Government Bond Funds and Inflation-Protected Funds Outperform- February 29, 2008 Government bond funds are a favorite of investors due to the safety of the underlying holdings which are primarily securities issued by the Treasury Department or government-sponsored entities. While normal bond fund managers can buy riskier lower-rated bonds to boost yields, the government bond fund manager is heavily restricted to the type of holdings in their funds. Interest-rate risk is always a factor with bond funds, but in general the shorter the duration of the holdings in the fund the..http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/government-bond-funds-and-inflation.html Interest Rates and the Fed Inflation Target- February 28, 2008 Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a long-time proponent of inflation-targeting, has set a specific inflation target of 1.5% to 2% over three years in a semi-annual FOMC report to Congress. Bernanke and the Fed were thought to have set a target as low as 1% to 2% so the "new" target range gives the Fed a little more leeway on the side of interest rate cuts in the risk of inflation vs the risk of growth debate. The subtle announcement by the Fed of a specific inflation target has been overshadowed by...http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/interest-rates-and-fed-inflation-target.html Credit Card Review- February 26, 2008http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/credit-card-review.html Online Bank Deals and Reward Programs- February 25, 2008 The days of banks paying below 1.00% on a checking account and are back in force as The Savings Investor found out when polling 100 banks nationwide and finding an average of just 0.88% as the annual percentage yield paid out on a basic low-minimum checking account. However, online banking customers who are willing to shop online for the best bank deals can find:...Yields as high as 6.26% on Reward Checking accounts...Yields as high as 5.00% on Long-term Bank CDs...Yields as high as 4.60% on...http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/online-bank-deals-and-reward-programs.html Mortgage Rates Increase- February 24, 2008 A big jump in mortgage rates last week occured after more fears of inflation in the economy persist. The national average on the 30-year Fixed Mortgage rose over 40 points and the national average on the 15-year Fixed Mortgage increased over 20 points. Any sustained increase in inflation could lead to higher US Treasury yields and increases by the Federal Reserve of benchmark interest rates, although at this point economists are forecasting inflation as more of a concern in the third quarter or.http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/mortgage-rates-increase.html Revolution MoneyExchange Provides an Alternative to PayPal- February 21, 2008 MoneyExchange is an online money transfer service that allows members to transfer funds among themselves via e-mail. The account balances are held in a FDIC-insured bank, First Bank and Trust in Brookings, South Dakota, that can be linked to other banks accounts. Of course this service is a direct competitor to PayPal, and MoneyExchange even allows users to sell items off their website to other MoneyExchange members similar to the E-BayPayPal model.MoneyExchange Pros:(1) $25 bonus for signing...http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/revolution-moneyexchange-provides.html What is the Government Sending to You Find out with the 2008 Tax Rebate Calculator- February 19, 2008http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/what-is-government-sending-to-you-find.html Online Bank Rates Increase at a Few Banks- February 18, 2008 Online bank deposit rates have been reset upwards at a few select banks in the last week in a surprise move because of the growing expectations that the Fed will lower interest rates another quarter-point or half-point at the March meeting. The vast majority of banks have revised their deposit rates to below 4.00% and even perennial online bank rate leaders, Countrywide Bank and IndyMac Bank, are below 3.50% on many of their deposit rates. T-Bank and Acacia Federal Savings Bank are two of the...http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/online-bank-rates-increase-at-few-banks.html Banks Remain Committed to Reward Checking Accounts- February 15, 2008 The 175-point rate cut in 2008 has wreaked havoc on bank deposit rates with 5.50% and 5.75% online bank rate deals evaporating into 4.25% and 4.50% rate deals. Lost in the shuffle has been that the rates on the nation's top paying Reward Checking Accounts have not fallen by as much. Money-rates.com has a list of banks from over 20 states offering from 4.41% to 6.25% on reward checking accounts. The monthly requirements to be paid the top yield vary from bank-to-bank, but in general include...http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/banks-remain-committed-to-reward.html Dallas Bank Making A Splash Online- February 15, 2008 T Bank a FDIC-insured bank based in Dallas Texas has increased deposit rates in an aggressive move to match its wide variety of loans available to consumers and make it one of a select number online banks with a full menu of attractive bank rates for online banking consumers on both rates and loans. Beyond the online presence, T Bank is a full service commercial bank in the Dallas-area and offers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services to small and medium sized businesses,...http://www.savings-investor.com/2008/02/dallas-bank-making-splash-online.html |