BestCashCow Blog

Become a Video Star and Win an Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet

We're looking for a video star to help us in our new advertising campaign. Below is a video we created as part of our Hard Ways/Easy Ways to Make Money campaign.

We're looking for you to send us a video of yourself explaining or filming the hardest thing you have done to make a buck. The winner will get included in our expanding campaign.

Find out more.

 

Hard and Easy Ways to Earn Money: Cubicle Hell

We just lauched the first video in a series we are doing on hard and easy ways to earn money. Got some hard ways to earn money? Post them below. Make us laugh.

 

BestCashCow Launches New Rate Widget

We're pleased to announce the launch of our new rate widget. Take a look at it below. It contains tabs for CDs, Savings Accounts and Mortgages. This is the first version of our widget, Alpha version you might say. We're planning several other new tools that you can ad to your site.

So, what makes this widget different? Three things. First, for Savings accounts, we break out online rates and local rates seperately. So, if you were wondering how much an online bank is paying, you can get that. If you are wondering how much local banks pay, then you are also all set. We've found that some people have clear preferences in how and where they like to bank.

The other difference is that we don't just include average rate for savings and CDs, but also the best rate. Averages are nice but we don't deposit our money to get an average rate. We want the best rate. Now, not all the best rates are available for everyone, but if they are not, we show you where to go to find the best rates in your area. Because BestCashCow has the largest rate database in the world, we're pretty confident you'll find a great rate no matter where you live from a local bank, local credit union, or an online bank.

Lastly, the widget is easily customizable. We've created  three themes that should fit the design of most sites. You can adjust the size as well as the default tab.

If you have a website and want to install the widget, it's free. Go ahead and install it and help us spread the word about rates that are above average.

New BestCashCow.com

It's been awhile since we posted so we thought we could bring everyone up to speed on what's happening on the site. Last February 2011 we launched a new version of BestCashCow. The new version includes the largest rate database in the world as well as information on every bank and credit union in the US. In addition, we added information on every branch for every bank and credit union and also included rate information for every branch. Why did we do this?

Online rates are great and you can find great deals from online banks. But the reality is that online banking is only half of the picture. Or in the case of how people bank only 10% of the picture. Ninety percent  of consumers bank locally. So, not having local bank information seemed like a big hole in the information we were providing.

The new site provides rate information for online banks, local banks, and local credit unions. This ensures that you have the best and most complete information when making a banking decision. So, if you wanted to open a 36-month CD in Austin, you could now in a click of the button find out that:

• The best national online rate for a 36-month CD is Discover Bank at 1.61% APY
• The best local rate for an online CD in Austin (78705) is United Central Bank at 1.54% APY.
• The best credit union rate for Austin is 2.07% APY at Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union.

Information that would have taken hours to assemble just a year ago can now be found in less than 30 seconds.

We plan to continue expanding the site and providing the best financial information to help you easliy put more money in your pocket. We welcome your feedback and hope the site is useful and profitable for you.

Mortgage Rates and Home Equity Rates on BestCashCow

We're pleased to announce that we have expanded BestCashCow to include mortgage rates, home equity rates, and auto loan rates. Our goal in starting BestCashCow was provide easy-to-access information so you can make the best decisions with your money. Those decisions include where to deposit your cash and now, where to get the best, most competitive rates on lending products. 

We're going to continue rolling out new tools, information, and features over the next couple of months. Please feel free to send us any feedback, comments, or suggestions.

CD Rates and Savings Rates Starting to Decrease

CD Rates and Savings Account rates have held up admirably even as the stock market has tanked and the Fed has cut.  But the data seems to suggest that rates are now headed down.  Read the full article "Savings Account and Certificate of Deposit (CD) Rate Analysis."

Fed Drops Rates to 1% But Banks Not Responding

The Fed last week dropped rates by 50 basis points to 1%, the lowest level since 2003.  Banks though, are not following the Fed's move in lockstep.  While banks have lowered some of their rates, bank rates have not fallen as fast or as far as either the Fed Funds Rate or treasuries.  The chart below, taken from the BestCashCow article, Savings Rates Holding Up During Banking Crisis tells the story.

Today, despite the Fed rate cut, the top savings rate still stands at 4% APY, the same top rate before the rate cut.  The top five year CD is well above 5% APY and the top 3 month cd is above 3.5% APY.

This is an indication of the new power that depositors have since the collapse of the real estate financial model.  Savings is coming back en vogue and banks need access to those funds in order to survive, and grow.  The game has changed.

Markets at Inflection Point?

It's great watching all of the stories come in because we get a great sense for what's happening in the market.  This week has been especially interesting.  Problems in the mortgage market created by the near collapse of Fannie and Freddie, the shutdown of Indymac, a bank we have covered on the site, changes in housing legislation, the continued decline in the dollar, and Chairman Bernanke's testimony that he's pretty much helpless to steer this economy. 

It was a week with a lot of problems.  And yet, there is a sense that maybe we are approaching bottom.  After all, can it get any worse than the near insolvency of Fannie and Freddie?  Maybe it can, but let's hope not.  The financials were up 20% today and while it's way to much to think that we are coming out of this crisis anytime soon, perhaps we're reaching a point where we can say we've taken our best shots, are still standing, and can look ahead to better days. 

Savings Rates and CD Rates Fall Sharply

The Federal Reserve made an "emergency" 75 bps cut in the Fed Funds rate on January 22, then followed it with a 50 bps cut at its scheduled meeting on January 30 - its largest decline of the Fed Funds rate in 8 days in more than 20 years and leading to a Fed Funds rate of 3.00%. As a result, Treasury rates and all short term products have had dramatically declining yields.  Savings rates are falling dramatically and CD rates are being withdrawn constantly.  Against the backdrop of significant inflation and a diminution in the real value of the dollar, Americans are increasingly pressed to try to figure out where to stash cash that preserves its value.  No - this is not an endorsement of Ron Paul - it is just the facts.

Short term Treasuries Yields Drop Dramatically As Investors Rush to Safety

Short term treasuries yields has their single biggest 1-day move in 19 years on August 20 with 3 month Treasuries falling under 3%.  The yield curve has now steepened dramatically.  While savings accounts and short term CDs are still offered well above 5%, cash and cash equivalent securities may soon become less attractive.