Monday Morning Musings

The market is slightly higher in early trading as we get reading for earnings season to kick off this week. Alcoa (AA) will be first out of the gate tonight, but later this week we'll hear from JPMorgan, Bank of America, as well as Google (GOOG). There was a little bit of M&A activity over the weekend. In a blast from the past, Global Crossing (GLBC) will be taken over by Level3 (LVLT) for a 50% premium to Friday's closing price. Also, American Medical (AMMD) will be acquired by Endo Pharma (ENDP) for $30 a share, a 30% premium. The dollar is up a little today, which is weighing on commodities. Oil prices are down slightly near $111.90, but have been up almost every day in recent weeks. Gold prices are also lower, trading around $1468. Asian markets were lower overnight, while Europe was mixed this morning. The 10-year yield is higher to 3.59%; and the VIX is down a whopping 7% to 16.50. Trading comment: Market leading stocks have really been showing mixed action recently. AAPL and GOOG have been lagging, so it will be interesting to see how GOOG responds to earnings later this week. AAPL reports next week. Energy stocks held up the best last week, while healthcare fared nicely as well. Financials and industrials pulled back the most. But for the year, so far, energy is leading the pack by a wide margin, while technology is lagging. A pullback in oil would probably give the market a boost, while a continued climb towards $120 could weigh on sentiment. As for the avoidance of a govt. shutdown, I don't think the markets were all that focused on it. long AAPL, BAC, GOOG, JPM