In a victory for major U.S. companies, a unanimous Supreme Court has set a strict standard of proof for cases alleging predatory bidding in violation of federal antitrust law. The court held that the standard it applied in 1993 to predatory selling also applies to predatory buying.

That means that a plaintiff alleging predatory bidding must satisfy a two-prong test. First, it must show that the defendant bid so high a price on raw materials that it would lose money on sales of its products. Second, it must show that the defendant would later recoup its losses after driving its competitors out of business.

The February 20th decision, Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Co., reversed a $79 million verdict against the lumber company which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed. It was written by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The case involved a claim by Ross-Simmons, a Vancouver, Washington sawmill, that Weyerhaeuser used its dominant position in the Northwest timber market to drive it out of business. Ross-Simmons contended that Weyerhaeuser bid up the price of sawlogs to a level that prevented Ross-Simmons from competing.

To prove this at trial, Ross-Simmons presented evidence that Weyerhaeuser controlled a dominant share of the sawlog-purchasing market, sawlog prices rose during the predatory period, and Weyerhaeuser’s profits declined during the same period. The jury returned a verdict for Ross-Simmons of $26 million, which was trebled to $79 million.
In affirming the verdict, the 9th Circuit rejected Weyerhaeuser’s contention that the two-pronged standard applied in claims of predatory pricing - set by the Supreme Court in its 1993 decision, Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. - should be applied also to claims of predatory bidding.

The Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the Brooke Group test does apply. In so finding, the court noted the parallels between a company’s exercise of monopoly power in predatory pricing and a predatory bidding scheme’s reliance on monopsony power, or “market power on the buy side of the market.”

“If all goes as planned,” Justice Thomas explained, “the predatory bidder will reap monopsonistic profits that will offset any losses suffered in bidding up input prices.”
Given these parallels, the court said, predatory-pricing and predatory-bidding claims “are analytically similar” and “similar legal standards should apply to claims of monopolization and to claims of monopsonization.”

“Both claims involve the deliberate use of unilateral pricing measures for anticompetitive purposes,” Justice Thomas wrote. “And both claims logically require firms to incur short-term losses on the chance that they might reap supracompetitive profits in the future.”
These similarities led the court to adapt its two-pronged Brooke Group test to apply to predatory-bidding claims.

The first prong, Justice Thomas said, requires the plaintiff to prove “that the alleged predatory bidding led to below-cost pricing of the predator’s outputs. That is, the predator’s bidding on the buy side must have caused the cost of the relevant output to rise above the revenues generated in the sale of those outputs.”

The second prong requires the plaintiff to prove “that the defendant has a dangerous probability of recouping the losses incurred in bidding up input prices through the exercise of monopsony power. Absent proof of likely recoupment, a strategy of predatory bidding makes no economic sense because it would involve short-term losses with no likelihood of offsetting long-term gains.”

In setting so strict a standard, Justice Thomas noted that there may be a “multitude” of legitimate, procompetitive reasons for a company to engage in higher bidding. “[T]he risk of chilling procompetitive behavior with too lax a liability standard is as serious here as it was in Brook Group,” Thomas said. “Consequently, only higher bidding that leads to below-cost pricing in the relevant output market will suffice as a basic for liability for predatory bidding.”

The decision is Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Co., 549 U.S. ___ (2007).

This article was originally published in BullsEye, a newsletter distributed by IMS ExpertServices. IMS ExpertServices is the premier expert witness and litigation consultant search firm in the legal industry, focused exclusively on providing custom expert witness searches to attorneys. We are proud to be the choice of 89 of the AmLaw Top 100. To read this and other legal industry BullsEye publications, please visit IMS ExpertServices’ recent articles. Call us at 877-838-8464 or visit us at http://www.ims-expertservices.com.

Who is eligible for a market research online survey? Quite simply, anybody. From students looking to generate extra money for their schooling needs to work at home individuals who like the idea of earning money using their computers. And the best part is, the rewards are excellent when compared to the time required to complete surveys.

Are there still opportunities to get involved? Sure, and the number of companies recognizing the power of soliciting the views of consumers on their buying and spending habits means more and more are turning to paid survey methods to get these views. And they are happy to pay for that information!

The Role Of A Market Research Online Survey

Consumers make certain decisions when purchasing goods. Knowing these decisions before the consumer buys is critical to companies. Gathering information such as target audience; age, gender, income status and leisure pursuits, where and when people shop and what time of the year they make specific purchases in fact, people’s buying habits are all important aspects of a companies research process and knowing this information is like gold. That’s why you are in a great position to benefit via paid online surveys.

Is A Market Research Online Survey Safe?

This is a very pertinent question. In today’s world of opportunity there are many ways to “make a buck” however, this also means there will be unscrupulous operators ready to take advantage of people on the prowl looking for ways to generate extra income. The paid survey environment has copped plenty of scrutiny in recent years because people have had their “fingers burnt” either through parting with their hard-earned cash or getting onto spam lists after giving out personal information.

Someone once described entering the online paid survey field was like “jumping into shark infested waters!” Well, that’s right to some degree but in all honesty, with proper due diligence and common sense, the pitfalls can be avoided. The bottomline is, survey opportunities can buffer a person’s account balance every month with some much needed extra cash. Here’s three tips on finding good survey companies:

- Read lots of reviews before getting involved. By doing this, you’ll get an idea of what’s hot and what’s not and learn from experienced survey takers on the etiquette required on your part to get started.

- Stick with the well known companies initially such as Greenfield Online and Survey Scout

- Don’t part with personal information. It could come back to haunt you.

So What Type Of Surveys Are There?

The most popular form of paid survey today is via email. This is understandable given the popularity of the world wide web. People are more inclined to want to do an email oriented survey because it’s more comvenient. An online survey can vary in cash reward from as low as $3 to anything approaching three figures.

Fun surveys will involve testing out products such as audio and visual equipment or reviewing movies and the incentive here will usually involve a reward point scheme which can be redeemed for goods and services.

Dean Caporella is a professional broadcaster. Use these tips to find the best market research online survey opportunities. Plus, get the latest paid survey news, views and reviews at:http://www.paidsurveyline.com

Pain and suffering are hallmarks of disease, and while philosophers and poets can wax eloquent about their benefits to the spirit, both physicians and their patients are united in wanting to eliminate them from the body. All forms of suffering are not created equal, however, and Darwinian medicine helps us understand the consequences of assuming that they are. Pain itself is a useful signal, of course. The few individuals born without the ability to feel pain lead very complicated and controlled lives and generally die at an early age. It is easy to understand why; we rely on pain to tell us when to move our hand from a hot stove or how far to bend a joint. But what about disease symptoms that range from annoying, like the itch of a mosquito bite, to debilitating, like the cough of pneumonia? What about the general malaise, the mopiness and lethargy that accompany a wide range of illnesses? Could they, too, serve a useful purpose?

In particular, what about fever, the ubiquitous partner of illnesses ranging from colds to malaria? Fever is the most common reason for parents to bring their children to the hospital emergency room, and millions upon millions of dollars are spent each year on fever-reducing drugs like acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and aspirin. Most parents believe that high fevers, those above 104° F (40° C), are dangerous, and can cause brain damage if left untreated.

But Hippocrates was a strong advocate for the beneficial effects of fever, believing that it burned off excesses of the humors or essences of the body, and many cultures around the world used to induce fever to treat disease; in at least one Native American tribe, a sufferer was placed inside the carcass of a freshly slaughtered horse to absorb the heat lingering in the body cavity. In 1927, the Nobel Prize for medicine went to Julius Wagner-Jauregg, an Austrian physician who had tried many cures for the fatal paralysis caused by late-stage syphilis. His breakthrough came when he deliberately infected syphilitic patients with malaria to induce high fevers; most of them showed striking disease remission, whereupon he cured the malaria with quinine. Wagner-Jauregg was not completely certain why his treatment worked, pointing out in his Nobel acceptance speech that the high temperature alone was not the sole mechanism behind recovery. He speculated that the fever activated some other component of the body’s natural disease resistance, but had little information to support this suggestion, since the workings of the immune system were only beginning to be understood. More recently, malaria therapy has been suggested for the treatment of Lyme disease, some forms of cancer, and even AIDS, but it is viewed with considerable skepticism by the medical establishment.

