The next step remains uncertain for what will go down in history as among the worst newspaper acquisitions.

On Friday, the deadline for submitting bids for the Boston Globe, which is owned by The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), passed. Two major contenders were expected to write figures on slips of paper and slide them across the proverbial desk: Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills-based private equity firm and owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and Stephen E. Taylor, whose family sold the Globe in 1993.

Is there any more important rule in real estate than, "location, location, location"? In case you've been living under a rock, that's the answer to the question, "What are the three most important factors in buying a home?" The basic idea is that it's not the Sub-Zero fridge, the spacious deck, or the fancy faucets that dictate whether a home will hold its value. What matters most is where it's located.

USA Today proves the point yet again today with new findings from a Coldwell Banker survey. The survey looked at similar houses -- all with four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a family room and a two car garage -- and compares how much they cost in 384 markets around the world.

The most affordable place in the U.S. is Minot, North Dakota, where a four-bedroom home lists for $132,000. The least? Beverly Hills, Calif, where the price tag is $1.8 million. Take the trends abroad and you can pay $1.8 million for that kind of house in Milan, Italy, or just $56,500 in Bogota, Columbia. The average sale price in the U.S. is $424,000 (you can parse all the data here).

What good does this information do you? Well, if you just paid $2 million for a split-level in Greenwich, Conn., and are worried you bought at the peak, this data may make you feel better. At least you bought in a premium location that will hopefully hold its value.

Better yet, if you are thinking of trading down, a handy tool at the Coldwell Banker site allows you to crunch this data and see how much a home comparable to your own would cost anywhere else in the country. For example, you can trade in that $2 million Greenwich home for a similar $278,000 house in Amarillo, Texas, should you one day decide to head to cattle country with plenty of free cash in hand.

The Big Three come together to discuss the global balance of power. The Yalta Conference?

No, the Milken Institute's 9th Annual Global Conference. Yesterday in Beverly Hills, media men from News Corp, AOL, and Walt Disney came together to powwow.

But you could certainly be forgiven for confusing the two. That's why I'm offering you, dear readers, a quick primer to keep these things straight:

The Yalta Conference vs. The Milken Institute: Which is Doper?

Players:

Yalta Conference: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, USA; Joseph Stalin, USSR; Winston Churchill, United Kingdom

Milken Institute: Jonathan Miller, AOL Chairman and Chief Executive; Robert Iger, Walt Disney Chief Executive; Peter Chernin, News Corp President and COO

Advantage: Yalta Conference

Location:

Yalta Conference: Yalta, a city in Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea, 1945

Milken Institute: Beverly Hills, home of swimming pools, movie stars, and nip-and-tuck procedures

Advantage: Milken Institute