John Stumpf, chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co. said  customers, not just the bank, will bear the financial burden  for U.S. regulations that cover services ranging from home loans to credit cards.

" I can't guarantee that we won't pass on some of those costs," Stumpf, 56, said in an interview at his San Francisco office. " We'll try to tighten our belt and absorb some of the costs of compliance, but some costs may change and customers might pay for their financial services in new ways."

Wells Fargo, with the biggest U.S. branch network, is already passing on costs by charging for checking accounts and raising interest rates on credit cards and loans, said Richard Bove, a banking analyst at Rochdale Securities LLC. The bank ended free checking last month by adding a $5 monthly fee for customers who don't meet certain conditions.

" This bank does not intend to sit there and get nailed, " said Bove, who resently upgraded Wells Fargo shares to a " buy" " Wells Fargo has moved wel ahead of the crowed, and everyone will follow."

New Rules

President Barack Obama signed into law las week a 2,300 page overhaul of financial regulation that gives the government authority to unwind failing financial firms, imposes new rules on derivatives markets and creates a consumer-protection agency to monitor loans and services. Stumpf said it's too early to judge the costs for Wells Fargo, in part because the bank is looking for ways to offset expenses and lost revenue.

Even with the bill's shortcomings, Congress got many parts of it right, Stumpf said in the July 22 interview. The creation of a systemic risk regulator will prevent another crisis from being sparked by the collapse of a large financial firm, he said. The Financial Stability Oversight Council, a super -regulator, will monitor Wall Street's largest firms and other market participants to spot emerging systemic risks.

" Too -big- to fail has been dealt with, said Stumpf, whose bank holds $1.2 trillion of assets. " Regulators needed a way to understand risk at the top of the house and opine on that risk. They did it in a way that makes a lot of sense."

Not Enough

Some of the new consumer protections don't go far enough because they contain too many exemptions, Stumpf said. Auto dealers and banks with less than $10 billion in assets may be exempt from some curbs.

Consistent consumer protection rules are "good for Americans and it's good for us as providers because we know the playing field is level," Stumpf said. " Does it become less level because the consumer-protection agency has direct involvement with certin compaines and not others, and will rely on other regulations to do it? I don't know. That's where the trickiness comes up."

Durbin Amendent

Stumpf singled out new curbs on debit interchange fees for criticism. Under the so-called Durbin amendment, the Federal Reserve gets authority to limit interchange, or "swipe" fees, that merchants pay for each debit-card transaction. The measure pushed by Senator Richard Durbin lets retailers refuse credit cards for purchases of les than $10 and offer discounts based on the form of payment.

" That is a dispute between banks and merchants and it somehow found its way into regulatory reform, " Stumpf said. He told analysts on July 22, " I don't see how debit card fees between banks and merchants had anything to do with what happened in the last couple of years."

Stumpf isn't the only financial leader voicing displeasure. Card industry executives say the legislation amounts to price controls, and American Express Co. Vice  Chairman Ed Gilligan said June 15, before the language was finalized, that the Durbin amendment " provides no benefit to consumers." The largest payment networks, Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., also opposed the amendent.

Derivatives

New rules on derivatives will mandate that swaps between banks and major users like hedge funds and asset managers be backed by clearinghouses. Stumpf said moving those trades to clearinghouses would help show the true size of the derivatives market, but doesn't address whtat happens when a borrower doesn't pay or a member of the clearinghouse collapses, he said.

" Somebody's got to take the credit risk," Stumpf said. His concern was echoed by Joel Telpner, a partner with the law firm Jones Day in New York, who spoke in a July 26 interview.

" Maybe we are creating new entities that are too big to fail and setting up a scenario in the future where we're going to be arguing and anguishing about bailing out the clearinghouses, " Telpner said.

President Obama today will head to a Tastee sub shop in New Jersey to sell his jobs agenda to small business owners, but a bill specifically for that purpose has been stymied in the Senate for the last month.

With the country's unemployment rate hovering near 10 percent and its economic recovery "unusually uncertain" as Federal Reserve charirman Ben Bernanke put it, one of the most obvious moves to boost job creation would be to help the small businesses that account for around two - thirds of new job growth.

But for the past month the Senate has yet to pass the bill that emerged in June from the House of Representatives, setting it aside time and time again.

" I hope that in the coming days we'll once again find common ground and get this legislation passed," President Obama said Tuesday at the White House."We shouldn't let America's small businesses be held hostage to partisan politics-and certainly not at this critical time."

This afternoon in New Jersey, the President will again urge the Senate to act. Back in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he hopes the Senate can finish work on the bill by late today.

