Although it almost dipped back below today, the Dow broke the 11,000 mark earlier this week.  This psychological barrier will impact the M&A market since there is a strong correlation between the equities market and M&A, with M&A lagging a bit.

I continue to expect an increase in deal making, with the biggest growth to be hitting in mid-2011.  Companies are now gearing up for deals which take some time to get into place, but with a strong stock market, burgeoning balance sheets, and historically low costs for debt, I see the market starting to brew.  I still maintain you should keep your seat belt on because I fully expected non-participants of the M&A market are going to be shocked at how their competitors radically change over the next 12-24 months.  Many companies will be left eating dust while others blaze a new growth path.

Technorati Tags: Acquisition Strategy, acquisitions, business acquisitions, capital markets, Capstone, David Braun, Dow, External Growth, M&A, M&A News, mergers, Mergers and Acquisitions, stock market