From Dan Ferris in the S&A Digest:

Credit-card defaults are rising, so, naturally, banks are providing cardholders with incentives to use them more often by charging inactivity fees to cardholders who don't use their cards often enough. A spokesperson for Fifth Third Bancorp was unashamed when she told Bloomberg, "We want to encourage active use and management of the accounts."

Active use and management. That's what the financial industry wants from you.

It wants you to actively use and manage every dime you own. The more active you are, the more fees it charges. The more ATMs you use, the more money you borrow, the more currency you exchange, the more stocks and options you trade, the more money you move anywhere for any reason, the more the financial industry loves you.

Crux note: Dan Ferris is the editor of Extreme Value... and one of his favorite recommendations has recently become a "BUY" again. It's one of the safest and most lucrative investments you can make in the gold industry - that has nothing to do with mining stocks, gold mutual funds, or gold bullion - but it's not likely to stay a buy for long. You can learn more here...

More from Dan Ferris:

How to take the worry out of buying

These stocks will rise lockstep with inflation

Warren Buffett's four key indicators led him to this stock