CountryWide Bank are the guys that were so heavily involved in the SubPrime
mortgages. I heard they took a big loss. Also I would expect their
business might be slow because people don't trust them right at the
moment.
I have been watching CD rates at a number of banks (including
CountryWide).
The rates have been coming down since summer and they drop a little more
each time the FED lowers their rate.
Last summer, 6 and 12 mo CDs for $5k were about 5.0% to 5.5% - but now
5.0%
is really good. Except CountryWide Bank is really high - like 5.4%
(local,
non-APY rate). That is way above everybody else. How can they do that ?
Actually, the question should be: How can anybody do that?
They're accounts are FDIC insured - so everybody should be throwing their
money at CountryWide Bank.
I notice most banks are rated with 1 to 5 stars, but CountryWide is rated
with a 'U' - capital U - for 'unrated', which presumably would scare
people
away. But the accounts are FDIC insured so who cares about the rating ?
I'm sure I'm missing something here.
But I can't figure what's the catch ?
TIA. Bill
