Your Money

By Daniel Eisenberg

MAILSAFE Under new postal regulations intended to stamp out mail fraud, anonymity will disappear for anyone who rents a private mailbox from a store like Mailboxes Etc. A photo ID will be required to set up a private mailbox, and a special identifier, called a PMB number, must be part of the address. The U.S. Postal Service is hoping that consumers will be more alert to rip-offs by phony charities or fly-by-night operators that don't have a real street address.

REVOLVING CREDIT Credit-card companies have been going on a shopping spree lately--and you may get stuck with the bill. Industry leader Citibank just purchased 800,000 accounts from Mellon Bank, part of an industrywide consolidation that last year saw 20 million accounts worth an estimated $32 billion change hands. A new owner can jack up rates and fees when it buys your account, except in a few states that let you keep the old terms. So make sure you watch out for the fine print detailing any changes.

GET IN THE LOOP Wall Street analysts have long enjoyed the privilege of getting information before the rest of us, often via conference calls that are usually organized by a company to discuss its earnings. Making this inside dope more available is the goal of bestcalls.com a new online directory that tracks the many such meetings that are, in fact, often open to all--complete with date, time and phone numbers. Market watchers can enter their favorite stocks, and bestcalls.com will regularly update them with e-mail alerts.

--By Daniel Eisenberg