Bank Accounts Beat S&P 500 in the First Quarter

Stock investors in the first quarter might have earned a higher return in a much safer asset: the lowly bank account.

According to RateRanker.com, the S&P 500 index returned 0.64% between January 1 and March 31 of 2007, while the highest yielding liquid bank account returned 1.5%. HSBC Direct, a unit of HSBC Bank USA, topped the list of bank rates, with a new money promotional APY on liquid accounts of 6%.

Even non-promotional bank rates beat the venerable index. Countrywide Bank offered a high-yield online account with a 5.4% APY. AmTrust Direct, a unit of Ohio Savings Bank, offered 5.36%

Standard & Poor's reported first quarter 2007 results for the S&P 500 in a press release dated April 2, 2007. The 0.64% return was far below the 4.207% logged for the first three months of 2006. In that quarter, bank accounts didn't come close to beating the index. The S&P 500 is the most widely watched index of large-cap US stocks.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation provides deposit insurance of up to $100,000 on bank accounts, causing them to be regarded as safer investments than stocks.

About RateRanker.com

RateRanker.com ranks the highest-yielding FDIC insured liquid bank savings accounts in the United States. Based in Palo Alto, California, RateRanker.com is a free online chart that enables investors to quickly find the leading annual percentage yields. As interest rates rise and the Internet becomes a more accepted conduit for banking, RateRanker.com is an increasingly popular resource. RateRanker.com is not affiliated with Standard & Poor's, the McGraw-Hill Companies, HSBC Bank USA, HSBC Direct, Countrywide Bank, Ohio Savings Bank, AmTrust Direct, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. RateRanker.com and the RateRanker.com logo are trademarks of RateRanker.com. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. RateRanker.com does not make investment recommendations, and is not making any investment recommendations, overtly or implicitly, by this news release.