Gates, Buffett Top Forbes’ Richest List

Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Forbes' 3rd Richest Makes a Million Dollars an Hour
2. Dollar Craters With Possible End to Rate Increases
3. Condos Lead the Housing Market Down
4. Cablevision Awards Options to Dead Exec

1. Forbes' 3rd Richest Makes a Million Dollars an Hour

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett once again top the list of Forbes' 400 richest Americans, at spots one and two, respectively. And the person coming in at number three this year, Sheldon Adelson, makes a million dollars an hour.

The 400 richest Americans – for the first time all are billionaires – are worth a combined $1.25 trillion, a record. Last year, they were worth $1.13 trillion collectively.

Story Continues Below

Four of the top five richest Americans are college dropouts. Only Warren Buffett completed his Bachelors and even went on to get his Masters, studying under value-investor Benjamin Graham at Columbia.

Microsoft's Bill Gates is worth an estimated $53 billion and has held the top spot on the list for 13 years running. Gates' wealth is now diversified outside of Microsoft stock, says Forbes. He reportedly sells 20 million shares of Microsoft per quarter and puts the proceeds in his personal investment fund, Cascade. Gates announced his retirement from Microsoft this year to concentrate on his charitable efforts.

Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett is $7 billion behind his friend and fellow bridge partner, Gates. The 76-year old Buffett has pledged to give the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation most of his wealth over the next 20 years. But despite making his first contribution this year, Buffett has added $6 billion to his net worth, says Forbes.

Jumping 12 spots to number three on the list is 73 year-old Sheldon Adelson, controlling owner of Las Vegas Sands casino and hotel group. Adelson's net worth is estimated to be $20.5 billion, an increase of $9 billion in a year. Forbes estimates that Adelson had made about a million dollars per hour over the past two years.

Oracle's Larry Ellison and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen round out the top five. Ellison's net worth is $19.5 billion, bringing him from the number five spot last year to number four this year. Allen's wealth is an estimated $16 billion. Allen was the third richest American last year, but dropped to fifth this year.

Editor's Note:

You don't have to be a billionaire to invest like a hedge fund. Go here now.

2. Dollar Craters With Possible End to Rate Increases

The dollar hit a two-week low against the euro on Friday after a regional Federal Reserve survey pointed to a slowdown in the U.S. economy, reinforcing expectations U.S. interest rates have peaked.

The Philadelphia Fed's business activity survey for September posted its first negative reading in over three years, indicating a significant decline in manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region.

Expectations that U.S. interest rates may have no further to rise from the current 5.25 percent contrast with investor views that the European Central Bank will raise interest rates a few more times from the current 3 percent by mid-2007.

"The Philly Fed indicates a broadening out of the pressure, from the housing market to wider parts of the economy," said Tim Fox, currency strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort.

"The market has priced in about a 50 percent chance of a rate cut in the first quarter of 2007, but it may start to bring forward timing for when rates are going to be cut, and that will be a burden for the dollar."

The Fed left rates unchanged earlier this week for a second time in a row, after 17 straight increases.

By 1135 GMT, the euro was trading at $1.2816, up a third of a percent on the day but off an earlier two-week high of $1.2832.

The dollar was slightly lower at 116.24 yen, eyeing the previous day's two-week low.

The euro was up 0.3 percent at 149.11 yen.

Sterling hit a two-year high on the Bank of England's trade-weighted index and held firm against the dollar and euro on growing expectations of a November UK rate rise, to 5.0 percent.

FLEEING RISK

The safe haven Swiss franc rose more than half a percent to a two-week high against the dollar and hit a one-week high against the euro on a sell-off in emerging markets.

"Dollar/Swiss has been the main mover today, that partly reflects emerging market tension," said Fox.

The Polish zloty hit a two-month low against the euro after news Poland's conservatives abruptly ended their rocky coalition with the leftist Self-Defence party.

The Turkish lira and Icelandic crown were down 1 percent, and the South African rand fell 1 percent to a three-year low.

