DES MOINES, Iowa – Your first quarter 401(k) statement arrived in the mail, but it remains unopened because you’re afraid to see how much more you’ve lost. You’re not alone.

“Investors are going to see that they’ve continued to contribute in the first quarter and their account still went down,” said Dean Kohmann, vice president of 401(k) plan services at Charles Schwab & Co. “People will need the encouragement and advice to keep doing the right things; keep on investing, keep on taking advantage of your company match.”

To determine if your 401(k) is on track, the quick and easy benchmarks to note are the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, which fell 12 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average, which dropped 13 percent. But there’s more to assessing your plan’s performance.

For instance you’ll want to look at the specific funds in your portfolio, not just the overall picture. You will need to choose an appropriate benchmark for each so you’re not comparing your fund to an inappropriate index and becoming misguided by the results. This process can help you spot any true laggards and should help educate you on how to make some changes to improve performance.

One might assume that an appropriate comparison for a large cap stock fund, for example, would be the S&P 500 index, which fell 12 percent in the first quarter after dropping 38 percent in 2008.

If you had, let’s say, in your 401(k) the Vanguard Large-Cap Index Fund (VLACX), you could look it up to find it was down 11 percent for the first quarter and 38 percent in 2008. If you’re looking at an index fund, you’ll want to see similar performance, or look for an explanation.

Straight comparisons like that are not always accurate indicators for actively managed funds, said David Tysk, senior financial adviser with Ameriprise Financial Inc. There could be things happening inside a fund that might not be apparent to an investor without further research. The fund managers could have left, for example, causing performance to drop significantly.

So, if you decide to take on some homework, here are a few steps to take.

1. Gather information. The information provided by your 401(k) funds likely will give you a benchmark index, such as the Russell 2000 or the S&P 500. If that information isn’t easily obtained, you’ll need to decide whether you want to spend the time and energy to gather that information for yourself, Tysk said.

Morningstar Inc. has tools that can help you research your fund; how long the management team has been in place; what its overall strategy is; and list of some of the fund’s largest holdings.

2. Use the correct time period. You need to make sure you’re using the same time frame to measure your fund against the index, whether it’s for a three-month period, or a year or more.

3. Tap the Internet. Naturally there are an array of Internet tools that can help do the benchmarking. Among the sites with useful tools are ishares.com, google.com/finance and bigcharts.marketwatch.com.

One type of fund that may be difficult to judge are target-date funds, which automatically set the mix of stocks and bonds to lower risk as you approach retirement. They typically have a date associated with them, which is the approximate year you’ll retire.

New tools have recently been launched to help benchmark their performance. Morningstar and Dow Jones both have new indexes for these types of funds.

Rod Bare, an index director at Morningstar, said the indexes launched in February hopefully will help investors learn how different investment approaches can affect their fund performance.

Benchmarking can do more than show you how you’re doing It can teach you more about funds and how asset allocation can make a big difference.

Bare said studies have shown that more than half of a portfolio’s return is determined by allocation of stocks and bonds.

PHOENIX — Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. on Wednesday said its first-quarter net income applicable to common stock fell 96 percent amid a global economic downturn that has crushed commodity prices as demand for base metals has dropped.

The world’s largest publicly traded copper company reported earnings of $43 million, or 11 cents per share, down from $1.1 billion, or $2.64 per share during the same period last year.

To cope with weakened commodity prices, Freeport-McMoRan has cut production, postponed projects and laid off thousands of miners to control costs. It also limited investment when credit markets tightened.

Revenue slid 54 percent to $2.6 billion from $5.67 billion.

Analysts projected profit of 13 cents per share on revenue of $2.69 billion.

Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan said its first-quarter consolidated sales from mines climbed to 1 billion pounds of copper, 545,000 ounces of gold and 10 million pounds of molybdenum. That compares with 911 million pounds of copper, 280,000 ounces of gold and 20 million pounds of molybdenum during the same period in 2008.

The company estimated its 2009 consolidated sales from its mines will amount to 3.9 billion pounds of copper, 2.3 million ounces of gold and 50 million pounds of molybdenum. Copper is used in a variety of products, from wiring and electronics to housing construction while molybdenum is used to strengthen steel.

Shares of the company fell $1.21, or 3 percent, to $39.52 in premarket trading. The stock has ranged from $15.70 to $127.24 over the past year.

AP-WS-04-22-09 0859EDT

NEW YORK — Wells Fargo & Co. on Wednesday reported a record first-quarter profit in line with its forecast, easily beating the average analyst estimate.

Despite the record results, Wells Fargo, like many major banks, continues to report higher credit costs.

Still, investors found the report satisfactory and sent the stock up more than 6 percent in morning trading.

Wells Fargo is among a number of the largest U.S. banks, including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., that have reported better-than-expected profits. Morgan Stanley, however, posted a quarterly loss on Wednesday that exceeded Wall Street’s estimates, due in part to weakening commercial real estate investments.

