For millions of Americans, the only exposure they have to the bond market involves U.S. Savings Bonds. People who wouldn't know a yield curve if it hit them in the head often own Savings Bonds. And as a general rule, that's a wonderful thing. Savings Bonds are safe. They're simple. And they can be used to introduce people -- particularly children -- to the world of saving and investing.

But as TheStreet.com's Terry Savage points out, buying a Savings Bond at this point in time is probably not the best move an investor can make. Savings Bonds, particularly the EE Series, now "look like a 'sucker' investment," Savage says.

For more information on Savings Bonds, take a look at this overview from About's banking/loan guide.

I live in downtown New York City, within a few hundred yards of most of the major trading and brokerage houses of Wall Street. And when I took a walk this morning before starting work, I overheard the same phrase over and over in conversations throughout the Wall Street area -- "UBS."

What everyone is talking about is, of course, the New York Times column this weekend that revealed insiders at UBS were well aware that the brokerage was screwing its customers as the market for auction rate securities collapsed earlier this year.

There's also a lot of buzz about the article on the Web. You may want to check out pieces here and here .

But if you read nothing else, please take a look at this piece from the Financial Times which says the reason that so many wealthy and institutional investors got into so much trouble in the ARS market was because they believed they would be bailed out by the banks if things went awry. In other words, they took these risks because they didn't believe there were any risks.

Hasn't anyone ever told these knuckleheads that there is no such thing as a sure thing?