Worse Than The Disease?

So what about that widespread use of drugs to lower fever in children? Practices are changing, albeit slowly. Some medical practitioners now warn against “fever phobia,” the needless panic felt by many parents and health care providers when a child’s temperature rises. A paper published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization surveyed numerous studies on the use of fever-reducing drugs in children and came to the rather startling conclusion that they made no difference in the outcome of the disease, the duration of the symptoms, or even the comfort level of the children themselves. In one of the studies, parents were not told whether they were giving their children a potent drug or an inactive placebo (they agreed to this in advance). When asked which they thought the child had received after the sickness was over, the parents guessed right about half the time, exactly what you would expect by chance. A slightly higher degree of activity and alertness was noted in the children receiving the medication, but this was minor. The authors acknowledge that this is not the final word on the subject, but it does give food for thought.
Medical researchers have also debunked two commonly held misconceptions about high fever in children: that it can result in dangerous seizures, and that fevers from infection must be controlled before they reach a certain point, often 41°C (I06°F), to prevent seizures and brain damage.

Febrile seizures, as they are called, are certainly frightening to watch, but they tend to occur early in the fever process, rather than after fevers have mounted, and a small percentage of children simply seem to be prone to them; administering fever-reducing medicine does not stave off their recurrence. They also do not have permanent ill effects, and although parents are advised to notify the doctor if their child has one, they are not necessarily a cause for alarm. And while it is true that fevers over I06°F are potentially damaging, such high temperatures are virtually always the result of heatstroke or brain injury, not infection, and so fears of a cold — or flu — caused fever rising to this level are groundless. Michael S. Kramer and Harry Campbell, two child-health experts writing in a document for the World Health Organization, say, “One is left to conclude that the principal rationale for antipyretic [fever-reducing] therapy is to soothe worried parents and health care workers and to give them the sense that they are controlling the child’s illness, rather than it controlling them.”

This is ironic, since it is not so simple as us versus them. Fever, as a mechanism that activates the immune system to cure us of the pathogen, is a defense, a tool on our side, and the best way to control an illness is to leave the fever alone, at least some and perhaps most of the time. Certainly we can choose to suppress fever if we have a task to do that requires a more alert mind, but we need to be mindful of the price that exacts.

From the book Riddled With Life by Marlene Zuk Published by Harcourt, Inc.; April 2007; $25.00US; 978-0-15-101225-1

MARLENE ZUK is a professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside, where she studies parasites and behavior in a variety of animals. She is the author of Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can’t Learn about Sex from Animals. She lives in Riverside, California.

For more information, please visit http://www.harcourtbooks.com/bookcatalogs/bookpages/9780151012251.asp

Call it the case of the Renegade Expert. A federal judge’s 78-page order enjoining an expert involved in Zyprexa mass-tort litigation from releasing documents serves as a cautionary tale for any lawyer operating under a judicial gag order.

U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein issued the injunction February 13th after an expert retained by plaintiffs in the litigation against drug manufacturer Eli Lilly & Company leaked documents concerning the anti-psychotic drug to the news media and others.

Despite having agreed in writing to be bound by the protective order, the expert conspired with a lawyer unconnected to the litigation to come up with a scheme for providing the documents to a New York Times reporter and others, Weinstein found.

The expert and the lawyer “deliberately thwarted a federal court’s power to effectively conduct civil litigation under the rule of law,” the judge said, and therefore “should be enjoined to deter further violations of this and other courts’ orders.”