Like the others, Wells Fargo attributed much of its profit growth to a surge in mortgage revenue, thanks in no small part to historically low interest rates.

Wells Fargo originated $101 billion of mortgage loans during the quarter — the highest level since 2003. This included $83 billion in applications in the month of March alone. What’s more, the bank added 5,000 employees in its mortgage unit to handle the influx of activity — in sharp contrast with many of its peers that have been cutting thousands of jobs to save expenses.

Analysts have warned that the increase in mortgage banking activity is likely not sustainable over a long period of time.

Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins told the Associated Press that the bank had $100 billion of unclosed mortgage applications in the pipeline at the end of the first quarter — signaling that the momentum will continue at least into the second quarter.

The bank’s results prove Wells Fargo continues to navigate the financial crisis much better than many of its peers, analysts said.

“Certainly Wells Fargo isn’t immune to the challenging environment, and they are impacted by the weakening economy and higher credit losses,” said Tom Kersting, a financial services analyst at Edward Jones. “But they have shown that their discipline has resulted in better loan quality and that has shown through in this quarter.”

Wells Fargo also gave investors a positive update on the status of Wachovia’s troubled loan portfolio: no more losses on the most troubled loans are expected so long as credit conditions don’t materially worsen.

Wells Fargo bought Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia last fall at the height of the credit crisis and many investors have been worried that the bank’s deteriorating mortgage portfolio could prove more problematic than originally estimated.

When Wells Fargo bought Wachovia, it split its loan portfolio up into two categories: high-risk, or impaired, and low-risk.

Wells Fargo took a massive $37.2 billion writedown on the high-risk portion of Wachovia’s loan portfolio in the fourth quarter, which saddled the bank with a loss of $2.83 billion. Essentially, the bank removed from its balance sheet the entire estimated amount of losses on the riskiest loans at year end.

What remains is the portion of loans considered low risk, which have much lower loss content, Wells said. During the first quarter, losses on these loans totaled $371 million.

Legacy Wells Fargo chargeoffs, or loans written off as unpaid, were $2.89 billion, or 2.82 percent of average loans, up slightly from $2.8 billion, or 2.69 percent, in the fourth quarter. Nonperforming assets, or loans past due, totaled $12.61 billion, or 1.5 percent of total loans.

Wells Fargo earned $2.38 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the January-March period. This compares with $2 billion, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.

The decrease in the 2009 earnings-per-share figure from a year ago was due to an increase in average common shares outstanding.

Before paying preferred dividends, the company earned $3.05 billion. Revenue for the quarter totaled $21 billion.

The report gave investors few surprises, as results were in line with the bank’s most recent forecast. Wells Fargo had dazzled investors earlier this month when it said it would report a record first-quarter profit of $3 billion, much more than analysts had been expecting. That sent its shares soaring 31.7 percent.

Analysts, on average, had predicted a profit of 23 cents per share on revenue of $19 billion. Since the announcement, the average analyst estimate increased to 41 cents per share.

INDIANAPOLIS – UnitedHealth Group Inc. topped analyst expectations when it reported a slightly smaller first-quarter profit Tuesday, but company leaders say the sour economy is offsetting some of the gains the health insurer made.

Declining enrollment in employer-sponsored plans and rising enrollment in less-profitable government-sponsored and senior plans also squeezed profit margins.

Shares of the Minnetonka, Minn.-based company fell in early trading Tuesday after the insurer said earnings dipped to $984 million, or 81 cents per share, down from $994 million, or 78 cents per share, in last year’s first quarter. The company’s outstanding common shares also decreased by 68 million over the same period.

Revenue rose more than 8 percent to $22 billion from $20.3 billion because of the growth in senior and government plans, as well as acquisitions.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 68 cents per share on revenue of $21.37 billion.

Enrollment fell 4 percent in the higher-margin commercial business of employer-sponsored plans but rose in less-profitable government-sponsored business, which includes Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans.

Strong growth in these public and senior benefits programs likely will drive full-year revenue past $86 billion, Chief Executive Stephen J. Hemsley said during a Tuesday morning conference call.

The company said its Medicare Advantage enrollment rose 16 percent to 1.7 million people.

But Hemsley said declining employment for customers of its commercial health care benefits and wellness companies may offset this.

“We continue to be appropriately circumspect about the economic environment and the impact it may have on our businesses,” he said.

As unemployment has risen, many insurers have seen their employer-sponsored business shrink or grow more slowly.

The company said investment income fell 43 percent to $158 million because of the difficult market. That reduced earnings by six cents per share.

The medical care ratio, or the percentage of premiums paid to cover medical claims, for the company’s largest business segment, UnitedHealthcare, improved to 81.5 percent from 82.5 due in part to a lighter flu season this past winter.

Operating profit margins in the company’s health care benefits segment, which includes UnitedHealthcare, fell eight-tenths of a percentage point to 6.4 percent due to the investment income drop and the shift from privately sponsored plans and growth in senior and government plans.

