Service Corp. executives deny the allegation, but the truth is probably even more embarrassing: They had no way of knowing what the contracts would cost them, because in the heat of the acquisition binge they had allowed the contracts to pile up at the regional level.

FORBES: Buried Trouble

Mr Klesch and his team discovered that one acquisition was losing money on contracts because it had given its customers big discounts, even though other suppliers' prices were higher.

ECONOMIST: Dealing in duds

So we are investing in a variety of things to try to improve oversight of what the federal government buys, including cracking down on no-bid contracts, trying to bulk up on bulk purchases of goods and services, and also expanding the acquisition workforce so that we have better oversight of those contracts.

WHITEHOUSE: Detailing the FY2011 Budget

The IOF will be charged at the rate of 1% on the adjusted notional value, acquisition, sale or maturity of financial derivative contracts whose liquidation value is affected by exchange rate variations and result in increase of net short exposure in relation to the calculated end of the previous business day, within the same institution authorized to record derivative contracts.

FORBES: Brazil Throws Dollar Yet Another Life Raft

Driven by government-wide budget cuts, this reduction is expected to primarily affect acquisition planning, IT system development and program management contracts.

FORBES: Federal Austerity Drives Shift to BPAs and Cloud

It will also have the opportunity to chalk up a lot of its acquisition price to "goodwill" rather than to recording label contracts and movie deals.

FORBES: Goodwill For All