Reply #27: 9:50 EST numbers and blather

[UpInArms]

Dow 10,278.68 +21.73 (+0.21%)
Nasdaq 1,936.81 +3.74 (+0.19%)
S&P 500 1,162.84 +1.67 (+0.14%)
10-Yr Bond 4.218 +0.32 (+0.76%)

NYSE Volume 178,989,000
Nasdaq Volume 164,605,000

9:40AM: Stocks open higher, as investors embrace a slew of upbeat corporate news... Providing the largest lift early on has been news that Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. plans to acquire another 5.0% stake (up to 28 mln shares) in General Motors (GM 30.30 +2.53) for a 13.4% premium... Also contributing to the positive bias has been a couple of multi-billion mergers (i.e. AMT-SSI and Fresenius-RCI) as well as better than expected earnings from blue chips like TWX, CI, PEG, AOC and MET... Separately, April ISM Services (consensus 61.0) will be released at 10:00 ET...