Hemsley said UnitedHealth expects second-quarter earnings to be “markedly lower” than the first quarter, like they were last year. He attributed this to seasonally higher medical expenses, among other reasons.

Shares of UnitedHealth and several other insurers dipped in late February and early March after President Barack Obama unveiled a proposed budget that includes smaller Medicare Advantage payments to insurers.

Earlier this month, the federal government released information for 2010 Medicare Advantage payment rates that many analysts say will lead to a payment reduction of nearly 5 percent.

The possibility of reduced payments for these rapidly growing, privately administered plans remains a concern.

The sector has also been hit by broader worries about the future of Obama’s effort to rework the U.S. health care system and what effect it might have on private insurers.

UnitedHealth shares fell 3 percent, or 83 cents, to $23.38 in Tuesday morning trading.

Concerns about the economy and health care reform may weigh a little on the stock’s performance, Miller Tabak & Co. analyst Les Funtleyder in an interview. But he said he thinks health reform concerns are largely overblown, and Medicare Advantage worries are already factored into the stock.

UnitedHealth’s drop Tuesday may be tied to the broader market, he said. The Standard and Poor’s 500 index was down less than 1 percent in trading.

UnitedHealth backed its outlook for full-year earnings of $2.90 to $3.15 per share, though it said the broad range reflected the uncertain economy. Wachovia analyst Matt Perry called the outlook “cautious” in a note to clients.

PITTSBURGH – Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, on Tuesday reported a first-quarter loss of $112 million, hurt by sharp sales declines across the globe and a big charge for recent layoffs.

The loss was Caterpillar’s first since 1992 and highlighted the depth and breadth of a global downturn that forced double-digit sales drops in most of Caterpillar’s product lines. Caterpillar’s vast geographic reach and array of products — including machines used to build roads and bridges, engines that power oceangoing freighters and mining trucks that haul materials like iron ore — make it a bellwether of the world economy.

The company also said the economic climate has deteriorated, despite government stimulus plans and better-than-expected commodity prices. With lending still tight and the U.S. recession tougher than expected in the first quarter, Caterpillar lowered its outlook.

“A great deal of uncertainty exists in the global economy, making it extremely difficult to know how our customers will respond during the remainder of 2009,” said Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens. “One thing is clear, (we) will remain focused on containing costs.”

In the first quarter, Caterpillar posted a loss of $112 million, or 19 cents per share, including charges for layoffs that lowered per-share results by 58 cents. A year earlier, the company earned $922 million, or $1.45 per share.

Before the charges, Caterpillar would have earned 39 cents per share, handily beating Wall Street expectations of 4 cents on revenue of $8.54 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

In response to sinking demand, the Peoria, Ill., company has announced dramatic cost-cutting measures in recent months, including job cuts that eventually will wipe out more than 22,000 positions and idle assembly lines. The company employed nearly 113,000 people at the end of 2008.

Caterpillar, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, said quarterly revenue dropped 22 percent to $9.22 billion.

The company also cut its 2009 profit forecast. It now expects profit of about $1.25 per share on revenue of about $35 billion, down from an earlier projection of $2.50 per share on revenue of $40 billion.

The new forecast also was below what Wall Street expected — a profit of $1.77 per share on revenue of $39.04 billion.

Excluded from those figures are more charges for layoffs, which Caterpillar expects to reach about 75 cents per share in 2009.

The company projected steeper declines in the North American machinery industry, a lower volume of mining products and large engines, and a drop in dealer inventories.

In a note to investors, Kristine Kubacki, an analyst at Avondale Partners, wrote that “the headlines surrounding (Caterpillar) and its end markets could get uglier from here.”

“We expect that even current guidance could prove to be optimistic as end markets deteriorate further,” she wrote.

Sales of Caterpillar’s big equipment — the company’s largest source of revenue — dropped 29 percent during the first quarter, led by a 46 percent decline in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Sales in North America plunged 30 percent while Latin America sales fell 16 percent. Machinery sales in the Asia-Pacific region slipped just 2 percent.

Orders for Caterpillar’s backhoes, bulldozers and other machines plunged late last year as construction of homes and office buildings declined. Commodity prices fell, hurting firms that use its yellow-and-black machines to mine materials such as copper. Analysts say demand may not return for months.

Shares of Caterpillar slid $1.13, or 3.7 percent, to $29.41 in early trading Tuesday. During the quarter, Caterpillar shares fell about 37 percent, dipping briefly to their lowest point — $21.71 per share — in about six years.

NEW YORK – If desperate times call for desperate measures, does that mean we can all break into our 401(k) accounts now?

As job losses mount amid a persisting recession, a few golden rules of personal finance are rapidly losing their luster. Resources you once considered off limits — such as your retirement fund — might suddenly be beckoning as you scramble to make ends meet.

You might be wondering, if not now, when can you fall back on these reserves?

The first step is making sure you truly have no other options.

