As predicted, M&A activity is picking up. This morning it was Abbott Labs planning to buy Solvay as well as Xerox grabbing Affiliated Computer Systems.
But as with Perot Systems, once could ask questions about how "clean" these transactions are.
The chart below shows Affiliated Computer Services option volume for $50 strike call options maturing 17-OCT-2009.
source: Bloomberg
We are not going to make any statements about this, and would like to invite the readers to draw their own conclusions.