Good morning. The Yankees are doing a terrible job of replacing the Knicks as a source of commentary for us on the MAC Desk. Getting swept by the Red Sox over the weekend? Bleh. As for the Mets…let’s just move on to macro topics. The US and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend, but an agreement to end the latest exchange and hold a new round of talks on Tuesday was reached. With a low level of economic and earnings data today, corporate news flow is center stage today. Equity futures traded higher overnight and are near best levels as we begin a holiday-shortened week. The S&P looks poised to regain the 50d at the Open.

It may be a short, thinly traded holiday week, but there’s a lot of action in the media and telecom space today. SpaceX (+2%) and Charter (+25%) are discussing partnering on consumer mobile phone service, according to reports. BT Group (+1%) and Verizon (-1%) are merging their international operations in a JV with ~$4b in revenue, allowing both carriers to focus on their respective domestic markets. Comcast (+20%) announced it was splitting its media (NBCUniversal) and cable/connectivity businesses into two publicly traded companies. Also, Rocket Lab (+10%) is buying satellite phone operator Iridium (+20%) for $8B, creating a more robust challenge to SpaceX’s Starlink. It also follows Amazon’s pending deal to acquire Globalstar. There’s more action in other sectors as well. Williams (flat) is close to acquiring Momentum Midstream for ~$6B according to reports, adding to Williams’ gas pipeline capacity. Construction materials supplier Martin Marietta (-3%) is merging with Lhoist North America in a $13.5B (EV) deal.

Brent crude is trading up about 1%, still below its 200d ma ~$75. US nat gas is lower but Dutch gas is up 3%. Precious metals are lower. Gold is giving back Friday’s gains as it trades ~$4050. Bitcoin and ETH are flat to slightly higher, as Bitcoin tries to regain $60K. Strategy announced a series of programs to shore up support for its numerous investment vehicles like STRC.