UK Credit Cards

I got my first credit card a little over a month ago, and am very anxious to start building my credit score up.
I have already made my first payment, on time and in full, and my next statement should be arriving within a few days.
I have heard that you have a 3-payment-cycle “grace period”, in which your payment habits do not affect your credit. Is this true? Or does your credit start being affected as soon as you make your first payment?

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For example, stock markets in Asia has dropped, and the UK have recently bailed out their banks.

However, since I’m quite new to the world of economics, how has America or other factors SPECIFICALLY affected the economy around the world?

I ask this as I would like to understand the news, I’ve read news about how bad the economy has been around the world, but I still haven’t figured out WHAT caused this specifically.

Thanks

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I have a credit card thru my bank (Wachovia) and I have paid it off on time and in full every month for the past 2 years and I also just got a new Discover card, and after comparing the rates, my Wachovia card has an APR of 18.24% and the Discover card’s rate is 9.99%. I’ve been told that I should keep the Wachovia card for credit check purposes since I’ve kept up with it so well for this long, but just to avoid potential trouble in the future, I’m thinking about cancelling it, especially since I rarely use it now anyway (maybe just a couple times a month just so I’ll have something to pay off– that looks good, right?) What should I do?

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So I want to cancel my Macy’s Credit Card, CitiBank card and a tiffany’s card. They all have a balance of 0.00. Will my credit be affected in a negative way if I close down these credit cards?

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I have my loans through studentloan.com. If Citibank is nationalized, will my repayment change at all?

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What happens to one’s credit when the person’s sole credit card is taken and used illegally? We’re not sure how this will affect efforts to refinance, as this is my wife’s only credit card. She will be receiving a replacement in the next week and will have an affidavit indicating that the charges were not hers.

Any suggested approaches to ensuring that her credit info is considered before the card was stolen and the account closed?

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I see a great deal at a store to open up a credit card and get a prize or a rebate. If I want the big discount I open the credit card and then get the discount but I don’t want or need the credit card at all.

Is it better to close down this new card or keep it open with a zero balance? How does opening and closing account affect my credit score?

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