Monday Morning Musings

The market has once again quickly recovered the small declines seen at the open. This is a continuation of Friday's strength, where the NYSE registered more than 300 net new highs. That's very strong, and a sign of broadening leadership in the market.

If you want to see an example of a forgiving market, look no further than United Healthcare (UNH). Despite the CEO stepping down due to the options investigation that has plagued the stock, UNH dipped briefly near the open but is now acutally trading higher. Go figure.

Oil prices are roughly flat, but the energy stocks continue to get a bounce. Bond yields are down slightly to 4.79%.

Get ready for a busy earning week.

In other news and notes:

• Is the market simply waiting for Dow 12,000 before it pulls back?
• UNH CEO McGuire to step down on December 1, 2006
• OPEN purchased by two private equity firms for $930 million
• Samsung profits rise +16%
• INTC said Q4 sales to be higher than expected - Bloomberg
• Hawaii hit by 6.6 magnitude earthquake
• OSK buys JLG for $28/share
• ETN reports strong earnings; stock up
• HNT ups stock buyback to $450 million

long INTC, UNH