“You need to re-evaluate your entire situation,” said Glen Buco, a certified financial planner with West Financial Services in McLean, Va. That means scrutinizing your lifestyle for any possible spending cuts.

If you still can’t make ends meet, here’s a look at some common money taboos and the cost of breaking them.

TABOO #1: TAPPING YOUR 401(k)

• HOW IT WORKS: There are a couple different ways to tap your 401(k), some more harmful than others.

The rules vary depending on your company’s plan, but you can typically borrow as much as half your vested 401(k) balance up to $50,000. While not advised, it’s better than simply taking an early distribution, which requires you to pay a 10 percent penalty and income tax on the amount if you’re under age 59 1/2.

In some limited emergency circumstances, you can take a hardship withdrawal without paying the early distribution penalty. But you still need to pay income tax on the money.

The rules for what qualifies as a hardship are strict. Medical expenses, repairs for major home damage and tuition are some scenarios that might qualify. Not all employers allow hardship withdrawals.

• WHEN TO CONSIDER IT: The advantage of borrowing from your 401(k) is the favorable interest rate, which is typically around the prime rate (currently 3.25 percent). So it might be a reasonable option if you have no other way to pay off a credit card balance with a much higher interest rate, said Michael Kresh, a certified financial planner and president of M.D. Kresh Financial Services Inc. based in Islandia, N.Y.

• RISKS & REPERCUSSIONS: The impact of borrowing from your 401(k) depends on your age, salary and contributions. The younger you are, the bigger the dent will be on your retirement savings because of the effect of compound interest.

There are other risks to consider, too. If you default on the loan, it’s considered an early distribution and you have to pay income tax and a 10 percent penalty. Your plan sets terms of default.

Another risk is losing your job. At that point, you’ll need to pay back the entire loan within 30 to 90 days or it’s considered an early distribution.

Loans can typically be repaid within five years; loans for buying a home can be repaid over 15 years.

If you do take a hardship withdrawal, you generally can’t make new contributions to your plan for at least six months.

TABOO #2: CHARGING EVERYDAY EXPENSES

• HOW IT WORKS: You’re in a tight spot and decide to charge bills on your credit card. This can be an especially treacherous practice today, with credit card companies hiking interest rates ever higher.

• WHEN TO CONSIDER: This is only an option if you’re positive you can pay off the balance quickly — no later than a month or two, said Charlotte Dougherty, a certified financial planner with Dougherty & Associates in Cincinnati.

Another situation is if you have a credit card with special, low interest rates.

• RISKS & REPERCUSSIONS: It might seem like an easy fix at the time, but consider how quickly credit card bills can overwhelm you. If you charge a $100 cell phone bill on a card with a 20 percent interest rate, your balance more than doubles in just four months if you don’t make any payments. Interest rates on cards can be as high as 30 percent.

So unless you can make at least the minimum payments, this path will likely dig you into a deeper hole. And unlike interest payments on home equity loans, interest payments on credit card balances are not tax deductible.

TABOO #3: RAIDING EMERGENCY SAVINGS

HOW IT WORKS: Let’s assume you have an emergency fund. For many people, they’re forgotten or delayed New Year’s resolutions that never materialized. Here’s a refresher course just in case.

Emergency funds typically cover three to six months of living expenses, depending on your profession and the likelihood that you’ll be out of work for an extended time. You might want to err on the side of safety these days, with the job market in shambles. Unemployment is at a 25-year high of 8.5 percent and expected to climb higher by year’s end.

• WHEN TO CONSIDER: The idea is that you only use the money for unforeseen, temporary costs, such as medical expenses or bills during brief spells of unemployment.

But before you start raiding the fund, ask yourself whether your situation is truly an emergency. Don’t make a habit of dipping into the fund whenever you incur a hefty expense. What seems like an emergency now might not look so bad in three months, when you can’t scrape together money to cover basic bills.

Check if there are resources you aren’t using, such as public programs. Ask lenders if you can work out a more manageable payment plan.

• RISKS & REPERCUSSIONS: Many people who lose their jobs start plowing through their emergency funds without making any adjustments to their lifestyle. But if you’re unsure how long it will take to find a job, you need to make your cash last as long as possible.

As soon as you need to tap into your emergency fund, start developing a game plan for how you’ll get by once the money is gone.

HOUSTON – Halliburton Co. kicked off the oil sector’s first-quarter earnings period on a dour-but-not-unexpected note Monday, reporting net income that tumbled 35 percent from a year ago and offering a poor outlook.

The company, which has corporate headquarters in Houston and Dubai, was hurt as oil and natural gas producers, stung by low prices, cut back on exploration and drilling, particularly in North America. That’s bad news for service companies like Halliburton, which help producers with drilling, reservoir management and other oilfield work.

A major barometer of oil-patch activity is the U.S. rig count, which has fallen more than 50 percent since the end of August. Analysts say the count is likely to fall even more — perhaps another 20 to 30 percent — as producers continue to scale back spending amid bloated oil and gas supplies and weak demand.