The bill would establish a $30 billion small business lending facility run by the Treasury Department and provide another $12 billion in tax relief. Smaller banks - those with under $10 billion in assets-would use the Treasury fund to extend loans to small businesses, helping get them back on their feet and hiring new workers.

However, the small business measure has gotten stuck in the Senate, stymied by partisan gridlock and a focus on more high-profile legislation such as Wall Street reform.

Republicans have denounced the small business lending facility as a "mini-TARP," referring to the government's $700 billion financial -system bailout program. Democrats have elected to work on other bills, including the financial regulatory overhaul, unemployment benefits, and campaign finance reform.

In typical Beltway politics, both parties have blamed one another for the lack of action on the small business front.

Christina Manca Designer and founder of Drawing Board Design. Gives you tips and reviews to help you select the wood flooring that's right for you.

There's something really special about a hardwood floor and there are more possibilities than ever before from exotic woods to floors that look like wood but aren't wood at all. With so many options it can be difficult to choose so Christina Manca reviews tips on how to select the wood flooring that's right for you:

Wood flooring is loved fro several reasons, It's one of the oldest flooring products so there's a level of comfort with it and it's very durable. It's also so verstile that it offers an infinite number of possibilities from different species to adding borders and inserts.

A soild strip hardwood floor uses strips of wood about 3/4" thick , 2-1/4" wide and anywhere from 12 to 84 inches long. North American hardwoods like red oak, maple and walnut are taditional favorites, but there's a trend toward using more exotic woods today.

Solid hardwood floors come either unfinished or pre-finished. The latter is nice because if avoids the dust and fumes that come with refinishing/finishing a floor.

Believe it or not, you can get the look of hardwood without solid wood. Engineered wood flooring is a veneer of hardwood in the species of you choice on top of three to five thin sheets of wood. Whereas solid wood will expand or contract with heat and moisture, engineered wood flooring doesn't do that as much so there won't be as many cracks between the strips, which makes it particulary good for kitchens and basements where moisture is a factor. Solid wood flooring will last until somone removes it and engineered wood flooring will last anywhere from 10 to 20 years, depending on the level of traffic.

Plastic laminate flooring is not a wood product at all, but it looks like wood. The plastic layer on top is attached to plastic boards and it last about 10 to 15 years.

The three things to consider when choosing a new wood floor are budget, the application (how much traffic is going to be on the floor ane where it will go ) and the lifecycle of the floor (how long you want it to last).

Hey manly men,have a cupcake. There is a Rum and Coke, B-52, Sidecar and Driller. No, they are not cocktails, but cupcakes --for men.

When former Wall Street lawyer David Arrick lost his job during the U.S. recession, he decided to change careers and capitalize on the popularity of cupcakes in New York City.

" I saw that cupcakes were hot and cupcake businesses were thriving," he said. " But they're all very feminine and pink. A lot of them are frilly with jelly beans and sprinkles."

So Arrick put a masculine twist on the cupcake and started Butch Bakery.

He came up with 12 flavors like Sidecar, a brandy-soaked lemon cake with a orange and white chocolate ganache filling, Driller, a maple cake topped with crumbled bacon and filled with milk-chocolate ganache, and Rum and Coke, a rum -soaked Madagascar vanilla cake with cola Bavarian cream.

Although Butch Bakery markets itself as making "manly cupcakes for manly men," Arrick said up to 95 percent of the people buying his $4.25 cupcakes are women.

" We have solved the problem of what do you get for a guy for his 35th birthday, his 40t, congratulations on making partner, congratulations on your 21th birthday. There has been a gap in gift giving to guys," he said.

Since opening in November 2009, Arrick said business has grown about  500 percent,despite the U.S. economic turmoil. Butch Bakery now sells about 500 cupcakes a week and Arrick aims to quadruple that.

Gorgeous,untamed landscapes;sexy,festive carnivals, sizzling food and people. We got the memo. Brazil is hot! This rich South American nation is famous for attracting flocks of adventure seekers but another thing Brazil excels at is in producing some of the world's most beautiful exotic wood. Species like Ipe (Brazilian Walnut ), Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry), Cumaru (Brazilian Teak ), Muiracatiara (Brazilian Tigerwoood ) and Sucupira (Brazilian Chestnut ) are ideal in creating exquisite looking and long-lasting hardwood floors people covet and no one knows this better than Brazfloor. The Brazilian - owned and operated company boasts the most extensive collection of Brazilian wood products available, and their friendly attitude and ability to anticipate your needs will make you feel just like you were on holiday in Rio.