Israel and South Korea could end up joining the same club as Britain, France, Germany and the United States next year, if a leading equity index provider decides to re-classify the emerging markets as “developed.” Index compiler MSCI Barra will begin consulting pension funds, banks, broker-dealers and other investors in July, to see whether Israel and South Korea meet the criteria of a developed market, which include liberalized regulation of capital flows and stock market size and accessibility.

The managing director of MSCI Barra, Remy Briand, would not comment on which criteria Israel had managed to fulfill.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has seen its market capitalization jump from $42.6 billion to $235.2 billion between 2002 and 2007, while the benchmark TA-100 index has gained 62.8%.

Britain’s financial watchdog imposed new rules on Friday to smooth the process for firms raising cash from rights issues, rejecting hedge-fund criticism the move was rushed in.

Investors now need to reveal any short positions over 0.25 percent in companies going through rights issues, under surprise guidelines unveiled by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) a week ago.

The rules came into effect at midnight, despite the hedge fund industry lobby group requesting an extension.

Short-sellers, often hedge funds, sell borrowed shares in the market in the hope of buying them back more cheaply at a later date. During a rights period, trading can be more volatile and losses accelerate if shares fall below the issue price.

The FSA’s move has drawn strong criticism, however.

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), representing hedge funds, said it “set an awkward precedent”.

AIMA said it was surprised there was no prior consultation, and the short time frame to its implementation allowed no time to prepare.

Investors who have taken a short position have until 1530 the following business day to disclose it. They only need to disclose the initial short position.

Royal Bank of Scotland shares fell near to their rights issue price during volatile trading ahead of a record 12 billion pound fundraising earlier this month.

Photo Credit: lumaxart
A new mortgage is costly. That’s what you need to keep in mind before going into that direction. It’s costly no matter if it’s your first loan or a refinancing of one that already exists. Every homeowner pays, on the average, around 3 to 6 percent of the outstanding principal for a new loan. However, you do have plenty to choose from when looking around for a better mortgage.

Seek the help of professionals. Hire the services of a mortgage broker. This can prove to be a real advantage to you, whether or not you have credit problems. Get a mortgage broker who at the outset discloses his fees in writing.

If it’s a non-broker deal, in order to negotiate, you can utilize competing bids. A detailed analysis regarding cost-benefits is of vital importance. But don’t be disheartened even if you have to face a myriad of factors to consider given the importance and impact of this transaction on your future, your efforts will eventually pay off.

What are no-cost mortgages? It is very likely that you’ll come across lenders that offer this type of mortgage. Note that no-cost does not mean free. It’s just a way of saying that expenses are rolled into the transaction, which can be through a higher rate or added to the loan’s amount. The latter situation may prove a real headache later on since this could hinder your ability to subtract your taxes aside from paying interest on the added amount for the duration of the loan.

The way to cut cost is with the line items of the lender, not third party fees that you pay lawyers or county tax offices. However, you should as a rule keep your focus on the big items as these are the ones that can have a real impact on your savings.

Photo Credit: mike (el madrileño)
As a homeowner, it is likely that your mortgage payments eclipsed your other expenses. It is therefore understandable that whenever an opportunity presents to reduce those payments, many will grab it a bit too soon.

Let’s admit it. Who’s not tempted by such an offer? Basing your decisions solely on the amount you can save from refinancing is too tempting. However, this is a very simplistic approach. What you should do is use a model that is more sophisticated, and wait for larger savings as this line of action would benefit you more in the long haul.

Try to evaluate the benefits being offered to you. Shop around and see if there are better offers. If you focus mainly on the amount you can save without first looking around for better offers, you will end up saving less than what you could have if you waited a little while for a better offer. It is equally disastrous to wait too long before taking any of these offers even when interest rates have tremendously dropped.

Just remember that a lot of financial decisions are complicated, although they may not seem to be so at first glance. Keep your eyes peeled for any savings opportunities you encounter. However, avoid jumping at the first opportunity to save tidbits, when you could save so much more by waiting for the better offer.