In a conference call Monday, Halliburton chairman and chief executive Dave Lesar said there are no clear signs when the falloff will bottom out, and he noted the current downturn has happened more quickly than past cycles.

“Industry prospects will continue to be weak in the coming quarters,” Lesar said.

Halliburton said its said net income in the January-March period fell to $378 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with $580 million, or 63 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 3 percent to $3.91 billion from $4.03 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The most-recent earnings included after-tax expenses of 2 cents per share related to job reductions. Halliburton has said it planned to eliminate some jobs — as have rivals Schlumberger Ltd. and Baker Hughes Inc., among others — but it hasn’t provided a specific number of cuts.

The first-quarter per-share earnings topped the average estimate of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who expected 41 cents a share. Those estimates typically exclude one-time items.

In a note to clients, Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. called Halliburton’s results a “decent beat” of Wall Street forecasts, but the energy-focused securities firm also noted the company’s “somber outlook.”

Halliburton shares fell 13 cents to $18.65 in morning trading Monday. They’ve traded in a range of $12.80 to $55.38 in the past year.

In the coming weeks, oil producers, service companies and other oil-sector outfits are expected to report the most meager results in years because the recession has sapped energy spending.

Halliburton’s North American business was particularly hard hit as operating income fell 53 percent from a year ago. Outside North America, revenue rose 3 percent, but the company said international oil and gas projects are now being deferred because of the same issues plaguing operations in North America.

On a positive note, operating margins outside North America remained at Halliburton’s target level of 20 percent.

Lesar said the biggest international and state-run oil companies have yet to materially reduce spending, but they’re beginning to re-evaluate the economics of projects. Additionally, he said, “we anticipate continued margin pressure as global customers seek to lower their costs by securing cost concessions from their supply chain.”

A year ago, crude prices were in the triple digits on their way to a midsummer peak near $150 a barrel. But oil prices fell steadily for the remainder of the year and now hover around $50 a barrel.

As such, many producers have drastically scaled back operations, some lowering budgets by 50 percent or more. U.S. drilling for oil and natural gas in the first three months of 2009 dipped to the lowest level since 2004.

To date, the oil and gas sector has avoided the huge layoffs of other parts of the economy, but some have occurred. Schlumberger has said it will cut 5,000 jobs worldwide in the first half of 2009, and more could follow. It’s scheduled to report first-quarter earnings Friday.

Smaller rival Baker Hughes Inc. has said it’s cutting 3,000 positions.

Carnivals offer thrills, chills and excitement; toss in freaks, geeks & creeps for a better grasp of the lifestyle

Pima County Fair patrons ride high on Speed.

The top three fantasy jobs on my list used to be prison warden, cult leader or running away with the carnival.

Don’t guffaw. My brother as a kid used to say he wanted to be a railroad track.

While not many railroad builders will consider using a human being as track material, folks may get a chance to run away with the carnival, now in town as part of the Pima County Fair.

But don’t expect to run away with it by answering the carnival worker ad posted at CareerBuilder.com.

The ad’s phone number, which leads you to E.S.S. Staffing, was answered by a woman named Amy.

“No, you’re not running away,” she said of the jobs available. “This is a conscious decision.”

As if running away is something you decide only when you’re unconscious.

Amy did say she’d pass along my number to the folks at RCS Carnival to alert them I’d like more information on how to run away with them, but I’m really not expecting a callback.

Carnival people can be quite elusive.

Just ask Tucsonan Wes Weisheit, 46. He spent four summers in the late 1970s on the fringes of a traveling carnival.

He sold corn dogs.

“They could be kind of creepy,” he said of the carnies – not the corn dogs. “They were usually missing a lot of teeth, had a lot of tattoos.”

This was 30 years ago, when tattoos were less prevalent.

This was also when homosexuality was deeper in the closet. Unless, like Weisheit, you ran across a big dude who worked the carnival’s night security in Zanesville, Ohio.

The man was helping Weisheit pack up the hot dog stand and then followed him into the back of the truck, which is where Weisheit slept and lived while on the road.

The guy pulled no punches, told Weisheit he liked him.

“The guy was 6 feet 4 inches tall and built like Rambo,” Weisheit said. So Weisheit warded him off with the only weapon he had handy – a corn dog stick.

“I grabbed one of the sticks. He dropped his eyes and left. I pulled out of town and laid there shaking for hours,” he said.

“There was all kinds of creepy sex. The girls in small towns would want to come to the carnival or county fair. They were bored with all the guys in town.”

The guys in town would swarm to the fairgrounds to search for their girls. You can just imagine the melee that would ensue.

Weisheit also recalled warding off advances from a “skinny, weird-looking” girl who tried to pay for a corn dog with a raggedy handful of change.

