Wall St. opens higher as M&A activity boosts confidence

AT&T was down 2.5 percent at $36.51 after the telecommunications company said it would buy Time Warner Inc for $85.4 billion. Time Warner Inc was down 2.1 percent at $87.53. "The deal activity suggests that companies are feeling positive about the prospects of the economy and that is encouraging," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial.