Renewed M&A Activity And Fund Flows Lift Market

There was a flurry of M&A news hitting the wires this morning. That, coupled with the usual new fund flows that often come in on the first day of a new month/quarter, are helping to really boost the market in early trading. But you know how I feel about strong opens...

BCE (the parent of Bell Canada) agreed to be taken private for $48.5 billion, AT&T bid for Dobson (DCEL), Manor Care (HCR) is going private for $6.3 billion, and talks are swirling that Virgin Media (VMED) is in discussions.

Bond yields are lower again this morning, testing the psychological 5.0% level. Oil is also trading down, to just below $70. As for Asian markets, they closed mixed overnight. The Yen is getting another bounce, testing last week's highs.

For the first half of 2007, the Nasdaq outperformed (+7.8%) vs. the S&P 500 (+6.0%). The Nazz played catchup, outperforming the SPX in each of the last 5 weeks. This bodes well for growth stocks as we get into the second half of the year.

As for today, it will be interesting to see if the market fades again as we get into the afternoon portion of the session.