NASDAQ (12/06/12)

Korn/Ferry International says for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, the company posted a 2% decline in fee revenue to $196.2 million, with a $14.8 million drop in executive recruitment fee revenue partially offset by increases in fee revenue of $9.4 million in leadership and talent consulting and $1.4 million in Futurestep. Of the increase in fee revenue in leadership and talent consulting, $5.2 million can be attributed to the company’s Sept. 1 acquisition of Global Novations. Additionally, the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Minneapolis-based PDI Ninth House, a provider of leadership solutions. PDINH will be part of Korn/Ferry’s leadership and talent consulting segment. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Korn/Ferry will pay approximately $80 million in cash at closing for 100% of the equity of PDINH. Korn/Ferry will pay up to $15 million of additional cash consideration based on the realization of synergies achieved during the 18 months commencing on the closing date. The transaction will be financed with cash on hand.

MarketWatch (12/05/12) Jeffry Bartash

U.S. service companies grew at a faster pace in November, marking the 35th consecutive month of expansion, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM’s services index rose from 54.2% in October to 54.7% in November. A number above 50 indicates more companies are expanding rather than shrinking. Still, service companies have grown more reluctant to hire new employees. The employment gauge declined 3.3 points to 50.3%, the lowest level since mid-summer. Eleven of the 18 service sectors tracked by ISM reported growth, down from 13 in October.

Wall Street Journal (12/05/12) Patrick O’Connor

At the same time President Obama is pressuring chief executives to support higher taxes for higher-income Americans, Republicans are courting small businesses with their argument that higher taxes will hurt them and put a damper on the economy. Some top chief executives are supporting Obama, with the hope that the higher tax rates will be accompanied by cuts in federal spending and entitlements and result in long-term economic stability. However, while Republicans insist that raising tax rates for high-income Americans will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, research by the Tax Policy Center and the Congressional Research Service indicates that only a handful of small-business owners would be affected.

Wall Street Journal (12/05/12) John D. McKinnon

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) says a plan to limit tax breaks by capping them as a percentage of a taxpayer’s income is an option to consider as Congress and the White House work on an agreement to avoid the “fiscal cliff”. The plan was designed by Harvard University economics professor Martin Feldstein, a former Reagan adviser, who says it could generate substantial revenue. Supporters of the plan believe it would simplify the tax system as more people would take the standard deduction, but critics contend that it would require additional calculations and make the tax system more complex. Jason Furman, a top White House economic adviser, believes $400 billion to $500 billion in revenue could be raised over 10 years with a 2% cap—excluding charitable deductions—applied to households earning over $250,000 annually.