One United, the bank with the highest rate on the BestCashCow savings rate table is now also offering customers $50 cash when they open an account and do on the following:

- set up a new recurring direct deposit, or
- make recurring purchases with your Visa Debit card

The offer is good until June 30, 2008. We don't know how long One United will maintain its high rate.

For more on this offer, click here.

The Fed today cut rates by 0.75% - or 75 basis points - in a bid to shore up the economy. No doubt, Bernanke is hoping the cut will drop rates on mortgages, eliminating some of the reset pain, as well as reinvigorate a dying consumer. The problem is, the rates cuts penalize those of us who have been responsible and who have assets in cash or cash equivalent securities.

As rates fall, the rates that banks pay out on savings, cds, and othe cash equivalent securities drops. With the stock market faltering, cash equivalents appear to be the only safe place to stash your money. Rates on these investments have been dropping since the first 50 basis point rate cut in September. After a high of 6% on some savings accounts and short term CDs, you'll be lucky to get over 5% shortly.

It's true that lower rates my help mortgage holders whose mortgages are about to reset. Rates on the 10 year bond have fallen. But once again, its responsible depositors who are subsidizing people who took out risky, and ill-considered mortgages.

We all hope that the "respected" business news sources get information correct and write factually correct articles. This does not seem to be the case with the recent money market problems.

The Financial Times ran a story entitled: Ailing fund bailouts hit $3bn and repackaged the story in another article entitled: More money funds are bailed out. The articles chronicle some of the problems normally safe money market funds have run into because of the credit crisis. But Crane Data, a money market and mutual fund information company had this to say about the reporting:

"Since the credit crisis began in August, we've repeatedly seen incorrect reporting on money market mutual funds. But a new FT.com article takes the misinformation to a new level. In "Ailing fund bail-outs hit € 3 billion," reporter Deborah Brewster claims, "Two other fund managers have suspended redemptions at money market funds." Speaking on "breaking the buck", she says "Many money funds have done so recently". These statements are both false. Like CNBC and WSJ, FT confuses enhanced cash vehicles with money funds. The article also mistakes total amounts purchased from funds with actual losses or "bailouts", which are a mere fraction of the total securities purchased."

In a previous article I wrote (Are your money markets safe?), I did seem to find two money market funds, not enhanced money markets that were bailed out by their parent bank so there is some stress in the money market world. But there is also quite a bit of confusion and misinformation being reported.