Drip. Drip. Drip.

So it goes in the CD market again last week, with rates once again sliding downward, slowly, but ever so surely, as the BankingMyWay CD Rate Tracker  demonstrates pretty much down the line.

Week-to-week, CD rates on five-year CDs are down from 2.25% to 2.22%; while rates on four-year CDs are off ever so slightly from 2.07% to 2.06%. Further down the ladder, one-year CD’s fell from 1.33% to 1.27%, while six-month CDs fell from 0.98% to 0.95%.

Right now, that means CD rates are their lowest point since the start of 2009, not the benchmark bank investors were counting on going into the new year.

CD investors can take some consolation in the fact that, historically, CDs lag other credit market vehicle’s pricing moves. Given that mortgage rates are on the rise, up from 5.10% last week to 5.54% this week, according to the BankingMyWay Mortgage Rate Tracker, and that U.S. Treasuries are mostly at higher levels than when they began the year, CD rates should eventually follow their upward paths.

In the meantime, the primary reason why credit rates, with the exception of CDs, have gone up is inflation – or at least the prospect of it. The Federal Reserve's mission is to keep inflation in check. If it has to lift rates eventually on its key interest indexes, it will likely do so if it means capping a lid on a slowly growing economy’s inflationary tendencies.

Another key factor continues to be the march away from cautious investments like bank CDs and into the more aggressive territory of the global stock markets. You really can’t blame investors. If recent consumer confidence surveys are any indication, many Americans believe the worst of the economic storm is finally behind us. With talk of a second “Great Depression” abating, and the stock market on the march (up over 2,000 points in 2009), why settle for a pittance on CD returns when you can get much more return these days on the average stock index fund?

Not helping CD rates is the continued pressure – at least implied pressure if the rumors out of China are legit – that foreign investors could tip over the U.S. bond market applecart by selling major assets in Uncle Sam. It’s not so far-fetched, unfortunately. The U.K. has already lost its coveted “AAA” credit status, and there is some talk from foreign bourses that the U.S. could follow suit, if it doesn’t get its spending habits in order (and pull the plug on its paper money printing presses).

Until such talk subsides don’t expect much upward movement in CD rates, at least for the short term (i.e., a month or so). Assuming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner calms the Chinese down (and he’s been over there trying to do just that) then CD rates will, after a short period, rise along with other mainstays of the U.S. credit market, and finally give CD investors something to cheer about.

One way to find the freshest and best CD rates in your area – or across the U.S. – is to use BankingMyWay’s CD Rate Search. Just type your state or zip code in and start browsing right away for the best deals.

For more smart ways to save, spend, invest and borrow, visit MainStreet.com.

—For more ways to save, spend, invest and borrow, visit MainStreet.com.