Monday Morning Musings

No real big news this morning. There was an earthquake in Japan, though those markets are closed. The rest of the Asian markets closed lower overnight.

In M&A land, there is a rumor that Vodafone (VOD) may bit $160 billion for Verizon (VZ), and that is pushing the latter's stock higher this morning.

Oil is flat near $74, and bond yields are steady at 5.09%.

Earnings season kicks into high gear this week, with many of the big tech bellweather's reporting. Last week, the Nasdaq outperformed the SPX for the 10th consecutive week. This bodes well for growth stocks, and big-cap tech, but I believe the trend could take a breather in the short term.

The DOW is nearing the 14,000 level. These big, round numbers don't really mean that much, but they sure are reported endlessly in the media. I think the S&P 500 reaching a new all-time high is much more significant.