The driving philosophy of corporate America used to be based on the principle of in-house development. If it wasn’t made in-house, companies simply weren’t interested. Companies wanted things over which they had full control, and from which they could enjoy 100% of the profits. Total independence. Total control. If a good idea came along that wasn’t developed in-house, the temptation was to find some way to tweak it and claim that it was developed in-house.

All of this led to some pretty nasty lawsuits. One of the best known cases, popularized in the movie Flash Of Genius, was that of Robert Kearns. Kearns was a Detroit engineer who developed the electronic intermittent windshield wiper for automobiles, getting his first patent for it in 1967. When he failed to get the major automakers to buy his idea and then saw them come

With the United States market still in slump, businesses project difficulties in profit increase in the next 7 years. Job cuts continue in the US and the rate of job creation of 25 per year is not sufficient to offset job losses in the next 5 years. On the other side of the world, Indian outsourcing firms show an opposite trend. Global IT service providers such as Infosys which provides technical consulting, design and development of business solutions have been aggressively increasing their workforce. Last week, the company reported that in the second quarter it has hired 6,069 people offsetting the 4,521 employees it laid off in the same quarter. Tata Consultancy Service is also bullishly hiring with plans of hiring 25,000 people worldwide for this year 2009 and 90%

U.S. stocks broke a three-day slide and rose more than 1% Monday as a fresh round of strategic corporate deal-making spurred hopes that normalcy is returning to the financial system.  The multi-billion dollar merger announcements signaled a resurrection in merger activity and investors picked up stocks. 

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 124 points, or 1.3% and the broader S&P 500 index rallied 19 points, or 1.8% and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 40 points, or 1.9%.  The share gains were broad based with 28 of the 30 Dow components advancing.  On the New York Stock Exchange, four stocks rose for each one that declined in price.  Only 978 million shares exchanged hands on the NYSE.  Trading was light due to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.     

In a spate of big corporate merger announcements, Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) said it will pay $6.5 billion for Solvay's pharmaceutical business, and

Another Monday… Another “Game-Changing” Deal

by Martin Denholm, Senior Editor

Monday is Merge Day.

A few weeks ago, the market saw the busiest day of deal-making in three months, as the news-wires lit up with news of several big takeover announcements, including Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) buying Marvel (NYSE: MVL).

It happened again the following week. In fact, over a 10-day period, more than $40 billion worth of deals were announced.

And even as the third quarter winds down, the pace is still frenetic in the M&A market.

Today saw technology equipment firm Xerox (NYSE: XRX) announce a $6.4 billion deal to buy Affiliated Computer Services (NYSE: ACS) – its biggest acquisition on record.

Xerox investors greeted the news with a collective “ugh,” as shares of the photocopying and business supplies giant spiraled down by 17%. While perhaps

• Xerox (NYSE:XRX) is buying Affiliated Computer Services (NYSE:ACS) for $6.4 billion or $63.11 per share, equaling $18.60 in cash plus 4.935 Xerox shares for each ACS share owned.

• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) said they have purchased 18.1% of Crucell (NASDAQ:CRXL) for $440 million, a 30% premium to Friday's close.

• Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) is likely to launch a hostile bid for Cadbury (NYSE:CBY), in a deal worth $17.6 billion, as the London Observer noted.

• Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) increased its global sales projection for 2009 by 3% to 6.7 million cars.

Consorteum Holdings Inc. is a company in the financial services, payment and transaction processing industries. The company’s services provide clients with customized, innovative technological, right source solutions that create, augment and enhance existing payment and transactional processing systems.

Consorteum Holdings has assembled their management team with great care. This dedicated management team brings together a wealth of knowledge in the financial, payment and transaction processing industries. The team also brings over a century of high-level expertise that will be used to lead the company in the future.

CEO and Director Craig Fielding has nearly two decades of business management experience. After having served in senior management roles in systems, sales and services for Xerox, he has subsequently developed consulting businesses, sat on the management team at Soft Tracks Enterprises, and was part of the management start-up team at Mint Technology Corp.

President/COO and Director

Consorteum Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: CSRH) is a company in the financial services, payment and transaction processing industries. The company provides electronic transaction processing and management services to financial institutions, healthcare, government, public and private sector firms.

Consorteum’s management and consulting team brings over 70 years of experience in the financial services, payment and transaction processing industry. Here is the team:

Craig Fielding, CEO and director – In January 2006, Mr. Fielding co-founded Consorteum. He brings over 19 years of business management experience including 11 years with Xerox in a number of sales roles. Mr. Fielding has also successfully developed consulting businesses, sat on the management team at Soft Tracks Enterprises, and has played a management role as part of the start-up team at Mint Technology Corp.

Quent Rickerby, COO, president and director – Mr. Rickerby co-founded Consorteum in January 2006. Having owned

The UpTurn, Inc., under the leadership of founder and CEO Jeffrey Eckman, is combining real estate needs with lifestyle interests to create what some are calling the world’s first Web 2.0 real estate site. As a startup venture, the company is being capitalized with investments from private funding and capital markets, and is also receiving resources and support from another young company founded by Eckman, BGV (Blue Green Ventures).

BGV provides business development strategy and tactical services for early stage companies, with the goal of creating and expanding markets through innovative business models. The UpTurn is BGV’s primary focus, but the quality of BGV team members suggests a bright and diverse future for the company. Besides Jeff Eckman, who has over 15 years of Fortune 500 and business development experience, BGV management includes the following:

• Bernard DeCunha, Executive VP and General Manager,

The UpTurn Inc. is developing an innovative online real estate matchmaking exchange where residential real estate market participants are matched with each other based on their individual profiles and intended roles in the market. The UpTurn intends to serve all participants in the residential real estate industry.

The company is led by a very strong management team with a broad range of experience. The UpTurn’s management team includes:

Jeffrey M. Eckman, CEO – Mr. Eckman founded Blue Green Ventures in 2008 and has over 15 years of leadership experience in the technology, media, and healthcare industries. His background includes a mix of operational, business development, and consulting practice from his work with various firms.

Mr. Eckman holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to starting Blue Green Ventures, he worked for several Fortune 500 companies including Viacom and Wyeth, as well

Economist sees a floor for financial stocks thanks to a reversal in bonds. He also says nonfinancial profits are better than many think.

David Morris is chief executive of London-based Global Wealth Allocation Ltd., an asset management and research firm with around $3 billion in assets under management. He began his career by serving in economic development for the Canadian government in East Africa. In 1980, he took over as treasury manager for Xerox's Canadian operations. Then, six years later, he became treasurer for Campbell Soup in Canada. Morris later started a pension consultancy business. In 1992, he founded GWA.

Morris is probably best known for developing a series of 20 indexes that are sold worldwide in partnership with the FTSE Group. The benchmarks, which were created in 1996, are "wealth-weighted." GWA takes standard FTSE indexes and weights components based on three