FINANCIAL HOUSEKEEPING | It’s time to re-shop interest rates
With Treasury yields down significantly in recent months, the
interest-rate landscape has been changing. That means consumers should at least consider whether they could get better deals either as a lender – in certificates of deposit and money-market accounts – or as a borrower, with improved loan or credit terms.
One key issue has been a change in the yield curve; for the first time in several years, investors may be able to get a premium by locking money into a CD for a longer time horizon.
You can start shopping rates on all types of financial instruments at , one of the most comprehensive sites on the Web for rate information.
SHORT COURSE | Dead-cat bounce
If a stock – or the stock market – experiences a short, sharp rise in price immediately after a steep fall, it is said to have experienced a “dead-cat bounce.” This twisted trader’s term originates from the morbid saying that even a dead cat bounces if it is dropped from a high place.
Typically, the phenomenon is a brief respite after a volatile decline. By comparison, so-called yo-yo market conditions occur when issues swing wildly up and down in price.
Many experts believe a dead-cat bounce is caused by short-sellers covering their positions at a profit. Short-sellers sell stock borrowed from a brokerage firm, hoping to repurchase the shares at a lower price; if prices fall, the short-seller buys the stock back and keeps the price difference as profit.
