For speculation, buy yuan. For safety, the laddered CD you have constructed is fine, so long as you don't exceed the FDIC insured amount per account. A laddered bond portfolio would probably give you a better return than the laddered CD; but neither is going to do much for you if you are looking for growth. Tax free munis are worth a look, if your income puts you into the higher tax brackets. There is an interesting convertible GM preferred stock offering out there that yields over 4% unconverted, and could do much better than that if the underlying stock value goes up. Personally, I invested in a brewery.