Hopes Of Monday M&A Activity Fade

The market closed higher for the 12th straight Friday last week. Mostly due to the fact that every Monday we hear some big M&A news. But this morning there is little merger activity to report, and the markets are a bit sluggish.

An earnings warning from Nucor (NUE) for Q2 is weighing on the steel stocks, making it today's worst performing group so far. Utilities are bouncing back, despite the fact that the 10-year note is up again, with yields at 5.14%.

Piper boosted its target price for CROX to $96. But for the most part, there are few catalysts to keep this market moving higher in the near-term. Sentiment is already fairly bearish, so I still believe any pullback will be short-lived and the market will go on to new highs.

Valuation models are still very attractive, and we haven't really seen much yet in the way of multiple expansion.