The Alaska Connection

The complex series of events leading up to the order began in October 2006, when the Houston-based Lanier Law Firm, which represents plaintiffs in the litigation, retained Dr. David Egilman to serve as a medical expert.

Earlier, Judge Weinstein, with the consent of the parties, ordered internal Lilly documents sealed in what was designated Case Management Order No. 3, or CMO-3. The order permitted parties to share confidential materials with their expert witnesses, provided the experts agreed in writing to adhere to the order.

At the Lanier firm’s request, Egilman signed the written agreement to adhere to the protective order. Almost immediately, however, he began speaking with New York Times reporter Alex Berenson about how he could provide him with certain protected documents.

At Berenson’s suggestion, Weinstein found, Egilman contacted James Gottstein, a lawyer in Alaska unconnected to the Zyprexa litigation. Agreeing to help Egilman release the documents, Gottstein intervened in an unrelated Alaska case and immediately subpoenaed Egilman to appear for a telephonic deposition and to bring with him all documents in his possession relating to 15 drugs, including Zyprexa.

Egilman notified Lilly of the subpoena but not the Lanier lawyers who retained him. Before Lilly could respond, however, the Alaska lawyer obtained an ex parte order amending the subpoena to direct Egilman to provide the documents in advance of the deposition. Egilman informed neither Lilly nor Lanier of this amended order. (Upon learning of these events, the Lanier firm immediately discharged the expert.)

Plugging the Leak

On December 13th, Egilman began sending the documents to Gottstein electronically. Lilly learned of this two days later, but by then the lawyer had already started to forward them to Berenson and others. Lilly immediately informed the special master overseeing discovery in the Zyprexa litigation. He ordered Gottstein to return the documents. Gottstein replied that he had voluntarily stopped disseminating the documents after having been contacted by Lilly.

On December 17th, a series of articles based on the documents began to appear in the New York Times. Lilly and the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee jointly petitioned the court for an injunction. After a preliminary injunction was issued on Dec. 29th, Judge Weinstein initiated a hearing on a permanent injunction.

In his order following that hearing, Weinstein made the injunction permanent against Egilman and Gottstein. He declined to enjoin any media outlet or Web site.

Weinstein was particularly harsh in his discussion of the expert. “Here, an expert hired by plaintiffs agreed in writing not to distribute documents sealed by court order,” he wrote. “He was given access to those documents so that he could assist plaintiffs - people suffering from serious disabilities, mental and physical - in pressing their civil suit against defendant, a major pharmaceutical company.”

In violation of his legal obligations, Weinstein wrote, the expert “deliberately violated this court’s protective order and published sealed documents, intending that they be widely distributed.” The judge noted that the expert “took particular pains to deny Lilly an opportunity to prevent the breach” by making the documents public before Lilly could act.

“Even if one believes, as apparently did the conspirators, that their ends justified their means, courts may not ignore such illegal conduct without dangerously attenuating their power to conduct necessary litigation effectively on behalf of all the people,” Weinstein wrote. “Such unprincipled revelation of sealed documents seriously compromises the ability of litigants to speak and reveal information candidly to each other; these illegalities impede private and peaceful resolution of disputes.”

This article was originally published in BullsEye, a newsletter distributed by IMS ExpertServices. IMS ExpertServices is the premier expert witness and litigation consultant search firm in the legal industry, focused exclusively on providing custom expert witness searches to attorneys. We are proud to be the choice of 89 of the AmLaw Top 100. To read this and other legal industry BullsEye publications, please visit IMS ExpertServices’ recent articles.

Call us at 877-838-8464 or visit us at http://www.ims-expertservices.com

Infertility costs are a burden on many couples and the simple fact is more advanced treatments are not an option they can pursue because they simply cannot afford it. Is infertility insurance an option?

This is a tricky question to answer because of the complex nature of infertility insurance coverage. The problem seems to lie in the fact fertility issues are not considered as relevant as some other conditions therefore companies are reluctant to include it as part of an overall policy.

