Financial Nuggets

Shopping International Vanguard Emerging Market Index Fund (VEIEX) has returned 38% annually over the last 5 years. $10K invested in 2001 would be $50K today. The emerging market is a growth sector and also defensive by not being significantly impacted by the recent credit crunch or the US housing issues.

"Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg, Dow Jones and others report that as recently as 1970 the U.S. owned 67% of the world's market cap. A decade ago it was down to just 44%. Today the U.S. is about 40%. Yes, we're growing. But the rest of the world's growing faster."
MarketWatch - 'Lazy Portfolios' betting big overseas

McDonald's is Flipping Some Profits Same sale stores are up 5.9% versus .02% growth for Wendy's. Fastest growth is in Asia, Africa and Middle East at 12%. Europe grew at 5.7% and the US growth was 3.5%. Analyst estimates are being revised upwards to account for the good news coming from McDonald's.
Read more at WSJ - McDonald's Is Lovin' Its Results

Get Your Mortgage in Swiss Francs
British bank Lloyds TSB Group PLC is now offering various foreign-denominated mortgages to their US customers. The interest rate fluctuates based on currency rates and can change your payment amount significantly. But there are savings to be considered. At todays rates, you can get a Swiss Franc based mortgage for about 4.43% or a Yen based mortgage for only 2.63%. Read more about this concept at
WSJ - Borrowing House Money From Abroad
LlyodsTSB Group PLC - International Mortgage Service