Yields Coming Down

The treasury market has seen a big drop in yields.? The 10-year which affects mortages and CDs more than anything else has dropped over 30 Basis Points, currently at 4.77%.? Good for mortgages, not so good for CDs.

The CD rates have come down, but thankfully only 10 – 15 Basis points.? At this point there aren’t many 5.50% APR rates out there.

cd :O)

Ever get an email like this

I’m the son of a rich African farmer. My father has been assassinated and I inherited $7MM. I need to move the money out of…We need someone we can trust. Can you help us…

When I get these I just delete them. THEY ARE A SCAM and you will lose lots of money if you accept the offer.

But, here is someone that decided to play along. Checkout their post. It is very enlightening.

A Fool and Their Money are Soon Parted

cd :O)

Earthmover Credit Union — 10%, 10-month CD Rate; $1000 Max

Earthmover Credit Union has a 10%, 10-month CD rate.? The minimum is $500, but the maximum is only $1,000.

They are not federally insured by the NCUA, they carry private insurance through American Share Insurance.

The funds have to be new money and it may be available to new members only.

Their website?indicates membership is open to:
? If you live or work in Kendall, Southern Kane, or DuPage county in Illinois
? If an immediate family member is a member of Earthmover Credit Union
? If you work for one of our Select Employer Groups

cd :O)

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American Eagle Bank — Money Market Rate — Chicago Area only

Updated 1/3/08.? American Eagle Bank?of Chicago?no longer has a high Money Market Rate promotion.? However, their sister bank in Elgin does.? AME of Chicago does have a 7-mo CD special at 5.00% APY, which is pretty good these days.? It is only available for residents in the Chicago Area.?

The FDIC# is 58514 and they were established in April 2007.? The website is here: American Eagle Bank

Keep in mind there is a second American Eagle Bank in IL with a seperate FDIC# (57359).? They are a sister bank and both can be reached from the same site.? However, the specials are independent of each other.?? American Eagle Bank of South Elgin has a money market promotion at 4.25% APY.

New Long Term Commentary From WesCorp

Yes, Dwight from WesCorp has posted a new commentary.? Some might wonder why I like his insights so much?? I think it really comes down to the biggest difference between how banks and credit unions operate.

But before I give you my insights, I will give you the link in case you just want to go see what Dwight thinks.

Banks are profit motivated.? And keep in mind that I’m not against profits.? I work at a small company, and profits are very important.? But, at what level?.? We live in a free market, and people and companies get to decide that for themselves.? And believe me, I’m grateful for that.? That being said, I believe banks mainly see things through a lense of earning the highest profits they can.

Credit Unions on the other hand are not beholden to a?limited set?of stock holders and are not-for-profit.? And before?I go on, you might wonder, what does Dwight have to do with credit unions?? Dwight Johnston works for WesCorp, one of the largest corporate credit unions.? A corporate credit union exists to serve other credit unions and maintains the same philsophy, but just on a larger scale.

Ok, back to the point.? What is the difference between a credit union and a bank?? Credit Unions are also owned by their “stock holders”, but the stock holders are everyone that has a deposit there and is referred to as members.? Everyone with a deposit, no matter how large or small gets one?vote.? The board members are volunteers that are democratrically voted on by the members.? The goal of the credit union is to return the highest rates on the savings products and lowest loan rates possible.??The remaining profits are then returned in the form of dividends to each member or possibly higher savings product rates, lower loan rates, and/or other services.? Another credit union puts it this way, “not for profit, not for charity, but for service.”

I believe the biggest difference is credit unions look at things through a lense of service instead of a lense of profits.? This basic notion is what leads me to be a fan of Dwight.? He isn’t trying to convince you that everything is okay through?a lense of profit.? He gives you all of the details through a lense of service.?

And also for the record, WesCorp is actually a competitor of ours.? Many of our clients are credit unions and they also use WesCorp.??I would love some feed back, post away.

Here is the link again to the July Commentary.

Have a great day.
cd :O)

Inflation Still Dogging Economy

From Wescorp: “Inflation Moderate, Housing starts up – CPI was slightly higher than expected at 0.2%. The report showed that energy prices fell, gas prices dropped, food prices rose, housing costs rose, apparel dropped and autos were unchanged. Core CPI (ex food & energy) was also 0.2% bringing the y-o-y reading to 2.2%. Builders unexpectedly started construction on more homes in June while their permits for future construction fell (1406K vs. 1501K prior reading).”

For the full commentary click here.

New National Banking Website

The OCC has created a new website with information on National banks.? It also gives you a mechanism to file a complaint.? Non-national banks, state chartered banks, savings & loans, etc. are not regulated by the OCC so it gives you some other agencies to contact if your bank falls into a different category.

Although the site is tailored to National banks, there is a lot of good general information.? I encourage you to take a look here.

CD Rate Update

CD Rates continue to hover in the 5.50 – 5.65% range across?all terms.

This is a bigger improvement on the longer-term CDs than the shorter, because prior to last month, the longer-term rates were in the 5.25 – 5.30% range and the short-term were around 5.35% – 5.45%.

The CPI comes out tomorrow.? This is the Fed’s preferred method to?gauge inflation.

So for now, rates should remain in these levels.? Keep coming back and checking for specials or news that will change rates one way or the other.

EmigrantDirect Savings Rate

EmigrantDirect has had their best savings rate for quite some time.? EmigrantDirect is a division of Emigrant Bank in New York.?This savings account works really well.? You link the account to another bank account, such as where you do your primary banking, and you can transfer funds between the two accounts on-line.

Like HSBC, their current yield is 5.05%.? Remember, this is not the simple rate.? Your actually earnings will depend on how long you leave the funds into the account and how often the bank compounds the interest.

The FDIC# for Emigrant Bank is 12054.? They are over $11.5 Billion in assets.

Here is their website, EmigrantDirect

cd :O)

Michigan CD Rates – 6.00% APY

[UPDATE 4/6/09: This is an old post. The rate is no longer available] A federally insured NCUA credit union in Michigan has a great CD Rate. This is better than any other CD rates that we are seeing. It is available to Michigan residents only. Rate is 5.87% APR / 6.00% APY. Interest pays monthly or compounds quarterly.

Minimum deposit is $50,000.00. Special 9 Basis Point Fee. Call Jumbo CD Investments for details at 800-234-4605.

Or visit Best CD Rates for more details about our company.