Are You Being Denied Infertility Insurance

Insurance coverage is available for many types of conditions, it’s even available for pets but the stigma attached with infertility insurance seems a little hard to comprehend. Consider fertility treatments can run into the many thousands of dollars which is just not affordable for many couples.

Even when infertility insurance coverage is available the qualification process can present further barriers. Restrictions on eligibility such as a person’s age and the length of time they have been experiencing fertility issues can count against their chances of being accepted into an insurance program.

In recent times, the fight to have infertility recognized as a legitimate insurance risk has increased. If you have been recently denied and feel you have a good argument, check with your state authority and ask what further avenues you can pursue.

Employer Contributed Plans

In the US, a good deal of medical/health insurances are taken through employer contributed plans. If your employer is providing you with the avenue to medical insurance check the legal terms and conditions carefully.Your employer will often have the say on the options covered with these plans. About 20 per cent will include infertility insurance amongst the conditions which are covered but the majority don’t.

An argument against insurance coverage for fertility issues is those suffering from it are considered a minority group. The cost to the average tax payer would increase. Arguments for infertility coverage will say that this argument can also be made against other conditions.

The High Cost Of Infertility Treatment

This could be one of the reasons insurance companies may consider offering basic coverage for infertility. The initial costs for testing and diagnostic techniques are usually within the scope of most couples budgets however, once the treatments become more advanced, involving expensive drugs and fertility assisted procedures, the costs can spiral out of the scope of most.

Don’t despair though if you are struggling financially as some states have introduced mandates which requires some form of infertility insurance coverage. This is certainly an area worth investigating further.

Dean Caporella is a professional broadcaster. Think you’re covered by infertility insurance?Think again! It could affect your hip pocket! Plus, get the latest infertility news and reviews at:http://www.infertilityline.com

How To Use Logo To Gain A Successful Brand

This article introduces the joining of logo and branding. A successful logo builds the beginnings of branding and together they represent your business.

Logo & Branding

Your logo is a symbol, a representation of your business. As a representation of your business it embodies your characteristics, values, and a positive feeling. This piece of art is placed on everything from newsletters, business cards, professional documents, packaging and any other piece of material sent into the public eye.

Your logo posses a great deal of power when representing your business. It is a symbol where company growth, recognition and credibility begin. When consumers see and purchase your products and/or services, an increase in accountability, awareness, and achievement is gained. Naturally, this takes time and energy, but it begins with your logo.

This logo then evolves into a brand. Your brand is what consumers expect from your business. They want to purchase your brand knowing that they will receive the same or a better performance than last. When a brand fails, this is when the consumer tries another brand.

With communication and marketing plans your business can develop your logo into a brand. When doing so, execute your look and feel to your target audience by presenting a unique identity. Consumers were already familiar with your logo now familiarize them with who and what you represent.

An exceptional example is Nike. Their marketing and communication plans are always filled with energy, life, and power. Their brand associates high goals, high achievements and high performance with their products. This is consistent in Nike’s television, magazine, billboard, Internet and store marketing. Keep in mind there logo is always present. Usually at the end of a Nike commercial a dominant noise brings awareness to the Nike Swoosh, leaving you with the power Nike knows you’ll feel when you purchase their product.

Start by developing a logo that represents your business well. Use that symbol to gain recognition. Then explode into the market with a plan that executes your businesses characteristics, values and emotions. Stay true to your logo and brand in service, product, communication and marketing.

Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at http://www.kineticamedia.com The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.

The customer is always right, right? You’d better believe it if you want to survive in today’s competitive marketplace.

When you follow the money trail back to its source, you understand that taking good care of your customers is not just important, it’s imperative. More than any other factor, the service you give your customers affects your business success or failure.

Good customer service starts at the moment a prospective client comes in contact with you. Let’s say you own an electronics store. A man walks in looking for a plasma TV. The first part of good customer service involves pleasant, helpful workers who respond to the customer’s needs with a helping hand guiding him through his experience. With correct customer service, he is able to see his options, find what he needs, and leave satisfied with a purchase that pleases him. But good customer service doesn’t stop there.

