Choosing the Rate Candidate

In America, no shortage of unscientific, folksy alternatives to traditional polling methods have popped up that attempt to predict the results of November's presidential election. There's 7-Eleven's red vs. blue coffee cup poll, the Washington Stock exchange, and even sales of candidate Halloween masks, to name a few.

But if there was any doubt as to how closely the world is watching the upcoming election in the U.S., witness this unusual promotion from Banco Best of Portugal: Customers making new 60-day deposits can choose between a "McCain Deposit" and an "Obama Deposit," and are awarded interest on the basis of whether they bet correctly on the winner.

Correctly guessing the next U.S. president will earn depositors an 8 percent interest rate, applied retroactively from November 4 to the day they opened the account. A wrong bet will get them just 2 percent interest.

For those interested in keeping score, the bank said it will provide an online tally of how deposit holders are placing their bets.

Liz Gunnison