“I told her just to take the hot dog, it was OK. So she said, ‘Really? I don’t even have to pull up my dress or anything?’ Then she pulls up her dress and says, ‘Wheeeeee!’ ”

The threat of unwanted sex, fights, theft, predators, drugs, drink, freaks and sometimes sleeping on lawns in Tennessee were all part of carnival culture.

“There was some crazy stuff out there,” Weisheit said. “You don’t see it as much now as you used to.”

He was surprised to note only two hitchhikers on a recent trip through northern California. When Weisheit was traveling the carnival circuit, he used to hitchhike back to Tucson from as far as Illinois or Lake Geneva, Wis.

Standing up for yourself is probably the biggest lesson Weisheit learned from his corn dog gig.

It’s also helped shape him into the Renaissance man he is today. He’s done everything from building parts that send people to Mars to driving a rickshaw bicycle taxi through the streets of Tucson.

“It’s kind of embarrassing that I make more on the rickshaw than I have on the parts to go to Mars,” he said.

But the real good money’s still in the carnival. As long as you come equipped with a tough skin, quick wits and an infallible corn dog stick.

Ryn Gargulinski is a poet, artist and Tucson Citizen reporter whose favorite fair was in Tucumcari, N.M., when she snapped the perfect pic of a smiling pig. Listen to a preview of her column at 8:10 a.m. Thursdays on KLPX 96.1 FM. Listen to her webcast at 4 p.m. Fridays at www.party934.com. E-mail: ryndustries@hotmail.com

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IF YOU GO

What: Pima County Fair

When: April 16 to 26

Hours: Main gate opens noon on weekdays, 10 a.m. weekends; carnival opens 3 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. weekends

More info: www.pimacounty fair.com

Last-minute tax filers who plan to mail returns Wednesday night to get an April 15 postmark will have to pull into the parking lot at the main post office, 1501 S. Cherrybell Stravenue.

Last year, postal employees stood in the center turn lane in front of the post office to collect tax returns.

Not this year, Rob Soler, customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service, said in a news release.

Tax filers must drive into the post office parking lot off Cherrybell to hand off returns.

Postal employees will staff the drive-through service from 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday and will accept only returns that have proper postage.

Full service inside the main post office will end at 8 p.m., but customers still may use the automated postal center inside to weigh and stamp their envelopes after 8, provided they have a debit or credit card.

Postage is 42 cents for the first ounce and 17 cents for each additional ounce.

Postal officials warn tax filers who plan to drop their returns into blue mailboxes Wednesday to first check the pickup times. Items mailed after collection will not be postmarked April 15.

Arizona Federal Credit Union expects to close its two Tucson branches on unspecified dates, the credit union announced Tuesday.

Arizona Federal has branches at 2900 E. Broadway and 1069 E. Silverlake Road.

“When final actions and dates are determined, we will communicate directly with our members,” community relations manager Christopher Paterson said in a prepared statement.

Paterson provided no additional information and was not available for questions.

Arizona Federal, launched in 1936, is a Maricopa County-centric credit union with 23 of its 25 branches in the greater Phoenix area. The first Tucson branch was opened in 1996, according to Citizen archives.

It has $1.9 billion in assets and 235,000 member accounts, according to the credit union’s Web site.

President Obama declared on tax-filing day that he aims to ease the dread of deadline day with “a simpler tax code that rewards work and the pursuit of the American dream.”

“For too long, we’ve seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that increased the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams,” Obama said. “That has to change, and that’s the work that we’ve begun.”

His words were hardly met with universal applause. Across the country, protesters met at statehouses and town squares to oppose Obama’s federal spending since he took office. Organizers said they wanted to channel the spirit of the Boston Tea Party’s rebellion.

“The system is severely broken, and we the people let it get that way,” said Des Moines businessman Doug Burnett. “What can we do? My answer is revolution.”

Outside the White House, protesters threw an apparent box of tea bags over the fence. U.S. Secret Service officers cleared Pennsylvania Avenue and Lafayette Park near the compound and sent in a robot to inspect the suspicious package while the White House went on lockdown.

The Secret Service later said the package was not dangerous.

Obama also met with several working families to underscore his efforts to make the tax code more fair and less complex.

Obama noted April 15 “isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite date on the calendar.” But he said the day is a reminder to leaders in Washington that they have a responsibility to the people who elected them.

The president noted that he’s asked his economic advisers to report back by year’s end on possible tax changes.

“We need to simplify a monstrous tax code that is far too complicated for most Americans to understand but just complicated enough for the insiders who know how to game the system,” Obama said.

He added: “It will take time to undo the damage of years of carve-outs and loopholes. But I want every American to know that we will rewrite the tax code so that it puts your interests over any special interest. And we will make it quicker, easier, and less expensive for you to file a return, so that April 15 is not a date that is approached with dread each year.”

Near-record-low mortgage rates are frustrating many homeowners who can’t refinance because home values have dropped in their neighborhood.

Thirty-year rates are down to 4.8 percent, their lowest since 1971.

