Monday Morning Musings

After a fairly sharp pullback last week, the Nasdaq is under pressure again this morning, trading down nearly -1% in early trading.

Of course, since I always complain about strong opens, I have to say that it is still early and this weakness could certainly fade by the close.

Energy stocks are bouncing again as oil spikes higher, and is testing the $53 level. Natural gas is also above $7. Bond yields are slightly lower, with the 10-year yield at 4.76%.

This week also brings some housing reports in the form of Existing Home Sales on Thursday and New Home sales on Friday. It will also be a very, very busy week for earnings announcements, which always has the potential to add volatility to individual names reporting.

In other news and notes:

• Asian markets rise overnight
• Bear raises target on AMGN to $83
• ETN beats EPS, lowers guidance; stock lower
• GOOG in talks to acquire videogame ad company
• Founder of SWFT to take company private for $31.55/sh
• PETS misses EPS; stock gaps lower
• Wachovia expects ISRG to top estimates
• India looking to get in on gaming craze
• Goldman reits bullish thesis on energy sector
• UBS cuts estimates for DELL
• EFUT announces new contract with J&J
• IBD reports heavy discounting of RIMM Blackberrys
• Piper upgrades URBN (sets $28 target)
• Sun close to a deal to use INTC chips

long AMGN, GOOG, INTC, ISRG, JNJ