This week's survey shows the preference participating banks have for certain maturities. You'll be rewarded if you're OK with locking up your money for those time frames. For instance, the average yield for the one-year CD rose a respectable 4 basis points this week to 2.33 percent. The five-year yield ran up 5 basis points to 3.51 percent.

But suppose you don't want to tie up funds for a year, much less five years. If you prefer a six-month CD your average yield dropped 1 basis point this week to 1.99 percent. If a three-month CD suits you better, then you're looking at an average yield that's been stuck at 1.71 percent for three weeks.

At this point in time, all maturities are doing a back and forth tango as the weeks go by -- gaining and then giving back yield. But the one-year CD average has risen 41 basis points from its low of 1.92 percent this year; while the six-month is up only 15 basis points off its low of 1.84 percent.

If you see that banks are favoring certain maturities, look for an institution that offers the "bump-up" feature on CDs. Usually, at one point during the term you'll be allowed to bump up to the current -- and presumably higher -- yield being offered by the bank on that CD.

Wrapping up the rest of the yields highlighted in this report: the one-year jumbo is now averaging 2.62 percent, up 5 basis points from last week. The five-year jumbo took a breather this week, remaining at 3.75 percent. Money market accounts gained 1 basis point to 0.72 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

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