Tom Taulli
California - http://taulli.com

Tom Taulli is the author of various books on finance, including The Complete M&A Handbook (Random House) and Investing in IPO's (Bloomberg Press). In addition to his writing, Mr. Taulli has appeared on high-profile television venues such as CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg TV, and has been quoted in the various print media sources such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and LA Times.

When it comes to large acquisition deals, eBay (EBAY) has had a spotty history. Then again, the reason was usually that the transaction had only a tangential strategic connection (like Skype). But, when there were clear synergies, the results have been particularly strong. Just look at PayPal.

Well, it looks like eBay has learned this lesson. That is, the company's latest big deal is the $2.4 billion acquisition of GSI Commerce (GSIC).

It seems inevitable that our smartphones will become our wallets. After all, they have become a key part of our lives. And smartphones have the power to carry out secure and sophisticated transactions.

As is no surprise, many companies are scrambling to be winners in the e-wallet space. Take American Express (AXP). The company has launched a new e-wallet called Serve.

Over the past few years, cloud computing has become a hot topic. A variety of companies -- like NetSuite (N) -- have built applications that are based on Internet technologies. The result is improved productivity and lower costs.

Yet, in order to continue to propel the cloud-computing revolution, there needs to be a strong technology foundation, such as with servers, operating systems and application development tools. And one of the top players in the market is Red Hat (RHT).

With a name like Drugstore.com (DSCM), there is little doubt what the company does. Unfortunately, the stock price has been miserable since the dot-com bust. All in all, it has remained in the low single digits. Then again, the company has had to deal with tough rivals, like Amazon.com (AMZN).

But Thursday, investors got a nice surprise. Walgreen (WAG) has agreed to buy Drugstore.com for $429 million. In early trading, DSCM was up a whopping 112% to $3.79.

So far this year, the IPO market has gotten off to a good start. Just look at Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD), which develops human resources software. Last week, the company's public offering gained nearly 50% on its first day of trading.

Although, one of the most anticipated IPOs is LinkedIn. In fact, through some of its SEC filings, it looks like the company is poised for a strong debut.

Founded in 1999, Shutterfly (SFLY) is a dot-com survivor. In fact, the value of this photo site is now about $1.2 billion.

So why not pull off a big deal? Well, this week, Shutterfly agreed to pay $333 million for Tiny Prints. The transaction is a blend of stock and cash.

Founded in 2004, Tiny Prints operates two main websites: Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas. They essentially provide personalized stationary, photo books and invitations. Moreover, the company has been effective in integrating with Facebook.

While he could have retired many years ago, Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.B) Warren Buffett continues to act like he's in his prime. Hey, perhaps at 80 years old, he is in his prime.

This week, Buffett is visiting South Korea. Of course, he likes the growth prospects of the country and has the cash to pull off some deals there.

Interestingly enough, Buffett was planning on visiting Japan but he had to cancel the trip. Yet he did mention that the country is a great place to invest.

The nice thing about stock options is leverage. This is often magnified when there is a buyout, when there is usually a hefty premium.

Ironically enough, OptionsXpress (OXPS) would have been a nice options play today as the stock price is up about 15%. You see, Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) has agreed to shell out $1 billion for the company.

Over the past few years, the shareholders of H&R Block (HRB) have taken many hits. The recession slowed growth and the company's digital strategy has been lacking.

But there are some signs that things are improving. In fact, on news of H&R Block's fiscal third-quarter results, the stock is up about 5%.

Over the past couple years, the storage market has been the target of big acquisitions from companies like HP (HPQ) and Dell (DELL). With cloud computing -- as well as the emergence of data-hungry applications -- the growth in the market has been strong.

To capitalize on this, some of the top companies are looking at IPOs. For example, Fusion-io made its filing this week. The lead underwriters include Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

The past few years have been brutal for small businesses but it looks like things are starting to improve. A report from the National Federation of Independent Business shows that confidence is at a three-year high. There are even more plans to hire employees.

Well, top companies and investors are seeing opportunity. For example, Google (GOOG) Ventures, Salesforce.com (CRM) and Sequoia Capital have announced a $32 million round for HubSpot.

Google's (GOOG) mobile operating system, Android, is an example of how acquisitions have made a big difference. This technology came from a deal struck in 2005. Then, after lots of internal development, Google launched Android in 2007. Since then, the growth has been sizzling.

In fact, according to the most recent report from comScore, Android's market share hit 31.2%. Yes, it is now the number one mobile operating system.

Yet again, there is some buzz that a deal is in the works between Sprint Nextel (S) and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA. In fact, it may be more than just a rumor. In early trading Tuesday, the shares of Sprint were up nearly 6%.

In light of the need for spectrum investments, Deutsche Telekom has already said it's looking at strategic partnerships. So could this really be code-speak for a merger deal? Perhaps so.

When it comes to hard-disk drives, Western Digital (WDC) is the largest publicly traded operator in the U.S. And with its recent deal, it will get much larger. That is, the company has agreed to pay $4.3 billion for the data storage business of Hitachi.

Based on the stock move for Western Digital, investors love the transaction. In early Monday trading, the shares were up a sizzling 17.33% to $35.21.