Greenspan, deals, could lift stocks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Corporate deals, a strong retail sales report and a more optimistic view on the U.S. economy by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan could help give U.S. stocks a positive start to the week.

Stock futures were higher in early trading Monday, after reports that Greenspan played down the concerns he had previously voiced about the risk of a U.S. recession.

In a speech in Tokyo that he delivered via satellite, the former chairman is quoted as saying the world economy would provide a cushion to a possible slowdown here, as he downplayed the risk to the economy from problems in subprime mortgages.

Retail sales rose 0.7 percent in March, compared to the 0.4 percent expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com. February's number was revised up to 0.5 percent from a modest 0.1 percent.

Spending on goods other than autos increased by 0.8 percent, compared to a 0.4 percent increase in February.

Search engine leader Google (Charts) announced late Friday it had agreed to buy privately held DoubleClick, a top digital marketing services firm, for $3.1 billion in cash. Google also has agreed to sell advertising on all of the stations owned by Clear Channel Communications (Charts) beginning at the end of June, according to a report Monday in the New York Times.

Student loan lender Sallie Mae (Charts) agreed to be purchased for $25 billion by a group including private equity firms as well as JP Morgan Chase (Charts) and Bank of America (Charts), the company announced early Monday.

Treasury prices were slightly lower in early trading, taking the yield on the 10-year note to 4.77 percent from 4.76 percent late Friday.

Oil prices moved higher in early trading, taking it above the $64 a barrel mark. U.S. light crude edged up 47 cents to $64.10 a barrel in electronic trading.

Stocks in Asia closed strongly higher with South Korea and Australia indexes hitting record highs. Stocks in Europe were higher in early trading. The dollar was lower against the euro but higher against the yen after China pledged to gradually increase the flexibility of its currency at the G7 meeting of the world's top finance ministers.

Dow component Citigroup (Charts) reported an unexpected rise in earnings excluding special charges, beating forecasts. Including charges, it saw a decline in net income. The company last week announced it was cutting 17,000 jobs and moving another 9,500 to lower-cost areas.

Retailer Wal-Mart Stores (Charts) displaced oil giant Exxon Mobil (Charts) for the top spot on the Fortune 500, the magazine announced Sunday night. For Wal-Mart, it reclaimed the position in the corporate rankings that it had held for the four previous years before soaring oil prices gave Exxon Mobil the top position a year ago.

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