CDs
Yields: 1-year yield 1.05%; 5-year yield 2.17%There is very little movement in CDs to report this week. We have to hope that CD rates have pretty much bottomed, especially if the economy is slowly beginning to heal.
The average yield for the one-year CD, as surveyed by Bankrate.com, dropped 1 basis point this week to come in at 1.05 percent. The one-year Treasury, which is yielding less than half that, shed 4 basis points during the same period and now stands at 0.43 percent. Even the exemption from state and local taxes doesn't make up for the abysmal yield on the Treasury.
The average yield for five-year CDs rose 1 basis point to 2.17 percent. Tying money up for five years at such a low rate seems counterproductive, but at least the CDs are holding ground. The five-year Treasury plummeted 22 basis points this week to 2.48 percent. Nevertheless, we're still in this unusual scenario where some of the larger banks are simply not competing for your long-term CD dollars, which is why the Treasury, which gives you a tax break, is also paying a higher yield.
On the jumbo side, total inertia. Neither the one-year nor the five-year budged from last week's position. The one-year remains at 1.13 percent and the five-year at 2.2 percent.
Money market accounts also stayed put this week. The current average yield is 0.36 percent.
Check Bankrate's Bankrate's high-yield CDs and high-yield money market account tables for some of the best returns available nationwide.
All deposit products listed with Bankrate are FDIC-insured.
-- Laura Bruce