Warren Buffett is the world's most successful investor and a self-made billionaire. In 2009, Buffett was ranked the world's second richest man with a personal net worth of $37 billion.
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
– Warren Buffet

1. "Look at stocks as parts of business. Ask yourself, 'How would I feel if the Stock Exchange was closing tomorrow for the next three years?' If I am happy owning the stock under that circumstance, I am happy with the business. That frame of mind is important to investing."

2. "The market is there to serve you and not to instruct you. It is not telling you whether you are right or wrong. The business results will determine that."

3. "You can't precisely know what a stock is worth, so leave yourself a margin of safety. Only go into things where you could be wrong to some extent and come out OK."

4. "Borrowed money is the most common way that smart guys go broke."

5. "The stock doesn't know you own it. You have feelings about it, but it has no feelings about you. The stock doesn't know what you paid. People shouldn't get emotionally involved with their stocks."

AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Consumer products giant Unilever NV said Friday it has agreed to buy soaps and personal care businesses including the Sanex and Duschdas brands from Sara Lee Corp. for euro1.28 billion ($1.88 billion).

The businesses to be acquired, subject to regulatory approval, include Sara Lee's worldwide body care products business and its European detergents arms. In addition to Sanex -- a cheaper parallel of Unilever's Dove brand -- and Duschdas, a German shower gel maker, Unilever is buying several strong regional brands such as Radox bubble bath and Switzal, a maker of baby shampoo.

Unilever said the businesses it will acquire had sales of euro750 million and operating earnings of euro128 million in the 12 months ending in June.

Unilever, the world's third-largest consumer products company after Procter & Gamble Co. and Nestle SA, says its Dove, Axe and Rexona lines will complement the Sara Lee brands.

"The acquisition will strengthen Unilever's leadership positions overall in Western Europe," the company said in a statement. "In addition, there is significant potential to build these brands in developing and emerging markets, which already generate approximately 15 percent of their annual sales."

Analysts said the deal made sense.

"The positioning of Sara Lee is more mid-market and below the other Unilever brands," said Fernand de Boer of Petercam Bank in a note on the deal. The deal fits into a strategy "to play the entire price

Banks are cutting overdraft fees, but there are other hidden charges.

In the wake of the uproar over bank fees charged to debit card holders--and the looming threat of congressional action--banking giants Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo have announced drastic changes to their overdraft policies.

What banking customers might be missing is that debit card overdraft fees are the tip of the iceberg. Banks nickel and dime their customers in numerous other ways that can easily cost the average person $100 or more per year. Adding insult, many of the fees are poorly disclosed and levied regardless of any action the customer does--or doesn't--take.

"There is a long list of fees that people pay that doesn't require any type of acknowledgment on the part of the consumer," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Here are five major areas of hidden bank revenues.

Balance Transfer Fees

Banks commonly mail out ads pitching low interest rates for customers willing to transfer credit card balances from another institution. What many don't advertise is that there is often a balance transfer fee of between 3% and 5% hidden in the fine print.

"If you're transferring a balance from a card with a rate of 15% to a card with a rate or 13%, but you're paying a 3% admission fee, you're not saving any money," McBride said. Moving a balance of $5,000 from