Reply #5: pre-open blah blah

[ozymandius]

8:30AM: S&P futures vs fair value: +4.4. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.5. The stock market remains set to start the session higher. Additional items contributing to the early sentiment are Morgan Stanely's upgrade on Dow component United Technologies (UTX), to Overweight from Equal Weight, Google's (GOOG) addition to the Nasdaq, and an early agreement amongst OPEC ministers to hold oil supplies at a 25-year high to hold prices in check.

8:01AM: S&P futures vs fair value: +4.9. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.0. Versus fair value, futures trade indicates a higher open for the cash market. While the session's earnings and economic calendars are both uneventful ones, a host of upbeat corporate news has injected some early bullishness. Reports that ConocoPhillips (COP) is near a $30 deal to acquire Burlington Resources (BR) has sent the latter stock soaring, and Viacom's (VIA) purchase of Dreamworks Animation (DWA) adds to a positive M&A front.