STAYING AHEAD: More Stockbrokers Now Offer Federally Insured Bank and S&L CDs
H check a stock-brokerage house. More and more brokers now offer federally insured bank and savings and loan certificates of deposit to their customers, at excellent interest rates.</br></br>To get one, however, you have to open a brokerage account. Almost inevitably, this will lead to making other types of investments as well. But the strong-minded can get away with buying only a certificate of deposit. You pay no fee; the broker is reimbursed by the bank or S&L where you place your funds.</br></br>Recently, with the national average one-year CD rate at 7.17 percent, you could have gotten as much as 7.55 percent at Prudential Bache, Charles Schwab and Shearson, Lehman, Hutton, and 7.4 at PaineWebber and Merrill Lynch. (These rates change weekly, and there is usually a range of rates, depending on which institutionsÛª CDs are offered.)</br></br>The minimum investment: Generally $1,000; though $2,000 at Shearson and $5,000 at Schwab. Maturities range from</br></br>The highest-yielding one-year CD last week, according to the publication ÛÏ100 Highest Yields,Û was offered by Charter Savings Bank in Huntington Beach, Calif., at 8.06	percent. So while many of the CDs bought through brokerage houses pay above-average interest rates (indicating above-average risk), theyÛªre generally not from the very sickest institutions. Brokers do their best to deal with banks and S&Ls that are likely to survive (although if one fails, your money is fully insured).