Greek style riots hit Occupy Oakland

Occupy Oakland protesters vandalized businesses and smashed bank windows, as they tried to shut down the city with a series of marches today.

Thousands of Wall Street protesters marched through the streets of Oakland, where demonstrators had called for a 'general strike' in an attempt to bring the city to its knees.

Emotions have run high in the city since last week when an attempt by police to break up a camp lead to the serious injury of an Iraq war veteran.

Ultimately only around five percent of city workers took the day off work, officials said.

The demonstrators' attempt to close down Oakland port, America's fifth biggest, also failed.

Perhaps frustrated at their inability to disrupt city business, protesters on the second march of the day turned violent, smashing windows at a Chase bank branch a few blocks from the city's downtown.

Graffiti was also painted on the bank. Employees tried in vain to close up the broken windows with boards and other materials, while one private security guard looked on helpless. More...

Big banks hit customers with higher fees, and more of them

Image by Johnny Vulkan via FlickrThe nation's biggest banks are increasing many of their fees, adding new ones, eliminating debit card rewards programs and making it harder for customers to avoid paying monthly charges for checking accounts.

On May 24, Bank of America will raise the monthly fee on its most popular checking account from $8.95 to $12. On June 27, it will start charging customers a $35 fee if they overdraw their account by less than $10. And next year, the bank plans to replace its basic checking account with a new "essentials" account that comes with a monthly fee that cannot be avoided.

At Chase Bank, fees have increased for overdraft transfers, outgoing wire transfers and stopped payments. New customers that sign up for a basic checking account face a $12 monthly charge, up from $6. More...