Photo Credit: Jim Moore
The biggest hassle that you’d probably face as a prospective homeowner is taking out a mortgage. Hearing all the interrogatory questions the bank asks you about your income and property can really be annoying. However, the bank does have reasons for asking all those questions.

They simply want to know whether you can be trusted as a borrower, whether you have enough source of income to pay back the loan, and whether you have some valuable property that can serve as collateral should you be unable to fulfill your obligations.

Are you earning enough to pay back your lender? Your lender of course would be interested to know not only the cash and assets that you now possess, but also how much money you will be able to generate in the long haul, say in a span of about thirty years. Another thing you need to disclose is whether or not you have other debts. Whether you have other assets or not will count a lot when the bank starts figuring out how much money the will lend you. They will most likely look into your personal property, like a car or other movables that they might consider valuable, or they might also look into stocks, mutual funds and other investments that you’ve made.

The thing to remember is you should try to come up with 20 percent, at the very least, of the worth of your new home. This will enable you to avoid having to pay for mortgage insurance, otherwise known as private mortgage insurance (PMI). However, you most likely are already qualified to avail of financing arrangements that will buy you a home for as low as three percent of its price.

Now, as a prospective homeowner, try to see whether you really need to buy a new home, and how long you plan to stay in it. If you’re planning to stay in it for only two years or so, why bother?

Can you afford the mortgage? This is something you really need to figure out before you start borrowing. Don’t rely on the bank to make that decision for you. Remember banks serve their own interests, not yours, and will at times loan you the money even if you can’t really afford to pay it back. You may have to give up certain things just to get that house, and if you don’t want your money tied up on that mortgage, then don’t buy that house just yet.

For those of you who haven’t really understood the ins and outs of leaving tips, here is a short “Rule of Thumb” guide for people living in the Unites States. The reason this is only for the United States, is that different regions in the world have differing opinions on tips, the amounts, and even whether they are legal or not.

Photo Credit: brockvicky

So starting off, here are some benchmarks on tips:

Restaurants

This isn’t as simple as it may look. Many restaurants charge a service fee, and so tipping the waiters might be  a little above what is correct. Also remember that you are charged tax on the bill. The commonly accepted practice is to give 15% of the bill minus service charge, and taxes.

Wine

It is commonly understood that the markup prices for wine can be 200% - 300% of the cost of the wine. Tipping in this case, is understood to be less than for other foods - Usually 5% of the wine bill

At a Bar

You will want to tip the bartender if he or she shows you particular consideration, and gives you quick service even when the bar is full. Give as much as you think the extra service is worth. It can be quite a lot.

Home Delivered Food

The standard is 10%. If the delivery boy has to travel through rain, or other bad weather, it is customary to give more.

Keep in mind that some restaurants forbid you from giving tips at all!

Warren Edward Buffett, legendary value investor, turned an ailing textile mill into a financial engine that powered what would become the world’s most successful holding company.

The Early Years
Buffett was born to Howard and Leila Buffett on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Making money was an early interest for Buffett, who sold soft drinks and had a paper route. Unimpressed, Buffett left after two years, transferring to the University of Nebraska. Harvard rejected Buffett, but Columbia accepted him.

Upon graduation, Graham refused to hire Buffett, even suggesting that he avoid a career on Wall Street. Buffett’s father agreed with Graham, and Buffett returned to Omaha to work at his father’s brokerage firm.

The Foundation of Value
Once in New York, Buffett had the chance to build upon the investing theories he had learned from Graham at Columbia. In 1956, he returned to Omaha, launched Buffett Associates, Ltd., and purchased a house.

In 1985, Buffett shut down the textile business, but continued to use the name.

Buffett’s mystique remained intact until technology stocks became popular.

He remained married to Susan Thompson for more than 50 years after their 1952 wedding. They had three children, Susie, Howard and Peter. Buffett and Susan separated in 1977, remaining married until her death in 2004. Before her death, Susan introduced him to Astrid Menks, a waitress. Buffett and Menks began living together in 1978 and were married in August of 2006.

If you’re Warren Buffett, you give it away.

