Stocks of financial companies came back to life a bit over the past couple weeks as there were fleeting thoughts that, perhaps, the financial crisis was bottoming. But reality slapped folks on the back of the head over the last couple days as corporate America spewed out more ugly financial reports. Wednesday, Merrill Lynch's chief investment strategist declared that the credit crisis is, "broad, deep and global ... and far from over."

That good news/bad news seesaw can trigger consumers to take on risk by investing in stocks, or avoid risk by buying CDs. The so-called flight to safety -- to CDs, for instance -- can prompt banks to lower interest rates. People are snapping up CDs regardless of the interest rate; why should banks pay more than they need to?

Although the recent trend for CDs monitored by Bankrate has been upward, we should expect plenty of give and take until the majority of financial institutions have coughed up all the bad news -- and that could be a long way off if the gentleman from Merrill is right.

This week, the average yield on a one-year CD rose 5 basis points to 2.38 percent; while its five-year counterpart gained only 1 basis point, moving up to 3.52 percent. Just to note, comparable maturities for Treasuries are paying 2.18 percent and 3.16 percent, respectively. You'll have to do some math to determine if the state and local tax exemption on the Treasuries makes them a better deal.

The jumbos were flat this week with both the one-year and the five-year not budging from where we left them last week; 2.62 percent, and 3.75 percent.

Money market accounts shed 1 basis point and dropped back to an average yield of 0.71 percent.

Make the most of your CD dollars by staying short-term and checking out Bankrate's database for high-yield CDs and money markets.

-- Laura Bruce

 See CD rates in your area.