Sharebuilder $50 Account Opening Bonus

Sharebuilder is offering a $50 New Account Bonus. To make it even easier, they're going to give you $50 to get started. Simply open a new account using the promotion code ORANGE50CASH and make a trade before 12/31/08. Within 4-6 weeks you'll see a $50 deposit in your account.

This is the link that people have received in the mail . It autofills the promotion code for you.

The best way to utilize this code is to open an account, fund it with about $100 and initiate a partial position in a stock etf such as SPY for $1, by paying $4 for an automatic trade. 4-6 weeks after you receive the bonus, you could withdraw all the cash and use it. Don't sell the stock. Let it be your "fun" investment account.

Here's a portion of the fineprint:

Securities products are offered by ShareBuilder Securities Corporation, a registered broker-dealer and Member FINRA/SIPC. ShareBuilder Securities Corporation is a subsidiary of ING Bank, fsb.Securities products are: Not FDIC insured - Not Bank guaranteed - May lose value.You must have a U.S. Tax I.D. (Social Security Number) to open a ShareBuilder Account. ShareBuilder limits one promotional award per unique Customer or custodial beneficiary. Not valid with IRA or Education Savings Accounts. ShareBuilder reserves the right to terminate this offer at any time and to refuse or recover any promotion award if ShareBuilder determines that it was obtained under wrongful or fraudulent circumstances, that inaccurate or incomplete information was provided in opening the account, or that any term of ShareBuilder's Account Agreement has been violated.

$125 Bank Bonus from Chase

A fellow blogger at Bankvibe found a $125 Bank Bonus opportunity for setting up a Chase Free Checking Account.

Coupon Code: 3302697030420017

The offer is good till 01/31/2009. The minimum to open is $100 .

Happy Holidays everyone!

Highest Yielding Savings Accounts Nationwide

For savers who are not ready to commit their funds to a fixed term Certificate of Deposit, high yield online savings accounts might be the answer to parking short term cash. One thing that differentiates most savings accounts from CD's is that savings accounts interest rates tend to fluctuate, whereas CD rates are mostly fixed. Some savings accounts however, do not allow you to make more than a limited number of transactions per month. There are several issues to keep in mind however, such as minimums to open and maintain your savings account, monthly service fees and interest rates.

The three best savings accounts in the country include:

UFBDirect.com , which currently offers a 4% APY savings account with $500 required to open the account. There is no check writing but no monthly service fees and no minimum balances to maintain in order to avoid paying out fees.

Dollar Savings Direct, also offers a 4% APY savings account with the same characteristics as the one offered by UFBDirect.com. The only exception is that the minimum required to open your account with Dollar Savings Direct is that you deposit $1000.

GMAC Bank offers a 3.75% APY savings account with a minimum of $1 to open and maintain your savings account. There is no checkwriting against the account but there aren't any maintenance fees associated with it either.

These are all good deals if you have some cash to park on a short term basis.

Best CD ( Certificate of Deposits) Rates - 12/15/2008

Last week the average of the best CD deals for the 9 sample periods in my survey declined significanlty to 4.10%, from 4.35% APY achieved last week. The table below includes the name of the bank, the APY and the minimum for opening the certificate of deposit.

Period Bank APY Minimum

1 Month UFBDirect.com 3.35% $8000

3 Months Nexity Bank 3.21% $1000

6 Months Nexity Bank 3.78% $1000

9 Months Stonebridge Bank 3.95% $500

12 Months GMAC Bank 4.1% $500

2 years GMAC Bank 4.25% $500

3 years Intervest Natl Bk 4.35% $2500

4 years Capital One Direct Banking 4.64% $5000

5 years Washington Mutual Bank 5.00% $1000

Average 4.10%

With the current deflationary environment where commodities and stock prices are falling rapidly, savers have nowhere else to go for safety but cash. Last week the government also sold 3 month bills yielding negative interest rates. Furthermore the Federal Reserve is expected to decrease its FED Funds Target rate on its next meeting.

