The past few days have brought on a smattering of welcome news, not only for the US economy, but also for consumers and businesses which need good news the most.

Umbrella Direct keeps pushing the upper limit with its 12 month CD rate.  On October 29th the Bank raised their 12 month CD by 0.04% putting it in the number one spot in our rate tables with a 2.10% APY.  

Yesterday, October 29th, Umbrella Bank increased their 12 month CD by 0.04% putting it in the number one spot in our rate tables with a 2.10% APY.

Despite the big banks' surprisingly solid first quarter performances that were reported over the past week or two, many banks are still struggling to overcome the effects of the economic downturn. In fact, just last Friday April 17th 2009, two more banks went into the receivership of the FDIC. This brings the number of failed banks for the year to a total of 25 – the total number for last year (2008). While the public's growing optimism and hopes of the economy bottoming are all good news, so far it hasn't quite translated yet to an ease in the bank failures that continue to threaten the smaller banks.

With investment rates seemingly headed for rock-bottom, it's always good to know that there are still banks out there that offer rates much higher than the going national average.

Here's the latest recap of the best account alternatives this week based primarily on interest rates and minimum balances that should be deposited or maintained.