The dollar's weakness contrasted with May/June, when a sharp sell-off in risky emerging market assets and commodities triggered a rally in the greenback.

"The price action could suggest that the dollar is beginning to act as a risk-averse currency, perhaps a warning sign that the markets are returning to the theme of external imbalances," said UBS in a note to clients.

However, some analysts said the dollar was also in part reaping the benefit of safe-haven flows.

"That's why the dollar is supported -- without the emerging market sell-off, the dollar would have been weaker," said Carsten Fritsch, currency strategist at Commerzbank Corporates and Markets in Frankfurt.

Editor's Note:

Check out SectorTrade's six sectors that are poised to skyrocket as the dollar falls. Go here now.

3. Condos Lead the Housing Market Down

The condo market is likely to lead the housing market in its downward spiral, says Kiplinger's.

Condo prices have already dipped. The median price of a condo is $222,000. That's less than the single-family home median of $222,700, which is significant because condos are generally located in high-cost urban areas, points out Kiplinger's. Plus, condo prices are more likely to fall faster than single-family homes because they have been more widely bought as speculative investments.

And the inventory of condos on the market has more than doubled this year, as of April. Plus, the National Association of Realtors says the pace of sales slowed over that period.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, "a tsunami of new units will swamp the market." Plus, apartment conversions into condos are adding to swelling inventories.

Certain regions will endure the most pain, says Kiplinger's. Condo owners in the Midwest, particularly Chicago and the Twin Cities, don't have much to worry about. However, condo sales in the South and West are down 14 percent in the past year and prices are falling. In the Northeast, sales have slowed but prices are up 4 percent.

So, says Kiplinger's, if you're selling a condo, you must price it correctly. Don't try to reach above the market. Plus, you must negotiate and "don't hold out for a slightly better offer," says housing-market consultant Ron Witten.

As for buyers, Kiplinger's says that this is a good time to buy, but prospective buyers in the Southwest and Florida may want to put off purchases for a year as the housing market cools.

Editor's Note:

Sir John Templeton first warned housing prices could crash 50%. Discover how to protect yourself and even profit from the housing crash. Go here now.

4. Cablevision Awards Options to Dead Exec

In one of the more unusual twists in the current wave of stock options irregularities, cable TV operator Cablevision Systems Corp. said it granted options to an executive after he died.

Cablevision restated its financial results Thursday because of improper stock options practices and also said it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, which is investigating the company.

In a regulatory filing, Cablevision disclosed that it had granted options to an executive after his death, but improperly recorded the date of the grant to an earlier time when the executive was still alive.

Cablevision didn't identify the executive but The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation, said the options were given to Vice Chairman Marc Lustgarten, who died in 1999. The Journal said Lustgarten's estate was entitled to exercise the options upon his death.

A Cablevision spokesman didn't return a call for comment on Friday.

Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate with The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm, said that while the grant of options to the dead executive was "a fairly small offense," it "may be demonstrative of a wider lack of ethics."

Cablevision also restated financial results Thursday because of the options practices, with a net impact of reducing earning by $89 million since 1997.

Options give the recipient a chance to buy shares at a specific price and a chance to reap profits if the shares rise before they are redeemed.

Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen noted that while the investigation from the U.S. Attorney's office could take "unexpected turns, we have no current basis to believe that it will result in a material change to the company's financial results or impact the earnings going forward."

Cablevision's shares fell 35 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $22.64 in midday trading Friday New York Stock Exchange.

Editor's Note:

Protect your wealth from the baby boom crisis wave before it's tool late. Go here now.

Editor's Notes:

You don't have to be a billionaire to invest like a hedge fund. Go here now.
Check out SectorTrade's six sectors that are poised to skyrocket as the dollar falls. Go here now.
Sir John Templeton first warned housing prices could crash 50%. Discover how to protect yourself and even profit from the housing crash. Go here now.
Protect your wealth from the baby boom crisis wave before it's tool late. Go here now.
Is there a killer lurking in your mouth? Read this before you chew your next meal or drink a hot cup of coffee. Go here now.