I thought it would be interesting to look back at my last two Memorial weekend weekly summaries. What I find interesting is how similar conditions were back then as compared to today. In 2010 the debt crisis in Greece contributed to the worst May performance of the Dow since 1940. Over the last two years both the European debt crisis and weak economic data in the U.S. have pushed Treasury yields lower. Today, the European debt has become worse, and while there have been some improvements in the U.S. economy, the data continues to show weakness....

We had another CD rate increase at one of the new internet banks. In the previous week it was CIT Bank which increased the rates on its 1-year and 2-year Achiever CDs. This week it was Barclays which raised several of its CD rates. The new internet banks of Barclays, CIT Bank and TIAA Direct are definitely adding to the competition and are helping to provide a little upward push for internet deposit rates.

The most noteworthy rate increase at Barclays was on the 5-year term which went up 5 basis points to 1.80% APY. That is low, but...

Yesterday I described how a SmartyPig gift card can be a useful alternative to a savings bonds for gifts now that paper savings bonds are no longer an option. Even though you can no longer give a paper savings bond as a gift, you can give digital savings bonds as a gift. For those who purchased old paper savings bonds as gifts, it might take some time to get used to the new way of purchasing digital savings bonds. Also, you'll have to get used to the idea of there being no physical paper savings bond. TreasuryDirect has provided...

NuVision Federal Credit Union has another $150 checking account promotion. It has been over two years since my last report on one of these. This new one is advertised on the credit union's home page. The details are listed in this NuVision promotions page as of 5/25/2012.

The first $50 requires that you open a free checking account and establish direct deposit of at least $200 within the first 90 days. Also, eStatements must be established and maintained.

The second $50 requires that you keep the checking account active by having a minimum of 5 signature-based debit card...

The FDIC released its first quarter 2012 profile on the banking industry today. Here are some of the noteworthy excerpts from the press release:

• Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the [FDIC] reported an aggregate profit of $35.3 billion in the first quarter of 2012, a $6.6 billion improvement from the $28.8 billion in net income the industry reported in the first quarter of 2011.
• loan balances declined by $56.3 billion (0.8 percent) after three consecutive quarterly increases
• Net operating revenue (net interest income plus total noninterest income) totaled $169.6 billion, an increase of $5 billion (3.1 percent) from...

If you have a family member graduating from high school or college in the next month, you might want to consider a SmartyPig gift card. This can be a good option for those who used to give paper savings bonds as gifts.

This year the Treasury ended allowing paper savings bonds to be sold at banks and credit unions. Paper savings bonds were nice gifts. As described in this Savings Bond Advisor post, the paper savings bond "is something practical, and it teaches people how to save money. It's a great teaching prop: an oversized piece...

Banks and credit unions continue to come out with new reward checking accounts. New accounts are not as common as they used to be, but any new accounts in today's environment is good news. Also, the rates and balance caps are lower than what we remember in the "good old days", but these reward checking accounts continue to be a reasonable alternative to internet savings accounts. The latest new reward checking account is the Kasasa Cash account at First Utah Bank. The bank also offers a linked savings account called Kasasa Saver which can be useful for savers with...

Earlier this month I received anonymous comments from readers who claimed to be from banks who said the FDIC has been sending letters to "all of the banks to cut or close or convert all reward checking accounts." I asked my contacts at BancVue about this, and they said they have seen no signs of any such letters. Below is an excerpt of the reply I received from BancVue:

We work with over 700 financial institutions across the country, and we have not received word from a single one of those institutions regarding letters from the FDIC concerning their relationship...

Union Bank, N.A. is offering two competitive CD rates for residents in Oregon and Washington State. These are a 2.00% APY 5-year CD and a 1.50% APY 3-year CD. Minimum deposit is $350. These rates are listed in the Union Bank CD rate chart as of 5/24/2012. These are only shown when you select the states of OR or WA. The rates are much lower for California and other states.

I wasn't able to find a CD disclosure online which lists the early withdrawal penalty. I called Union Bank yesterday (1-800-796-5656), and asked about the EWP. The...

There are currently 10 banks offering nationally available savings or money market accounts with a yield of at least 1.00%. I last reviewed these in my weekly summary. Many of these are promotional rates that will fall after the promotional period. Others are new internet banks which launched their savings accounts this year. So they don't have much history. Only 2 out of the 10 have been offering top rates for over a year. These are MyBankingDirect and Incredible Bank. I thought it would be useful to compare these two accounts and see how their rates have...

Last year Bank of Internet USA changed its name to BofI Federal Bank. Bank of Internet USA still exists, but it's a division under BofI Federal. UFB Direct is another division under BofI Federal. Both Bank of Internet USA and UFB Direct offers personal accounts, but no business accounts. I just noticed business accounts are now being offered directly from BofI Federal's website, and the rates are very competitive.

In this interest rate environment, business accounts have low rates just like personal accounts. There was a small improvement for businesses last year due to a regulation change. As I...

In the last few weeks I've been taking new looks at some of the old reward checking accounts that continue to be good deals. Today's updated review is on the reward checking account at TwinStar Credit Union which it calls Accelerator Checking. I first reviewed this account in March 2007 when it had a 6% APY for all balances. The rate has fallen, and there's now a balance cap. Nevertheless, it remains competitive for reward checking accounts.

Accelerator Checking has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements (as of 5/22/2012):

• 2.50% APY on balances up to...