Suppose the customer gets home and begins to watch his new TV. Within minutes the TV starts to smell funny and make weird sounds. The man calls the store very upset with his new product.

Assume he reaches an unhelpful salesperson who, in so many words, tells him “tough luck.” Not only will the customer never shop at your store again, he will tell an average of seven people about his poor experience with you. However, if the person on the phone apologizes, takes responsibility and offers him an acceptable solution, he is likely to calm down. By allowing him to easily return the product and get a replacement, this store guarantees his loyalty, future business and positive referrals.

Thus, good customer service starts at the initial point of contact and ends when the consumer is completely satisfied with the product or service, which may be long after the sale takes place.

While this may seem like a lengthy process, great customer care is the single most controllable difference between you and your competition. With so many choices available, consumers have little or no reason to remain loyal to a company if they are not 110% pleased with the experience. This brings us to the next important aspect of customer service, the FUBB Factor.

Follow Up Beyond Belief - FUBB. This is the biggest factor between good and great customer service. FUBB refers to the practice of going above and beyond the call of duty to please the client. In today’s highly competitive economy, it is crucial to follow up in any and every way possible. Follow up to the point that your customers cannot resist telling other people about you.

If a customer makes a suggestion, follow up on it. If a customer experiences a problem, follow up and make sure it has been resolved to their satisfaction. If a mistake was made, take responsibility for it whether or not you are the one who made it. Then ask your clients for feedback in order to gauge how they truly feel about your service.

When the customer is happy, business is good. They tell others about you. Life is good. But if the customer is unhappy, you are likely to face bad reviews, negative word-of-mouth advertising, and a lost customer forever. Be sure to make excellent customer service a top priority in your long list of things to do. It’s just smart business. A single customer, well cared for - someone whose concerns you have followed up on beyond belief - can pay you rich dividends well into the future.

http://www.Free-Insurance-Leads.com Gary Le Mon is a wholesale distributor of fixed indexed annuities for Allianz, American Equity, Sun Life Financial, and ING. Author, speaker, radio and TV host, Gary pioneers media-based marketing systems including newspaper articles, dinner seminars, radio talk shows, and TV interviews. He is coach, mentor and motivator to over 850 general agents in his insurance marketing organization, InsuranStar Marketing. See also Insurance-Lead-Programs.com.

Credibility is a key attribute in an expert witness, every trial lawyer would agree. But how do you gauge a potential expert’s credibility? What attributes provide the best predictors of how the expert will measure up in the eyes of a jury?

For Kirkland & Ellis partner Andrew R. McGaan, a lawyer who has tried and won jury and non-jury cases throughout the United States, experience has taught him to look for something other than what he was taught as a young lawyer.

Conventional wisdom teaches lawyers to look for well-credentialed experts with degrees from prestigious schools, honors in their field and experience testifying. That wisdom carries kernels of truth, the Chicago-based McGaan says, but credentials are not at the top of his list.

“Credibility comes first and foremost from having an expert with direct experience in exactly the same problem as you are dealing with in the courtroom - experience in the real world, not as a testifying expert,” he explains.

But hands-on experience is only half the equation. The other trait McGaan looks for in an expert is passion about his or her work. “If they have an innate passion for what they do, that comes through in their ability to explain the field to everyday people on the jury who have no background in it and probably don’t care about it.”

An expert McGaan found with the help of IMS ExpertServices provides a case in point, he says. He was defending a pipe manufacturer in a products liability claim brought by an oil refinery after a large fire forced it to shut down. His defense called for close scrutiny of how the refinery maintained its pipes, responded to the fire and rebuilt in its aftermath.

The expert he sought would have to be thoroughly familiar with the design, maintenance, and construction of an oil refinery. IMS helped him find someone with precisely that experience. He was a petroleum engineer who had spent years running and maintaining refineries and budgeting and overseeing their rebuilding after fires. He had even been president of an oil company that owned a refinery.

