Monday Morning Musings

The market is opening on an up note again, with the usual Monday morning M&A activity.

GE confirmed the sale of its pastic division for $11.6 billion; Alltel (AT) got a buyout for $27.5 billion; Hologic (HOLX) agreed to buy Cytyc (CYTC) for $6.2 billion ; and China is reportedly investing $3 billion in Blackstone, which is slated to go public soon.

On the earnings front, Lowes (LOW) reported weak earnings and guidance, which is not all that surprising given the state of the housing market. The stock is off -3% in early trading.

Asian markets were higher overnight, while the Yen is lower again versus the dollar. Oil is trading lower, near $64.50, and bond yields are a bit higher with the 10-year yield at 4.81%.

The big rise in bond yields and oil prices has not stopped the advance in the stock market, highlighting what I believe to be strong support that equity valuations still have room to expand.