Ordinary men and women who knew very little of the ways that stock markets operated began to buy stock to join in this speculative boom. Many people even borrowed money to allow them to buy even greater amounts in the belief that the good times were bound to continue. They ignored all the warnings and speculation drove prices ever upwards regardless of common sense. It is really the question of only that because with Certificates of Deposit, your principal is assured by the government; you are never going to lose that. It all boils down to getting the highest CD rate possible. One of the things that can help you is to check out which of the CDs gives you the highest rate using online research. Sit down with a calculator and a pen and figure out the monthly payment of the loan multiplied by the term. Then do a similar calculation with your outstanding credit card balances taking the monthly minimum payment. That's usually about 5% but check, your card might be different. If you feel the difference will be worth it for you then start shopping around for the best interest rate and term you can find. One thing which many people tend to forget when they first start to invest in the markets is that they are investing for the medium to long term. If you have that clearly in the forefront of your mind you will make much safer investment decisions. That's simply because you're far less likely to panic if you see the price of your stocks fluctuate dramatically. Though technologically these accounts are quite advanced and secure, there are a lot of people who are still quite apprehensive about their ways of working and would not like to trust them with their money. The Ugly Side of Online Savings Accounts Identity theft through the Internet is a very real problem and the online savings accounts are prime targets. It was to London that the first American Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, turned when he wanted to begin development of economic power in the New World. Hamilton founded the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in the late 18th century where it was joined around fifty years later by what is now the American Stock Exchange.