There was one problem. He had never testified in court. That worried McGaan, but the veteran trial lawyer weighed the expert’s lack of testimonial experience against his track record and passion for his work and made the decision to retain him. He was glad he did.

“While telling the story, whether on direct or cross-exam, it was obvious to everyone that he loved what he did - that he had a natural interest and passion for worrying about refinery problems and repairs,” McGaan said.

With an untested expert, his ability to stand up to cross-examination is McGaan’s biggest worry, he says. “Experts can get eaten alive on cross, if they don’t understand what an artificial dialogue it is.”

But in the case of the oil-refinery expert, he proved to be particularly effective when being cross-examined, McGaan recalled. “Every time he was asked any question along the lines of, ‘How do you know that?’ his answer was, ‘Because I’ve done exactly that.’ Even though he was on the witness stand, his physical demeanor remained that of a petroleum engineer who felt most comfortable standing around pipes.”

In fact, too much testimonial experience can sometimes be a detriment during cross-examination, McGaan believes, because what comes through to the jury is the expert’s courtroom experience, not his passion for the topic.

McGaan draws an analogy to hiring a plumber for your home. “When a plumber comes to your home for the first time, you can quickly tell if he’s done this work before and if he has a passion for getting it right.”

Jurors look for similar qualities in a trial witness. “The jurors know that the spotlight is on them,” McGaan explains. “They look at every witness with the same question, ‘Are you someone who is going to help me sort through this problem or not?’”

This article was originally published in BullsEye, a newsletter distributed by IMS ExpertServices. IMS ExpertServices is the premier expert witness and litigation consultant search firm in the legal industry, focused exclusively on providing custom expert witness searches to attorneys. We are proud to be the choice of 89 of the AmLaw Top 100. To read this and other legal industry BullsEye publications, please visit IMS ExpertServices’ recent articles.

Call us at 877-838-8464 or visit us at http://www.ims-expertservices.com

I am often asked whether men or women make better stock market traders and investors. My answer has always been women, and I have now been proved right. A recent study by Digital Look, who analysed 100,000 portfolios, revealed that ordinary women investors, living all over the country and dealing in shares via the internet, telephone or investment clubs are consistently doing better than highly paid professionals in the city. During the period of the study the average female portfolio rose by 10% compared to just a 4% rise for the overall FTSE index and a 6% increase for that of the average man.

Apart from being proved right, what is even more encouraging is that both the men and women outperformed the money men of the city. If it is therefore possible for these ordinary investors to outperform the so called professionals, why don’t more people handle their own investments? I have no doubt there are many reasons including, a lack of both time and knowledge, but I personally believe the main reason to be fear. The world of finance can seem intimidating and complex and it is an impression those on the inside do little to dispel. However, what they sometimes forget is that without the contribution of those on the “outside” this world would not exist at all. The money fuelling this industry comes from the everyday activities of ordinary men and women and from the mundane markets such as savings and pensions.

For women it is even more important that they overcome this fear as within the next generation they are forecast to own over 60% of all personal assets, the first time this has ever happened. More women are starting businesses and soon there are going to be more women millionaires than men. Many companies have recognised this trend and have been quick to develop specialist services, yet the financial industry seems extremely resistant to this trend, with only a handful making half hearted attempts. In general they only pay lip service to this huge and growing market.

Women make better traders and investors for many reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, women are prepared to listen, admit any mistakes and learn from them. Men, on the other hand, will blame the market or their advisers, rather than their own judgment and will stick doggedly to a view even when the facts are obvious that they are in fact wrong. Getting a man to admit an error of judgement or that they have made a mistake is very rare. In the trading world this can be a costly personality trait, and yet it is a common one in men. Ask most men the reason for this and they will answer that admitting a mistake is a sign of weakness. As all women know, it is in fact the reverse. A classic behaviour is in map reading. All men think they are natural navigators and will refuse the offer of help even when completely lost, preferring to carry on until they find some recognisable landmark. This is generally miles from where they wanted to be yet this small success will be offered in vindication of the major detour that has resulted. Women will stop and ask as soon as they are lost. In the trading world this is a major strength. Accepting a loss and moving on is one of the key characteristics that defines a good trader from one who will be wiped out very quickly.

