M&A activity continues to steam along with Texas

Stocks closed in positive territory while corporate credit felt very strong, led primarily by cash corporate bonds.
Volumes in CDS (credit default swap) remain relatively thin in comparison to cash bonds.
The new issue pipeline was not as active as last week and will slow down further as we approach earnings season and so supply and demand technical factors will provide further support to bond spreads.
Oil remained well bid closing above $108 a barrel but the markets did not seem fazed at all.
Interestingly, sovereign CDS spreads for France are now trading tighter than 70 basis points.
Market Color recommended a long risk position when France CDS spreads were trading wider than 100 bps, levels that did not seem to make sense.
M&A (mergers & acquisitions) activity continues to steam along with Texas Instruments announcing a $6.5 billion buy-out of National Semiconductor.
China's state-owned Minmetals agreed to buy Equinox Minerals of Canada for $6.5 billion in cash.
And in Europe, Vivendi took full control of mobile phone operator SFR, buying Vodafone's 44% stake for slightly more than $11 billion.
In new issues, Deutsche Telekom issued a benchmark $1.25 billion 5 year bond issue at +95.
General Electric Capital Corp issued $1.5 billion of 3 year FRN (floating rate note) paper at +63.
In the "high-yield" space, spirits maker Pernod-Ricard issued $1 billion of 10 year debt at +245.
Corporate bond issuance thus far is up almost 50% compared to 2010.