investment firms provide guidance to investors finance mergers and acquisisitions, and help fundpe operarationsnsely await the outcome of their bid. a recent article in the washington post about investors turning bearish is noteworthy. budgetut cuts are cited as a cause for the 15% decline of the blue burned index of federal contractors. -- bloomberg index of federal contractors. to be sure, a budget cuts will hit industries different. contractors will apply more focus to their financial strategy as theyhoose w which oprtunities to pursusue. for links t laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] get the leleage card with special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ ♪ okay. what's your secret? [ ma a announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card.er get it and you're in. >> we're back with our roundtable. we kept talking rht through