A bullish start to the week yesterday as the major averages gained solid ground, rebounding from the first negative week in a month. A drop in oil prices was a major catalyst to trading as crude fell nearly 1.5 percent after a record 8 percent rally last week.

Here's how things start out today:
The Dow starts out at 12,876.
The Nasdaq starts at 2,488.

Shares of Hewlett Packard and Electronic Data Systems are expected to open for trading this morning. They were halted yesterday afternoon as news broke that Hewlett Packard is in advanced talks to acquire EDS for between $12 billion and $13 billion.

Late in the day, Hewlett Packard confirmed it is in discussions to possibly acquire the technology services giant - an acquisition which could better position them to compete with rival IBM in services like customer support and consulting.

For the latest updates, check out the online edition of Fortune by clicking here.