President Barack Obama is encouraging everyone who can refinance now and put “$1,600 to $2,000 a year” of savings into their pockets to do so. He mentioned low rates and the government’s refinancing program in a housing roundtable late last week and in his economic speech on Tuesday.

Many U.S. homeowners are heeding the advice, or at least trying to. Refinancing applications have jumped 88 percent since February, when the federal housing plan was announced.

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae, a key participant in the government’s plan to help homeowners refinance, reports its refinancing volume climbed to $77 billion in March, twice February’s level.

To see if you can be helped, go to the government Web site, makinghomeaffordable.gov. Answer a few questions to see if you qualify under the federal housing plan to refinance through Fannie Mae or the other government-controlled mortgage giant, Freddie Mac.

The problem for too many homeowners in Arizona, California, Nevada and Florida is that home prices soared too high. Now, due to record foreclosure, home prices are falling back to pre-boom levels.

The median new home price in metro Tucson was $217,393 at the end of 2008, and John Strobeck, author of the Southern Arizona Housing Market Letter., believes it will fall to $175,000 this year.

The median resale home price plummeted from $200,000 in March 2008 to $165,000 in December, he said.

When President Obama announced his housing plan in Mesa two months ago, many homeowners were thrilled to hear about the refinancing program. Through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, people underwater in their mortgages – meaning they owe more on their loan than their house is currently valued – would be able to refinance.

But then the 105 percent cap was put on the program. To qualify for the plan, homeowners can owe no more than 5 percent more than their home is worth.

The program will help some homeowners. But many will be left out, even if they put 20 percent down, never tapped any equity and have been making their payments on time for several years. Many of those homeowners are frustrated and question the 105 percent limit on the program.

Last week, at a housing roundtable, President Obama said, “The main message we want to send today is that the programs that have been put in place can help responsible folks who have been making their payments, who are not looking for a handout, but this allows them to make some changes that will leave money in their pockets and leave them more secure in their homes.”

It understandably took time for lenders to figure out the federal housing plan and start working with borrowers. The loan-modification part of the housing plan, which helps homeowners who saw incomes reduced to avoid foreclosure, is even more complex. That part of the plan calls for lenders to receive $500 to $2,000 from the federal government for each loan they modify in such a way that a borrower pays no more than 31 percent of his income toward the mortgage.

Lenders began sending applications for the government-backed refinancing program to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week. But at the end of last week, only about 1,000 loans had been refinanced under the program, according to the Treasury Department.

The refinancing program is supposed to help several million U.S. homeowners. Unless the 105 percent figure is scrapped for a bigger number, the program won’t help many homeowners in Tucson or the other U.S. metro areas that have seen home prices fall 30 percent in the past year.

It’s an issue that has been brought up many times to housing regulators.

President Obama did mention during the housing roundtable that more help could be coming for homeowners, and some had been hopeful it would be announced on Tuesday.

I somehow managed to complete my taxes and file them electronically despite having two toddlers crawling on my head the entire time, using me as a de facto jungle gym.

So, if I’m audited, I can always blame it on being a little distracted during the process. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Internal Revenue Service will gives out breaks on interest and penalties for toddler tax-time interference.

At any rate, if you haven’t filed, you’ve got about 48 hours to do so. If you’re planning to e-file, do it NOW. The longer you wait, the higher the chance the IRS’ servers are going to be tied up with the thousands of other last-minute filers.

Don’t forget that, for the first time, you can file your taxes for free on the IRS Web site at irs.gov. This service is available to everyone, regardless of income levels.

The IRS Web site can help you, too, if you need to file an extension, as can such major tax software packages as TurboTax. But don’t think that by filing an extension, you can delay paying what you owe. If you owe for 2008, you’re still expected to make an estimated payment.

If you’re scrambling around looking for additional deductions to take, there are several articles out there pointing out lesser known – and sometimes just plain weird – tax deductions available. Newsweek, at www.newsweek.com/id/192900, lists six of the weirder deductions.

Yes, it’s possible to write off your kid’s clarinet lessons provided you can get a doctor’s note stating the lessons are helping your child’s orthodontia.

Seriously.

The Consumerist at consumerist.com/5196958/3-last+minute-tax-tips also has helpful tips on deductions that can help you lower your tax bill.

So, after reading this column, you’ve got roughly 47 hours and 45 minutes to get your taxes done. So get busy!

Romi Carrell Wittman is a writer and the communication services director for Trico Electric Cooperative. E-mail: romi.wittman@comcast.net.

As college costs soar, students are charging more educational expenses to plastic, helping boost credit card debt to record levels.

A new study to be released Monday by Sallie Mae, a college-financing company, finds that the average undergraduate carried $3,173 in credit card debt last year, the highest level since Sallie Mae began collecting this data in 1998. In 2004, the last time the study was done, students carried an average of $2,169 in card debt.

