Here we go again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was charging higher in mid-afternoon trading Monday, making its strongest run yet at the much-ballyhooed 10,000 mark.
"It's merger Monday," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. "Everything is positive and robust."
Wall Street found its confidence in a pair of big-ticket deals. In the financial sector, Fleet Financial Group is buying BankBoston for US$16 billion, creating the nation's eighth-largest bank. And in biotech, DuPont is shelling out $7.7 billion for the 80 percent of Pioneer Hi-Bred International it doesn't already own.
The Dow rose 58 points to 9934.35. The Wired Index shed 22.82 to 594.47, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 33.03 at 2414.56. The S&P 500 was 7.09 higher at 1301.68.
In other merger action, Netscape Communications (NSCP) rose $5.44 to $90.31 after clearing the final regulatory hurdle in its almost $9 billion takeover by America Online. Netscape shareholders now are slated to vote on the acquisition on Wednesday, and it should be a done deal not long after. For its part, AOL (AOL) was $4.50 higher at $100.63 as SG Cowen Securities reiterated a "strong buy" rating for the company's stock.
After Netscape becomes the West Coast branch of the world's fattest online service, it will be replaced in the Nasdaq 100 index by venture-fund firm CMGI (CMGI), which climbed 12 percent to $183.38. Separately, the Boston Globe reported that CMGI has rallied enough support from other Lycos shareholders to block the portal's tie-up with USA Networks. CMGI, Lycos' biggest investor, has been loudly complaining about the terms of the proposed deal.
CMGI's managing director, Peter Mills, got traders talking with word that new suitors for the portal already are expressing interest in an alternative arrangement. Lycos (LCOS), soon-to-be parent of Wired News, advanced $6.31 to $104.94, while USA Networks (USAI) was down 31 cents at $37.63.
Go2Net (GNET) surged 18 percent to $102.38 on news that Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures will buy a controlling stake in the Web-site operator for $600 million. The cash offer for up to 3.6 million Go2Net shares would give Allen 54 percent of the firm, which in January reported a 186 percent increase in quarterly revenue.
In tech, a heavyweight alliance reportedly was in the works among Nortel Networks, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Intel. The pact apparently involves Nortel and HP using Microsoft and Intel technologies to develop more efficient ways of handling voice, data, and video traffic on corporate networks.
Microsoft (MSFT) gained $3.63 to $163.81, and HP (HWP) was up $1.88 at $70.88. Canada's Nortel (NT) rose $1.44 to $60.25, while Intel (INTC) was the odd man out, slipping 44 cents to $117.81.
And look here: It's NBC and Sony (SNE) holding a little pow-wow about a possible partnership. Details of the talks are sketchy, but The New Yorker -- now there's a source we don't cite very often here -- is reporting that it would involve the whole gamut of related properties, from movies to music to TV. Sony's shares jumped $2.63 to $99.44.
