The Senate voted 90 to 5 to pass a bill that would sharply curtail credit card issuers' ability to raise interest rates and charge fees. House and Senate lawmakers will hammer out differences in the bills passed by each body and the legislation is expected to be on President Obama's desk by Memorial Day, Nancy Trejos reports.

The bill is expected to have broad implications for consumers. For one thing, it prohibits card companies from raising interest rates on existing balances unless a borrower is at least 60 days late. If the cardholder pays on time for the following six months, the company would have to restore the original rate. But credit card executives say the changes will force them to charge higher rates and reinstate annual fees. Low interest rates to creditworthy customers and airline mileage programs are also said to be in jeopardy.

But some consumer advocates feel the industry is crying wolf. "This ominous we're-going-back-in-time threat doesn't make a whole lot of sense," says Travis B. Plunkett, legislative affairs director at the Consumer Federation of America. Read the whole story...

In an effort to lure back grocery shoppers from the likes of Wal-Mart and Target, Albertsons will announce today that it is lowering prices for thousands of products at its 222 Southern California supermarkets, Jerry Hisrch reports. Other supermarkets in the Southern California market have already made their move: Vons in recent months and Ralphs last summer. Stater Bros. is keeping prices in check, even though food manufacturers are charging more.

Albertsons is calling its new program "the Big Relief Price Cut." It says prices will be reduced "on thousands of items in dozens of categories across the store . . . including basic stock-up items and staples from peanut butter and pasta to deodorant and detergent."

The Food Marketing Institute revealed last week that shoppers identified traditional grocers as their primary store 56% of the time compared with 60% last year. They picked supercenters, warehouse stores and discounters 39% of the time, up from 34% a year ago.

Meanwhile, Theresa Howard reports in USA Today that major food marketers such as Wal-Mart, Kraft, Unilever and Campbell are emulating fast-food chains by touting products that cost $1. "The dollar is what a nickel was for our grandparents," says food and retail expert Phil Lempert. Read the whole story...

The rights to the White Cloud brand name, which originated at Procter & Gamble before becoming a Wal-Mart private label, are up for sale for uses besides paper products in the U.S. Since Wal-Mart still sells the brand's training pants, baby wipes and toilet paper, a sale could result in a situation where three different parties own the trademark, Jack Neff reports. The rights for diapers and other paper products are also available for some countries.

White Cloud Marketing, originally known as Paper Partners, acquired the White Cloud trademark in 1996, three years after P&G discontinued what was then a toilet-paper brand. It relaunched it nationally with Wal-Mart in 1999. Wal-Mart and its private-label supplier, Canada's Kruger, have in recent years acquired rights to the trademark for diapers and other paper products and intend to retain them.

Wal-Mart stopped selling White Cloud diapers in March -- a fact that P&G's Luvs brand is not letting go unnoticed. It has launched a website and search ads offering Luvs as an alternative to consumers seeking information on what happened to White Cloud diapers. Read the whole story...

Kris, a Pinot Grigio from Italy, is launching its first marketing campaign in the U.S. with a sweepstakes offering the newest scooter from Vespa -- the S50 -- as the prize. It's reportedly the fastest scooter on the road. This marks the first marketing effort for the brand and includes life-size P-O-P displays as well as wraps, neck hangers and a Web site, Patricia Odell reports.

Kris, the No. 1 super premium Pinot Grigio in the $10 to $15 range, "has grown quickly with minimal marketing support," says brand manager Adam Welch. "We wanted to reach out to more consumers in more points of distribution to develop a clear brand strategy and promotional calendar to grow the brand," he says.

The promotion, called "Discover the Art of Wine," runs through Aug. 31. A holiday promotion that begins in October will feature wine glass charms inspired by Venetian glass prepackaged with bottles of Kris and distributed via neckers. It will carry the tag line, "Discover the Charm of the Holidays." Read the whole story...

Tom Libby, the president of the Society of Automotive Analysts, argues that for all its vaunted reputation for customer satisfaction, the Saturn brand has never been able to capture "substantial" market share. That makes him question whether offering customers an unrivaled customer experience might have limited potential in U.S.

Asians automakers, with a 48.3% share of the market, have never excelled in customer satisfaction as a group, at least in the non-luxury arena. And the No. 1 brand, Toyota, is a laggard in many measures. "While a superior customer experience may be paramount for a segment of the buying public," Libby writes, "that segment may be limited in size."

Libby allows, however, that there may be other reasons for Saturn's limited sales. Perhaps its buying proposition got muddled amid the marketing of the incremental products. Or perhaps it failed to adequately explain how it was a "different" car company in ways that consumers found beneficial. Whatever the reason, its new owners "will need to provide a compelling buying proposition over and above what has been offered to date," he concludes. Read the whole story...

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