Emigrant Bank, sponsor of the popular EmigrantDirect American Dream Savings Account , continues to be a leader in Online Banking when they raised their interest rate this morning to 5.15% APY. This increase has admittedly caught us by surprise as Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, signaled at their last meeting that interest rate increases were likely on hold for a while. The Fed said there were signs that the economy was slowing and that although controlling inflation is important, the Fed wanted to balance that against risking pushing the economy into a recession with an overally restrictive fiscal policy. Emigrant apparently wasn't listening and has instead decided that attracting depositors with attractive interest rates is more important. We suggest investors take advantage of these high rates while they can. Guaranteed, they will not last forever.