If you are looking for a higher interest rate than a traditional bank savings account offers, a money market account (MMA) may be a good investment for you. Like savings accounts, money market accounts are liquid savings accounts. They usually offer you the ability to write a certain number of checks from the account each month. Most banks and credit unions offer money market accounts that are insured up to $100,000 by the FDIC of the NCUSIF.
Money market accounts usually earn about twice as much interest as a regular savings account. However, many MMAs require a higher starting balance than savings accounts.
High-yield MMAs are money market accounts that offer double or triple the standard bank MMA rates. These high-yield accounts are usually found through online banks. There is a lot of competition for you deposits and online financial institutes usually have lower expenses resulting in better rates for you.
There are several large corporations, including General Electric and Ford, which offer high-yield MMAs to the general public. While the yields are very competitive, there is no FDIC guarantee on the account. You will be taking a little more risk in return for a higher-yield account. If the corporation goes bankrupt, you will lose your money.
Most MMAs offer check writing and money transfers only over a minimum amount. You are limited by federal regulations to only six electronic, telephone or preauthorized transactions every month, with no more than three check, draft or debit transactions. There may be certain fees charged if you make too many withdrawals or if your balance falls below a certain level. Make sure you read and understand all terms before you open any account.
Martin Lukac, represents http://www.RateEmpire.com and http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com , a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!
It has been a very eventful week in Euroland, with a number of ECB speeches and news that the current strong headwinds are increasingly being felt in the economy. The ECB started the week on a hawkish note, with several ECB speakers pointing to rising risks to price stability and hinting that rates might have to be raised. The French central bank governor, Noyer, said, "if needed we'll move rates" to ensure that inflation falls back below 2% next year. This prompted speculation that the ECB might be preparing the markets for a rate hike. Shortly afterwards, however, Noyer claimed that the markets had over-interpreted his comments, and ECB chairman Trichet cemented this view later in the week, saying: "Let me say on the monetary policy stance that we believe that our current monetary-policy stance will contribute to achieving our objective".
04/25/08 - Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on April 1. The inventory was slightly above April 1, 2007, but 1 percent below April 1, 2006. This is the second-highest April 1 inventory since the series began in 1996.The inventory included 7.35 million steers and steer calves, down 1 percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 63 percent of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.28 million head, up 3 percent from 2007.
04/25/08 - Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on April 1. The inventory was slightly above April 1, 2007, but 1 percent below April 1, 2006. This is the second-highest April 1 inventory since the series began in 1996.The inventory included 7.35 million steers and steer calves, down 1 percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 63 percent of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.28 million head, up 3 percent from 2007.
Market Rates Insight (MRI, www.marketratesinsight.com/new), a leading research firm that tracks rates for deposits, loans, and fees to help financial institutions price with accuracy, has released ProductBuilder Alert, the latest research tool to help MRI subscribers stay ahead of the competition. ProductBuilder Alert is a weekly report that profiles the latest deposit and loan product innovations from institutions nationwide. With ProductBuilder Alert, MRI clients can get a snapshot of new products they are competing against in the market and identify trends that can help them increase their own profits. And clients can access the complete searchable ProductBuilder archive to benchmark current products against previous offers.
