For the first time ever, the number of millionaires in the world broke through the 10 million mark last year. All said and done, the total number of people who can claim to have $1 million in the bank grew to around 10.1 million people, and on average, these lucky few boast around $4 million in net worth.

While the number of people in the "millionaires club" is definitely impressive, they still do not have to worry about the clout of their $1 million claims being diluted just yet. Ten million people may sound like a lot, but when you consider the world's total population is currently running at around 6.7 billion, you find that the percentage of all people on the planet who can claim to have $1 million is less than 0.2%. So don't feel too bad if you are not part of the club just yet.

As in the past, the majority of millionaires have an American address, with one out of every three millionaires being American. But there are a few other areas of the world where growth is out-pacing the United States. Developing economies in India, China and Brazil resulted in huge growth in those countries, especially in India, where the number of millionaires rose by about 23% last year alone.

Financial powerhouse Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LEH) reported its second quarter earnings this morning and handily beat Street estimates. Lehman reported earnings per share of $2.21 versus last year's $1.69. The Street estimates called for earnings per share of $1.88.

Lehman reported strong trading revenues and investment banking revenues as well. Lehman's only weakness for the quarter was its fixed income division, which was actually down 14% year-over-year. The company cited the continued weakness in the mortgage markets that held back its growth. Had Lehman experienced similar growth in its fixed income division as the other components of the company, the numbers would have been even stronger, by far.

On deck for this Thursday is The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) second quarter earnings report. Consensus is for $4.79 earnings per share according to Thomson Financial. Goldman does not have as prolific of a fixed income operation as Lehman Brothers, so its exposure to mortgage market weakness should be at a minimum. One would conclude that if Lehman comfortably beat estimates, then Goldman should follow suit with an even larger beat. The fixed income drag for Lehman, however, did highlight the incredible momentum in its other business lines.

Goldman should handily exceed expectations on Thursday and the stock is already up 1% on the Lehman report and its own anticipated earnings release..

Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research.