$100 Revolution Money Exchange Bonus

Revolution Money Exchange is a system, similar to paypal, which allows free peer to peer transactions and money exchanges. If you don't have an account with RME, consider doing so - it only takes 2 minutes of your time. The company is a new competitor to PayPal and is trying to get as many members as possible. There is a reputable institution behind the service -First Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD.



Once you have a RME account, sign up for their Revolution card and get up to $100 bonus. Use your RevolutionCard to make a purchase of $50 or more between 11/15/08 and 1/31/09 and receive a $5 credit on your statement. This offer may be used by RevolutionCard credit card accounts up to twenty (20) times for a maximum credit to your account of $100. This offer may be used by MoneyExchange RevolutionCard accounts up to five (5) times for a maximum credit to your MoneyExchange account of $25. For more information check out the Revolution Card deals page.

$375 worth of Bank Bonuses deals expiring soon

There haven't been any notable new bank bonuses deals out there. Especially with the holidays approaching I doubt there will be many bank deals until early 2009. If you haven't already done so, check out the hottest bank bonuses, which are expiring soon below:

- E-Trade Bank $25 Savings Account Opening Bonus. This deal requires a $1 deposit, with a potential to make $25. It expires December 17, 2008.

- National City $150 Bank Bonus. Check my review of the deal here.

- Chase Business Checking $100 Bank Bonus. According to this offer, which expires on December 31, one has to open a new personal checking account online by December 31, 2008, with a minimum of $500 not currently on deposit.

- $100 Bonus from Ameritrade. This offer expires on December 31, 2008. It should be funded by 12 monthly consecutive automatic electronic deposits of $100 or more.

Bank of America $50 Bank Bonus

Bank of America has a limited $50 bank bonus offer which expires February 28, 2009.

Offer Details:

-To receive your $50, apply online or go to your nearest banking center. Use offer code AOU261208, and open a personal checking account before February 27, 2009. Click here for a location near you.

-Offer expires 2/27/09 and is available through our online application or in any Bank of America banking center. Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts and/or existing checking customers. Student checking accounts are not eligible for this offer.

-Bank of America associates are not eligible for this offer.

-All accounts are subject to our normal approval process.

-This minimum deposit required to open a new, personal checking account and receive the $50 offer is $100.

-BofA will make every attempt to directly deposit the $50 into your new Bank of America checking account. If for any reason they are unable to do so, a check will be issued as a replacement.

-The bank bonus will be deposited within 90 days of opening your new account.

-Bank of America will report the value of the offer to the IRS on Form 1099.

To learn more about this offer visit Bank of America offer page from this link.

Best CD ( Certificate of Deposits) Rates - 12/08/2008

Below you could find the best CD rates as of 12/08/2008 in the US. The table below includes the name of the bank, the APY and the minimum for opening the certificate of deposit. (check here for full view)



The average APY on the best cd deals in the country increased to 4.35% from 4.31 last week.

Best CD ( Certificate of Deposits) Rates - 12/01/2008

Below you could find the best CD rates as of 12/01/2008 in the US. The table below includes the name of the bank, the APY and the minimum for opening the certificate of deposit. (check here for full view)


The average APY on the top CD rates in the US declined to 4.31% from 4.34% last week.
With short-term US treasure maturities yields approaching zero, most investors should consider purchasing Certificates of Deposit instead and spreading their purchases across several banks if they have more than $250,000 to invest.
If you are looking to lock in current rates for more than 5 years, check out this recent post on the best long term CD rates.

7.25% high yield on savings and checking deposits through BECU

BankVibe gave me a heads up on a special deal with BECU (Boeing Employee’s Credit Union) which is offering it’s customers a 7.25% interest rate on newly established checking and savings accounts. The catch is that the maximum amount that could earn you the high interest rate is $500. Furthermore when you apply online for membership, a minimum opening deposit(s) of $5 is required at the time of application.

You could check out the deal from this link. Thanks again BankVibe for the heads up!