Salem Five Direct has a double bonus: It’s raised its savings rate and guaranteed that rate through summer’s end.

The online division of Salem Five Bank in Salem, Mass., bumped its eOne Savings Account rate from 0.85% APY to 1.00% APY.

This rate is good through August on new accounts. Customers with existing savings accounts or branch bank checking accounts are not eligible. Click here to read more

Earlier this month, we crossed a once unthinkable threshold when the top 60-month bank CD rates fell below 2%.

The top deal on our CD Rates Leaderboard now pays just 1.95% APY.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t find better CD rates. Click here to read more

With CD rates continuing to drop, I’m considering different strategies for redeploying maturing deposits.

One is buying long-term callable CDs and federal agency obligations.

These instruments are subject to early redemption, at face value, at the issuer’s (but, sadly, not the holder’s) option.

So you can earn a higher interest rate when compared with, for example, government-insured certificates of deposit with the same term.

But interest-rate risk is shifted entirely to the investor. Click here to read more

What the Federal Reserve said Wednesday shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Ben Bernanke and company telegraphed it for weeks.

But that doesn’t make the words hurt any less: The Fed expects to keep interest rates at record low levels “at least through late 2014″ in an effort to boost an economy still hurting from the 2008 recession. Click here to read more

Capital One Bank’s free checking account pays a healthy rate and guarantees it for a year. But how much you can earn depends on where you live.

Those who live near a branch earn a rate that rivals the best nationally available savings accounts with the High Yield Free Checking account, provided they keep at least $5,000 on deposit at Capital One.

The bank’s Interest Online Checking account, for consumers who don’t live near a Capital One branch, pays a lower rate but has no balance requirements. Click here to read more

KeySource Commercial Bank has bounded onto the CD Rates Leaderboard.

The single-office bank in Durham, N.C., ties for the best nationally available 6-, 12- and 60-month CD rates, and we’re tracking its solid rates in the other standard terms.

It also has a 7-month CD special that pays 1.00% APY.

Since Intervest National Bank dropped its 60-month CD rates slightly today, KeySource Commercial Bank co-leads that term with Tennessee Commerce Bank.

Both pay 1.95% APY. Click here to read more

With gasoline prices on the rise again, it’s a good time to take a look at credit cards that can help you defray at least some of those higher prices.

The cards below have some of the most generous rewards on gasoline purchases but also carry a warning: Many come with very high annual percentage rates.

Here are some of the best gas rewards credit cards: Click here to read more

The 36-month term is the latest casualty of falling CD rates.

Just last week, AmTrust Direct (www.amtrustdirect.com) regained the lead spot on our CD Rates Leaderboard, but only because it hasn’t cut its rates recently.

It’s held the same rate since Oct. 3, which was only good enough for a tie for fourth place then.

The online division of Cleveland-based AmTrust Bank, a division of New York Community Bank, pays 1.55% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Click here to read more

The top nationally available savings account rate was just cut, so it’s nice to find at least a little glimmer, even if it comes with some caveats.

If you open a new savings account or money market account at Flagstar Bank (www.flagstar.com), it will guarantee the promotional rate for four months.

And that rate: 1.15% APY. Click here to read more