Buffett’s donations will come in the form of Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock. Buffett’s 2006 donation was 500,000 shares, valued at approximately $1.5 billion.

At a June 2008 share value, the entire donation to the Gates Foundation is worth about $37 billion. Buffett expects stock price appreciation to increase that amount over time. Another stock donation of more than 1 million shares will be evenly divided among three charities run by Buffett’s children.

While the donation to the Gates Foundation was certainly a big surprise, Buffett’s charitable endeavors are nothing new. He’d been giving money away for 40 years through the Buffett Foundation, renamed as the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.

A number of senior Yahoo executives are leaving the Web company as it looks to improve earnings and convince investors it is worth at least as much as a bid it rejected from
Microsoft , a CNBC report said.

President Sue Decker is also considering a reorganization that would centralize Yahoo mail, search and homepage divisions into a global product organization, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.

TechCrunch on Thursday reported that three executives were leaving Yahoo, including Brad Garlinghouse, known for a 2006 “Peanut Butter Manifesto” memo which called for a radical overhaul of the company.

Garlinghouse oversaw services including e-mail and instant messaging. “I hate peanut butter,” he wrote.

Vish Makhijani, general manager of Yahoo’s Web search business, and Qi Lu, the top engineer for Yahoo’s Panama search marketing platform, also were leaving the company, said TechCrunch, which put together a spreadsheet of defections.

Yahoo said at the beginning of the week that Jeff Weiner, recently executive vice president of the network division, had left to work at venture capital firms.

Yahoo

turned down a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft

to sell search ads on its site.

It is now locked in a proxy battle with billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who launched a campaign in May to replace the company’s board after the failure of Microsoft’s bid.

The Journal said Decker wanted to improve coordination between product teams and global sales groups, but gave few details.

Yahoo also wants to build so-called social networking into products, reflecting the need to catch up with relative upstarts such as Facebook.

Yahoo did not respond directly to requests for confirmation about executives’ departures, but said in a statement it had a “deep and talented management team”.

Lots of people are trying innovative ways to save money, and most of them fail. After all, how long can you keep cutting off discount coupons, and finding cheaper and cheaper places to buy gas?

Photo Credit: orphanjones

CNN Money talked to dozens of couples who have been trying out an even more drastic and perhaps innovative way to save cash - Cut out the plastic! Studies comparing the before and after plastic phenomenon have found that people spend upto 30% more cash when they have a Credit card, purchase more non-essentials, and are less price conscious.

The reason is probably that people simply don’t realize how much money flowing out of them. It’s very nice to have the security that a Credit Card provides you with, knowing that you don’t have to exactly calculate whether or not you’re purchasing within your means. Of course, the other reason is you feel there are no restraints on your spending.

According to Richard Thaler, a professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, having a credit card breaks the link between buying something, and paying for it. Another research concluded that people whose credit lines are higher, also end up having more credit.

This means that the savings that not having a credit card can provide, are mostly psychological. You can save a lot more by giving up your credit card, than you can by pursuing other means. Penny wise, Pound foolish!

Oil prices steadied above $134 a barrel on Wednesday after a Nigerian union said it would consider strike action in a dispute with the management of the local unit of Chevron.

Nigeria’s senior oil workers union said it would consider going on strike if talks with Chevron

in a dispute over the transfer of the company’s expatriate managing director fail by the end of Wednesday.

Oil traders said the market was waiting to see the impact of news that Saudi Arabia was poised to pump oil at its fastest rate in decades next month.

“People are wondering whether the extra Saudi oil will pop the price bubble,” said Christopher Bellew of Bache Financial in a CNBC interview.

Analysts are expecting a rise of 800,000 barrels for gasoline and 1.8 million barrels for distillates.

Oil prices are up nearly sevenfold since 2002 on strong demand from emerging economies such as China.

While Saudi moves to dampen markets by pumping more oil, U.S. and British regulators unveiled a plan to slap position limits on U.S. crude contracts on the London-based ICE exchange to rein in speculators.

The combined effort among Saudi Arabia, the United States and Britain could rattle some investors and bring down prices, analysts said.