Investment

» TonyFromGlendale - World, 6.01%, 9 month CD

The World promotion is not advertised according to bankdeals.blogspot.com but rather a CD available with a mailed-letter-promotion. If you say you want the same CD that your friend got from a letter promotion, you can usually get it.
We have a World branch near here and I have done just that in the past. The bankdeals.blogspot.com gives all the details. New money though. I have had a World cd mature, got my check, put it in my checking account, and then gone back a couple days later with my personal check to open a CD with "new money." At least it worked for me. The site is speculating that these higher rates might be something to tie up for longer time periods as the higher and higher rates may be over with. Maybe.

-- posted by TonyFromGlendale

» runner26 - World, 6.01%, 9 month CD

In response to World, 6.01%, 9 month CD posted by TonyFromGlendale:

I was a world savings customer from 1980 through 2005. I am no longer a customer due to the changes that have occurred recently. They always had good rates. Then they moved to these promotonal rates they offer are only for new money or new customers. It offended me as a 25 year "loyal" customer to not be offered top rates, and have to go through rediculous hoops like transfer the money out and back in to get the rate.

I have moved everything the the Golden 1 Credit Union (California) (12 year customer with them) which always allows current money into their promotional rates. Currently offering a 6% APY 12 month rate, 2500 minimum with a one time Jump-Up provision. They have been great and often have really good promotions. Also, if they make too much money, they have in the past deposited the profits in cash into each of your accounts.

-- posted by runner26

» runner26 - 6% APY 12-month CD

Flipped another maturing T-bill today to Golden 1 Credit Union which is still offering the 6% APY Bump-up 12-month CD.

-- posted by runner26

» TonyFromGlendale - Credit Union Insurance

How does the insurance work at a C/U. Is there a limit of $100,000 like at FDIC insured banks? Thanks.

-- posted by TonyFromGlendale

» runner26 - Credit Union Insurance

In response to Credit Union Insurance posted by TonyFromGlendale:

How does the insurance work at a C/U. Is there a limit of $100,000 like at FDIC insured banks?

Yes, by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF).

Info at:
http://www.ncua.gov/ShareInsurance/Index...

-- posted by runner26

» runner26 - Bye Bye - 6% APY 12-month CD

In response to 6% APY 12-month CD posted by runner26:

For those that didn't get it by yesterday, "forget about it". It is now history.

-- posted by runner26

» SteveT - Putting Fed's Pause To Use

By Kathy Yakal

IN EARLY AUGUST, THE FEDERAL RESERVE SAID that its 17 interest-rate increases should be enough to rein in inflation without slowing the economy too much. Granted, the central bank could still change its mind. But in the meantime, investors might want to mimic the Fed by pausing to reflect on the state of their portfolios.

The central bank's hiatus might be a great time to lock in one of many good deals on certificates of deposit, particularly in light of volatile stock-market conditions.

Mortgage giant Countrywide Financial (www.countrywide.com1), for example, is offering a six-month CD at a 5.45% annual percentage yield, or APY ($10,000 minimum deposit; $2,500 for an IRA CD).

Real-estate lender Corus Bank (www.corusbank.com2) goes it one better, with a 5.50% yield on a six-month CD ($10,000 minimum).

How do you get the lowdown on CD rates? The two best rate-listing sites are Bankrate.com (www.bankrate.com3) -- check out Greg McBride's Fed Outlook blog while you're there -- and money-rates.com (www.money-rates.com4). It's best to double-check these sites' rate information with the sites of the financial institutions selling the CDs, because we've occasionally run into discrepancies.

Be sure to explore the Internet bank specials at money-rates.com. On August 16, for instance, EverBank (www.everbank.com5) was advertising its FreeNet checking account with an introductory rate (first three months) of 5.51% APY (new customers only; $1,500 minimum and required daily balance). After the introductory period, rates drop to 3.25% APY for less than $10,000 and then rise to 4.41% for $100,000 or more.

THE FED'S HOLIDAY MIGHT also provide an opportunity to take a closer look at the stocks you're hooked up with and to search for those best suited to a changing economy. Fundamental investment research was one of the Web's earliest tools. To be sure, numbers can only tell you so much about a stock, but their uses and presentation just keep getting better with age.

