There are two types of credit inquiries that can be made to your credit report: hard inquiries and soft inquiries.A hard inquiry occurs when you seek to obtain credit. This happens when you apply for a loan or credit card, for example. Each time you fill out a credit card application at a department store, the inquiry counts as a hard inquiry. Only you can authorize a creditor to perform a hard inquiry on your credit report.A prospective lender or other creditor will likely be concerned with an applicant whose credit report shows a high volume of hard inquiries. That's because it suggests a carefree attitude in applying for credit or an effort to borrow excessively.Borrowing too much -- a situation called over-leveraging -- is a potential red flag for creditors. It signals you may face more difficulty in repaying your debts in cash-strapped times than a person who judiciously applies for credit.If you're going to ping your credit report with frequent hard inquiries, it may be best to concentrate them around the time you apply for a home or auto loan.Fair, Isaac and Co., which designs credit-scoring software and sells consumers copies of their credit scores, suggests that your credit score is less likely to be impacted by a concentration of hard inquiries around such circumstances.A soft inquiry is one where the inquiry is not tallied on your credit report.

'Fast Money' Recap: Apple Preview

Recession fears have put the S&P 500 on track for the worst start to January in history. The Dow closed down 59 points and the NASDAQ lost 6 points. The team at CNBC's "Fast Money" try to help investors understand the movements in the market and Brian Schaeffer visits the show to give insight into Apple.

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Reporter: Susan Ramsett

It is unbelievable, that you could learn see something of the Aborigines or to live in the rainforest for a time. Also unbelievable is, that you can do such a lot of things in such a short time, for example holding a koala bear and visiting Sydney and living in the Olympic City of 2000.Anne from Germany

Paige and Justin met on the job here at WSAW-TV a few years ago. I still remember the night Paige beamingly told me they were dating. I would have been more suprised if they *hadn't* fallen in love.

Kaine proposal would require notification of possible identity theft

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine said he plans to propose legislation designed to protect consumers from identity theft and credit fraud.

"This legislation will give Virginians greater control over access to their credit," Kaine said in a statement. He unveiled the legislation at a press conference at the AARP's Virginia headquarters in Richmond Jan.