The higher the grade level, the greater the card debt, according to Sallie Mae. In 2008, college seniors with at least one credit card graduated with an average of $4,100 in card debt, up 41 percent from 2004. By comparison, freshmen’s average credit card debt jumped 27 percent to $2,038.

The study – which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points – relied on March 2008 credit bureau data, the latest available to Sallie Mae. Because the economy has deteriorated since then, “It’s likely that 2009 (card debt) could look a little bit worse,” says Marie O’Malley, Sallie Mae’s director of consumer research.

The findings come at a time when college costs are surging. In the past 10 years, tuition and fees at public four-year colleges have climbed 50 percent, to an average of $6,585 a year, according to the College Board.

Lenders are also pulling back on private loans, making it harder for some students to pay for college. Student loans backed by the federal government, however, are still readily available.

Credit cards are the “lender of last resort,” says Kalman Chany, president of Campus Consultants, a college funding adviser. “If (students) can’t get private loans, they turn to credit cards.”

Sallie Mae’s research suggests that more students are paying for educational expenses such as books and school supplies with credit cards. And they’re doing so more often: In 2008, students charged an average of $2,200 in educational expenses to cards, up 134 percent from four years earlier.

These findings are unscientific because they’re based on a poll – separate from Sallie Mae’s analysis of credit bureau data – of 292 private-loan applicants. Nevertheless, the results mirror those of other industry surveys.

“The message is clear,” says Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “Students are carrying more debt on credit cards, and more students are paying for education on credit cards.”

With the stock market behaving better, investors finally have been able to get up, dust themselves off and contemplate the long road to recovery.

An old proverb comes to mind – the one about a journey of 1,000 miles starting with a single step.

The trek back seems to stretch at least 1,000 miles, if not longer. In terms of the Dow Jones industrial average, the market is still more than 6,000 points below its old peak, requiring a near-doubling of stock prices to get back to the former level.

Better bring an extra pair of sneakers, a hat and a good walking stick.

There won’t be many reliable mileage markers along the way, either. Nobody knows exactly how much the road will twist and turn, how long the trek might take or even whether most of us will get there. But here are some things to ponder along the way:

• Recognize that the road back will be anything but predictable.

Investors already are trying to predict how long it will take the market to recover. In a survey released by Charles Schwab last month, 55 percent of investment advisers predicted client portfolios would need up to three years to recover, while 35 percent think the process will take between three and five years. It might take longer.

Not only is the road uneven, but a lot of the journey will need to be covered at night and during foul weather, when the economic backdrop still looks bleak.

• Make up ground faster by staying on the trail.

The route back should be the same one you took to get here. If your portfolio took some hits from stocks, then stocks offer the preferred path back. Bank deposits and money-market funds just don’t yield enough to cover the terrain quickly.

Yet plenty of investors cut their stock holdings after the market tanked, and they likely will recover more slowly. A study by Dalbar Inc. that analyzes mutual-fund cash flows by shareholders said that investors routinely lag the stock market because of timing mistakes.

“While those (market) returns are, in fact, theoretically achievable, the reality is that investors are not rational and make buy and sell decisions at the worst possible moments,” said Lou Harvey, Dalbar’s president.

• Don’t worry about reaching those old mileage markers right away.

While it’s human nature to compare your current results against where your portfolio stood at the peak, it’s not always relevant.

“It is a disservice to pick an arbitrary date of October 2007 as the reference point against which all future gains must be measured,” said Jeff Young, an investment adviser at First Financial Equity Corp. in Scottsdale.

If you’re obsessed with the old high, you probably feel remorse now and might make unwise decisions such as getting too aggressive in hopes of rebounding sooner.

Investors can still succeed, Young adds, even if they don’t sell at the top.

“It is not at all necessary for one to exceed or even match former highs to have a portfolio that generates enough income to live a retirement in dignity (or meet other objectives),” he said.

• Try to reach your destination early.

If you invest regularly, your portfolio could recover before the market does. Why? Because you would have been putting money to work along the way at low prices using a dollar-cost averaging strategy. That could mean you don’t have to wait until the Dow returns to its former trading peak around 14,280 before you hit a new personal high.

But the key is to invest regularly and reinvest all dividends and distributions. Dividend reinvestments are a powerful force, often overlooked, accounting for perhaps one-third to one-half of overall returns, depending on the period studied.

• Expect a downhill grade and a tailwind.

Although the journey back won’t be smooth, it probably will be better than it has been in recent years. Why? Because market results “revert to the mean,” or hover around a gradually sloping upward line representing long-term growth in the economy.

Put more simply, long periods of poor results usually are followed by lengthy periods of good gains. In the past, when stocks delivered an average annual return below 5 percent over a 10-year stretch, they’ve followed with average annual returns of 13 percent over the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the Davis Funds.

It’s notable that the past decade has been one of the worst stretches ever.

“While we cannot know for sure what the next decade will hold, it is highly likely to be far better than what we have suffered through in the last 10 years,” the company said in a report.