I'm filing this one under careers. At least the guy has chutzpa. Merrill Lynch, one the largest brokerage firm in the world, lost billions in his one year in office, and was quickly sold off to Bank of America, but the Wall Street Journal is reporting that CEO John Thain still requested a $10,000,000 bonus. Hmmm.

Curious about this, I called a compensation expert to her take on it. She told me that often executive compensation contracts do include provisions for bonuses despite corporate performance. "They're just part of how the salary is structured." But she also added that "it goes against compensation based philosophy. A bonus should be based on success and what has been achieved to warrant the bonus."

So let's give Thain the benefit of the doubt and assume that the bonus was written into his contract. Maybe he even had a $20 million bonus coming due and is only requesting $10,000.000. It still brings up two other points:

1. In the book Good to Great, the business book by Jim Collins that analyzes the traits of successful executives and companies, he identifies a categorizes executive manageent on a 1-5 scale. Level 5 executives are the best and the ones that consistently produce value. According to the book, a Level 5 executive would not accept a $10,000,000 bonus in a year when his or her company is doing so poorly. It would go against their personal ethos of leadership, sacrifice, and company first.

2. John Thain must have a tin ear if in the midst of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, at a time when his company needed to be bailed out, he is asking for $10,000,000. And once again, what does that say about his management skill?

Online brokers are stepping up in a bid to grab customers amid a volatile market. TD Ameritrade recently came out with an offer of 30 days of free trades and $100 cash top open a brokerage account. Now, Etrade is offering up to $500 cash for users who join its Power ETrade program.

To be eligible, you must first become a member of Power Etrade. To qualify, you must execut at least 30 stock or options trades per quarter. If you deposit $50,000+ at Etrade and do at least 30 trades per quarter, the price per trade is $9.99. So, to become a Power Etrade customer you have to plan on spending a minimum of $300. If you planned on doing a lot of trading anyway, this is no big deal. If you're a one stock a year kind of investor, this deal may not be for you.

So, assuming you become a Power Etrade customer, you then will receive the cash credit based on how much you deposit. The schedule is below:

Deposit Cash Credit

$250,000+ $500

$100,000 - $249,999 $250

$25,000 - $99,999 $100

$1,000 - $24,999 $1

I'm not even sure why they bothered with the lowest tier unless there was some regulatory requirement.

I have a regular, non-Power Etrade account and have been generally pleased with it. In addiiton, to their brokerage account, Etrade also offers a competitive savings rate with a $1 minimum balance.

• See how Etrade compares to other online brokers

For awhile several years ago AmTrust was a leader in savings rates and in certain certificate of deposit terms. But recently, they have fallen off the charts. Two days ago, I was forwarded an email that one of our readers received from AmTrust providing them with an opportunity to redeem their CD. In essence AmTrust was doing a voluntary recall of some of its high yield deposits. It set off warning bells since this is generally not a normal bank business activity. The email read in part:

"A special offer for our AmTrust Direct customers: With the holiday season approaching, AmTrust Direct is offering a limited time opportunity to our customers. Until December 5, 2008, you can close your CD without an early withdrawal penalty."

Then today I saw an article on BankDeals that points out the bank received a cease and desist order from the Office of Thrift Supvervision. The order specifies that AmTrust must raise its capital ratios, not provide certain types of loans, limit golden parachutes, and also "shall not solicit deposits by offering interest rates more than 75 basis points over the local rates in the association's normal market area."

This explains AmTrusts's behavior. The bank is taking steps to comply with the OTS provisions and to raise its ratios and soundness. This includes calling back high yield certificates of deposit and lowering rates on new accounts. For the moment, AmTrust is done competing in the high yield arena, although many would argue it hasn't been a credible competitor for some time. Many customers were turned off by its 3 month bonus rates and the creation of new account types that paid high interest while leaving older accounts to earn less.

One has to wonder though if these actions will precipitate deposit withdrawals and impair its liquidity, the very thing the OTS is trying to prevent.

AmTrust is FDIC insured so if you have an account or money with them, you are covered up to $250,000 until December 31, 2009, at which point FDIC insurance drops back to $100,000 per account per person.

See the best online savings rates here.