’s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. “Almost all industry sectors have been impacted as state payroll jobs have declined by nearly 60,000 in just the last two months.”

The University of Michigan’s widely respected Institute for Social Research has been gauging consumer sentiment for decades. Director Richard Curtin is interviewed on the most recent findings and what it might mean for 2009.
It’s not for the faint of heart.
In part, he says the current holiday shopping season probably will be a bust and the lethargy will continue through next year.
“Overall personal consumption expenditures are likely to fall by just over 1 percent in 2009, making it the worse year for consumer spending in the past half-century,” he said.
He hints that we might be “at the end of the beginning” of the recession.
See and read the interview here.
A little brighter news is the Fed’s interest rate cut, which will produce the lowest mortgage rates in 45 years. That means it will be the best market for homebuyers in two generations (if they can sell the house they might already be living in).
Is this a light at the end of the tunnel, or just an oncoming train?

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing the National Lampoon and some of its executives for manipulating the price of the company’s stock by paying kickbacks.
Sounds like the place is run sort of like Animal House.
Details may be found here.

Consumer information handed out with prescription drugs isn’t very useful, according to a study done for the federal Food and Drug Administration.
A survey found that leaflets that explain drug functions and interactions handed out at pharmacies don’e meet federal criteria for being useful. A future public meeting will be held to gather ideas on how to improve the situation.
Read about the issue here.