Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions). We'll go first to Kevin McVeigh with Credit Suisse.
Kevin McVeigh - Credit Suisse
Hey Bob, Tim, real nice quarter. I wanted to follow-up a little bit on the buyback if possible, you increased that significantly. I wonder if you could just give us a sense of capital allocation across buyback versus acquisitions as we look into 2008.
Bob Crouch
Yeah. I think Kevin if you look, this is Bob. Obviously, based on our result for last quarter, we are a lot more focused on the buyback and I think with the recent authorization and at the share price we are today, we will be very focused on that. We are also focused on acquisitions, we are constantly out there looking, and always having in the pipeline, sometimes it works, sometimes they don't. As Chimes kind of came up out of no where and we were able to take advantage of that. So we're looking at both sides, but obviously we're more of focused on the buyback right now based on valuation.
Kevin McVeigh - Credit Suisse
I am sorry, go ahead Tim
Tim Payne
I just -- one comment to it, that some of our acquisition activity is now focused on continental Europe, and in general there aren’t as many of the types of targets that we would like to find there, so the acquisition activity has been a little bit leaner for us lately, just because of the types of companies we're looking for and where we're looking from them.
Kevin McVeigh - Credit Suisse
Okay. And then, just, the first quarter guidance was very, very helpful. I wonder if you can just give us a sense of kind of margins directionally by individual segment if possible.
Bob Crouch
I think we had very good margins in the fourth quarter and the trends are very good. You will see a seasonal down tick in the US, while the payroll tax resets in the first quarter, but I would hold the line really on international IT segment. I think we've done a good job there, I wouldn’t expect anymore great things out of that. I think flat we'd be very pleased with on the professional side and in international that should be about steady state right there. We are doing a good job in the perm side. If any pressure on the temp side we are offsetting it on the perm side, even though the temp margins did go up, and then the US will have the seasonal down tick about 50 basis points in each unit.
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