Women are happy to learn, men are not. Give the same piece of technical equipment to a man and women and observe the different approaches. The man will not read the manual, but attempt to use the equipment straight from the box. Invariably this fails, but reading the manual is a last resort for the male, who ploughs on regardless until finally admitting defeat and is forced to grudgingly read the instructions. The woman on the other hand will probably read the manual first before attempting to use the equipment. If both are doing it together then conflict ensues!

Finally women make better traders as ironically they are more able to remove emotion from the trades. Men will become irate and take it as a personal insult when trades go wrong, whilst women are more philosophical about the loss and take a more dispassionate view. Being able to trade without emotion is one of the keys to success in the financial markets - just ask any successfully trader - this is a business and not personal.

Anna Coulling is a full time currency trader and investor, who specifically helps women to understand the financial markets. All the information on her web site is free. .For further information and examples please click on the following link : http://www.making-bread.co.uk

The Roman matron asked Rabbi Yossi ben Halafta:

“How many days did it take G-d to create the world?” He answered: “It took him 6 days, and that is what written in Shmot 31:17: “During 6 days G-d created sky and earth…»

And what has he been doing since then?-asked the matron.

He has been arranging the marriages. This man will be a husband for that women etc- said Rabbi Yossi

But I can also do that!- said matron. - I have lots of female and male slaves. I can easily make up couples from them.

Rabbi Yosef said: You think that arranging marriages is very easy? But for the G-d it is just as hard as to split Red Sea.

After Yosef left, the matron called 2000 of her slaves, ont thousand of female slaves were standing in front on thousand male slaves. Then she said: This man will be a husband of that woman, that woman will be a wife of that man and so on. The marriages were made the same night.

But the next morning just married couples came to matron, one man had a wound on his head, another one didn’t have an eye, a woman had a broken leg. They started to shout: I don’t want that woman! I can’t live with that man!’

The matron asked to call Rabbi Yossi and when he came, she said: Your Tora is right, and what you told me is true.

Rabbi Yossi answered: Now you see! You thought hat arranging marriages is an easy task. And it turned out to be harder then splitting the Red Sea. Pesikta da-Rav Kahana 2:4

Matching people is not an easy task at all. We are all different and of course every person has special views and likes. It is impossible to find somebody who will match you 100%, but you should not worry about that! What is important is to find somebody who will be willing to compromise and solve the problems together.

Many people think it is impossible to create a good family with somebody who is not from your own culture. Our experience has proved that most of Russian women actually have the life values that men wished American women had: they are loyal, sincere, family oriented (doesn’t mean that she only wants to stay at home, but the first priority is always family, many people think that in Russian culture women are housewives, and all they can do is to take care of house and kids, in fact most of the girls have jobs, but they would not put in in front of family interests). Russian women pay lots of attention to their outlook.

All those qualities surely make it easier for a man to find a great match. We believe that matching people is a serious process and it has to be fully supervised by professionals. We wish you good luck in finding your match!

Mishael Mordinson is a representative of A Mordinson Introduction http://www.mordinson.com Elite Dating and Marriage Club in Kharkov, Ukraine. Presenting some of the most Attractive Traditional Life values Russian Brides. Learn more about Marriage Minded Women from Ukraine at http://www.mordinson.com

Mordinson company was started by Efim Yankelevich Mordinson as a family organization in 1980, the main direction of it was photography business. The new direction “Introduction service” has been developed in 1999.

During the years of successful work A Mordinson Introduction has matched many happy couples. The photographs and the personal experience sharing of some Mordinson clients you can find at Love stories.

The Mordinson works towards your unique needs and requirements for a significant relationship. A Mordinson Introduction specializes exclusively in long-term relationships.