First up: MarketWatch (www.marketwatch.com6), which has undergone a transformation since we last visited. Several new features -- one of which was a first for us -- adorn this long-time favorite. (Full disclosure: MarketWatch is owned by Dow Jones, which also publishes Barron's.)

Among the changes: the front page has been redesigned to make it cleaner and easier to read, and one of its exceptional attributes -- news -- gets more prominent play. A new story appears every minute or two; the lion's share comes from the site's voluminous news-writing staff. To get the latest news to readers as fast as possible, some items appear simply in headline form. Raw press releases from the wires are also posted quickly. Overall, MarketWatch continues to do market news well.

Also, a small Market Overview box in the right corner now gives a rundown on current activity in the major indexes as well as bonds, gold and oil; click on View Details on the tab bar for more index and sector performance numbers. Also new: If you see a story you want to read later, click the small box next to it, and it's saved to the My Stories tab. MarketWatch has gotten smarter, too, in a way we haven't seen before. It continuously builds a list of stories and quotes for companies you've been researching.

As always, MarketWatch gives you fast access to fundamentals. Type a ticker symbol into the quote box, and a comprehensive page displays links to data like analyst snapshots, ratings, and estimates; annual and quarterly financials, Securities and Exchange Commission filings; and historical quotes. The same page pulls out related news and press releases, charts, options, and more. This is a terrific way to get a quick look at the numbers and a company's overall financial health.

We prefer MarketWatch for the transmission and organization of news, but Yahoo! Finance (finance.yahoo.com7) is still our favorite for fundamentals. A complete guide to any company is just a screen away from the front page. Yahoo! Finance covers the basics that you can get at any number of sites (key stats, SEC filings, analyst coverage, financials, etc.), but also provides other insights. For example, you can see the various investment indexes that include the company and the mutual funds and ETFs that are major shareholders. And it's fast and easy to link to a related Yahoo! Message board and view newly released reports.

Reuters.com (www.reuters.com8) runs a close second on fundamentals. Its stock overview page is a clean, all-inclusive tour through numbers, charts, and other helpful content. In addition to the usual suspects other, less typical measures of financial strength and profitability appear in tables. For instance, management effectiveness (in areas like return on equity) can be compared to relevant industry, sector, and S&P 500 bogeys. And barometers of management efficiency, such as revenue per employee and asset turnover, can also be tapped. Elsewhere Reuters posts "risk alerts' -- six interesting tests that examine trends like price deterioration and short sales that could raise warning flags about your holdings.

Lastly, another favorite, MSN Money (moneycentral.msn.com9) uses parent Microsoft's StockScouter to assign a numerical ranking to stocks, based on proprietary statistics it believes affect performance.

E-mail comments to editors@barrons.com

URL for this article:
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB1155...

Hyperlinks in this Article:
(1) http://www.countrywide.com
(2) http://www.corusbank.com
(3) http://www.bankrate.com
(4) http://www.money-rates.com
(5) http://www.everbank.com
(6) http://www.marketwatch.com
(7) http://finance.yahoo.com
(8) http://www.reuters.com
(9) http://moneycentral.msn.com

-- posted by SteveT

» runner26 - 7-month certificate at 5.85% APY

California Golden1 Credit Union, 7-month certificate at 5.85% APY. A minimum $500 opening balance is required for IRA certificates and a minimum $1,000 is required for regular certificates. This offer is extended to Golden 1 members who have an existing checking account that has been open 90 days or more, as well as to members who have a new or existing checking account with Direct Deposit.

-- posted by runner26

» TomFi - 5 year cd's

Paragon Federal Credit Union is paying 6% on 5 yr cd's $50k+; you can adjust the dividend rate once during the certificates term. Is this a good deal for someone who is retired and does't want to invest in mutual funds.

-- posted by TomFi

» TomFi - 6% cd's

Washington Mutual bank is offering 13 month cd's at 6% with WaMu bump-rate feature.

-- posted by TomFi