Overseas Strength, M&A & Subprime

Good morning. Strength in overseas markets and Monday morning M&A activity are in focus along with continued subprime concerns. The latter seems to have weakened the premarket futures before the open, but I wouldn't place too much faith in what the futures are currently indicating.

Notable gainers in premarket trading are LMRA, TSTC, PNTR, TOMO, DG, SIE, SMDI, CREE, ESRX, OPWV, AKAM, XLNX, RMTR, SNDK, IMAX, KRY, and BTJ. Notable losers are LEND, NEW, FMT, SCUR, and JSDA.

Overall, we should expect a relatively quiet trading session as investors prepare for this week's data (see this nifty economic & earnings calendar). Following last week's low-volume oversold bounce, the trading this week is of key importance. If the bull market is going to resume, expect it to show it over the next five trading sessions.

Let's make it a great week!