Good morning Reader!

A few general purpose news items to share with you this week:

• This cyclospora thing is nuts. It's been going on for weeks, there are thousands of cases across 34 states, and we still don't know the root cause other than it's fresh produce. Michigan thinks it might be lettuce or salad greens. All advice says cook your food and avoid fresh produce (for now).
• We also might be saying bye to changing our clocks. The House of Representatives approved a bill to make daylight savings permanent. Next we'll see if the Senate agrees and whether President Trump will somehow make this about him. 🤣
• Finally, the FBI warns that you shouldn't check the "Remember me?" box when you log into important accounts as thieves could steal the cookie to bypass 2-factor authentication. (my video explains more)

💲 Best Bank Rates (as of 7/15):

The top rates for each term remains the same but rates overall are creeping up. Interest rate trader now think there's a 16.6% chance of an increase of the Fed rate in July.

💰 High Yield Savings - 3.80% APY + $50/$400 from SoFi​

🏛️ Short Term Treasury - VBIL 3.59%, SGOV 3.56%

📀 Certificates of Deposit (see all 40k+ rates)

🔍 We list nationwide rates, CD Valet has local rates which can be higher so click through to double check for your state.

• 6 months: 4.20% from Quorum FCU (7 mo)
• 12 months: 4.15% from Happen Bank (11mo)
• 60 Months: 4.05% from Bank of Iowa ($50k min)

💵 Bank Bonuses - $200 Barclays, $400 Sofi, $500 Bank of America, $400 BMO, $1200 Raisin & more​

​(View this email as a webpage)​

🎂 Restaurant freebies on your birthday

As we near my birthday month (August), I felt it was a good time to refresh our list of restaurants with free food & rewards on your birthday.

Sorry if your birthday is some other earlier month this year... you were reading an outdated post. 🤪

​👉 101+ Restaurants with Free Food & Rewards on Your Birthday​

🪙 Two Coin Buying Offers

pfsBuyerClub is a service that helps its members get hard to buy coins from the U.S. Mint. I joined as a coin seller, so I opt into deals, try to buy coins from the Mint, and I re-sell them at a pre-agreed price. I've done this a few times, here's my writeup of the experience.

There are two offers right now:

1. July 21: Buy ten American Eagle 2026 One Ounce Silver Enhanced Uncirculated Coin for ~$1700 and PFS will pay you $1800 = $100 profit.
2. July 16: Buy one Freedom Ringing – Liberty Bells - One-Half Ounce Silver Medal for ~$755 and PFS will pay you $1000 = $244 profit. (there's also the Gold coin at $10k with $250 in profit but you have to get the silver medal too.. don't buy the gold coin first!)

I'm skipping #1 but trying to do #2 (silver coin only). You can always opt in and decide not to do it (or fail to buy the coin, which happens when they inevitably sell out)

If you want to join, it's free, and here's my referral link:

​ 👉 Join pfsBuyerClub​

🗞️ Money Stuff I Found Interesting

Here are some interesting articles you may have missed (a lot of Wall Street Journal this week!):

• ⭐ I'm a Financial Adviser: This Is the Discipline You Can Apply to Your Portfolio to Save Yourself a Lot of Money [Kiplinger's]
• ​Campaign staffers keep trying to bet on races despite push to curb insider trading [NPR] - whaaaaat? insider trading on prediction markets???? 🫨
• ​Nine Subtle Signs Your Accounts or Devices Have Been Hacked [Lifehacker]
• 📺 Hans Zimmer Live in Concert [Youtube] - This has nothing to do with money but still amazing.
• ​Normal is forgotten. Only weird survives. [High Agency]
• ​What Happens if My Password Manager Gets Hacked? [Oblivious Investor]

💵 Good Deals If You Need Them

• ​$10 Splatypus: It's a silicone jar scraper you don't need but will probably still get, now 39% off. 🤣
• ​Costco Membership for $65 plus get a $50 Costco gift card
• Need an RFID blocking card? Get six for $8.​
• ​Get $50 from Rakuten after purchases totaling $50+ in 90 days.
• 📀 Wondering if you have a good CD rate? CD Valet has this APY checker that compares it against their universe of 40,000+ CD rates.

What did you think of today's email?​
✅ I Loved It! 🟨 It Was Okay ❌ Not My Favorite​

Talk to you soon!

Jim

​(see archive of previous emails)​