Senior Federal Reserve official James Bullard said Thursday that he was "hopeful" of the country's potential for strong economic growth as the year closes out.

While we would always want to view the glass as half-full rather than half-empty, when it comes to CD rates, it would be difficult to maintain all that optimism

CD rates took quite a beating this week as averages for 6-month and 12-month CDs plunged to lower depths, from 1.14% to 1.10% APY and 1.41% to 1.38%  APY respectively. Rate averages for long term CDs also fell, albeit only by a modest 0.01%.

Even as the Federal Reserve boldly declared only this week that the recession was coming to an end, its benchmark short-term interest rates remained low at 0% to 0.25%, further saying that rates "will stay low for a longer period of time."

Most bank depositors are familiar with the process of purchasing a CD and how a CD works. Basically, you leave your money in the bank for a specific period of time and at the end of that period, the bank puts in an additional amount to your initial investment as payment for the use of your money.