Year to more than a trillion dollars. Well today, there was more deal talk. A lot of it. First, a deal rejected. The chip maker altera reportedly said no to an intel offer of 50 a share or so. That would have been a better than 40 premium to alteras stock price when dl talks revved up a few weeks ago. Altera makes programmable chips, which is what attracts intel. Had the deal gone through, it would have been intels biggest acquisition ever. Shares of altera jumped 3 while intel was off fractionally today. Now to a deal accepted. Linkedin is snapping up the online career skills site linda. Com, for 1. 5 billion. Its biggest purchase ever. It hires courses for professionals. Linda will bulk up the social Services Like linking up professionals. With all the announced deals in m a so far this year 2015 is running at record or near record levels. If the pace continues, our guest says the price tag for the year could exceed 3 trillion in activity worldwide. That would make 2015 the second biggest year in history for dealmaking. Rich peterson welcome. Senior director with s p standard iq. Why so many deals . Theres a of deals. The corporate and balance sheets. If you look at s p 500 companies, including financials theres probably over 2. 1 trillion at their availability. Also Lower Borrowing costs. Interest rates are low and even with the expected fed hike maybe this year early next year rates attractive to borrow. You have high stock prices. Stocks given to levels they are now can be used as currency given the high v transaction. So what has been the busiest sectors for m and a activi year and what will be for the r oe year . 40 of the 430 billion in u. S. Deals come from two sectors. Health care and financials. Conversely, if you look at activity in europe theres about 230 billion in european m and a. About a third come from the Energy Sector. Conversely in asia has 200 billion in deals. Their big effect is the real estate. It depends on the region you look at but most active sector. But really m and a is a global phenomenon. In terms of the growth rates, double digit growth rates across all regions throughout the globe. You see the trends sectorwise continuing to 2015 could be more health care and pharma. Big ones there. Energy. We had the big one earlier this week and several others real estate as you mentioned including word today that General Electric may be wanting to sell off some of its real estate holdings. More on that a little bit later. Does the strong dollar rich argue that u. S. Companies may be going in and buying up companies in europe more . We saw some activity along those lines recently. Well i think its less the dollars affected. Many companies have resources in terms of cash abroad. Now, the 2. 1 trillion i mentioned, worth about a third to about a quarter held overseas. So in Technology Company especially in Drug Companies have those Resources Available to make deals abroad. We compared this year with the last sort of High Water Mark year which was 2007. We all know what happened in 2008. Is this wave of deals different or should we be a little bit war ri for what it might auger for the future . Theres different benchmarks. If you look at the average valuation based on cash flow for deals last year about 13 times even cash flow. This year average 16 to 17 times. Premiums are a little bit more pricey this year than last. Again, you look at sectors in the Health Care Companies willing to pay up in retailing. There are more conservative. Thank you very much rich peterson with standard and poors capital iq. Stocks looking for direction. Sifting through early earnings report. Rise the Energy Sector which helped boost the overall market. Dow boosted 1017,95. Nasdaq added 24 and s p 500 tacked on 9. A report on weekly jobless claims showing sign of a strengthening labor market. That had many wondering if the weak Monthly Employment number from last week was a fluke. Hampton pearson reporter despite much weaker than expected job growth in march, unemployment claims at postrecession lows. Weekly first time claims rose slightly last week but the key barometer, before moving average stands at just over 282,000. The lowest in nearly 15 years. The news comes one day after job openings top 5 million in february. The first time that happened in more than a decade according to the labor department. Reasons why the managing director of the International Monetary fund christine la guard, among the leading economists who see march as a momentary pause for the u. S. Economy. I dont think thats one lower number should gray the whole picture, which is otherwise quite rosy for the u. S. Economy. So i think that if you combine the bad weather, the strike and the harbors on the west coast, you have a few ingredients to have low growth in the first quarter. More more evidence for oil industry layoffs. In march, previous engines with job growth like construction manufacturing and transportation had no growth or cut payrolls. Also contributing to a weak first quarter, professional and business services. Are averaging 30,000 jobs per month so far this year versus 59,000 last year. That mixed data complicating efforts by the Federal Reserve to reach its full employment mandate. Theyre asking themselves is this economy really at full employment yet where theres really tight matchup between the number of people looking for jobs and the number of jobs . On the latter question, the answer is still not a full employment but moving in that direction. The just released minutes from the march Federal Reserve meeting show even before the disappointing jobs report Monetary Policy makers wanted to see further improvement in the job market before determining the timetable for raising interest rates. For nightly business report, im Hampton Pearson in washington. A sigh of relief in europe as greece made a critical half billion dollar loan payment to the International Monetary fund. There was concern they would not meet the loan deadline. Ooft 3 billion payment due next month and the imf managing director Christine Lagard said its a good first step but more to be done. What matters now is for the greek authorities and the three institutions the imf, the ecb and the European Commission to get on with the work. And to really see how we can, together identify the measures that will take greece out of the very bad Economic Situation it could be in if those measures were not taken. Irans supreme ruler said no final nuclear deal done until all economic sanctions from all countries are lifted on day one. Last week iran reached a tentative deal framework with six world powers agreeing to limit Irans Nuclear program in exchange for relief from the sanctions. At the same time nations in the middle east arent waiting around and are looking to increase their inventory of conventional military weapons but creating an arms race. That is being watched very closely by u. S. Defense companies. Hadley gambill has more. Reporter with months to go before a final deal reached with tehran over a nuclear program, u. S. Officials now say they plan to bolster defenses for sunni arab allies in the gulf including a possible nuclear commitment. Saudi arabia has a range of threats and has for a long time. Reporter the u. S. Led invasion of ir in 2003 perceived abandonment of the egyptian president , americas socalled pivot to asia and behind the scenes negotiations with regional rival iran left the kingdom feeling vulnerable and with the United States moving closer to approachment in iran a new generation of saudi leaders are taking charge. Usually when you want to know whats going on in saudi, you call washington. Riyadh is not going through washington to do what they h saudi arabia looks to project influence further afield in yemen and beyond. The kingdom is finally making use of a multibillion dollar weapon source linked from british suppliers. Although those orders mean big business to some of americas top defense contractors. Last year saudi arabia was the worlds biggest buyer of hightech weaponry spending record 6. 4 billion and beating out india to become United States largest export market and isnt the total stocking up. Gulf up 70 over the last five years with u. S. Accounting for half of all arms sales to the regions. Saudi arabia is more capable. Theyre better able to sort through the advance weaponry theyre buying. Reporter tehrans treasury crippled by years of heavy sanctions left the the countrys regular armed forces ill prepared to meet the challenge of a joint arab force kidded out in the latest and hightech military gear. Thats good news for a white house thats clearly unwilling to let a regional rivalry derail historic nuclear deal. For nightly business report, Hadley Campbell london. Coming up going to get rid of your biggest expense before you retire . Tell you why you probably shouldnt pay off your mortgage. If you look for something to watch, more options than ever and forget about ad supported tv. Now everyone seems to be in the businessf subscription content. Julia boorstin breaks down the changing landscape. Reporter even advertising giant google is working on an adfree subscription model for youtube reaching out to youtube stars to say its having an adfree option enable to access even offline. Rich greenfield said the latest youtube move makes sense. Quote, consumers around the globe learn to live an adfree life thanks to dvrs, netflix, et cetera. Its to launch an adfree option especially bundled with offline access. Youtubes moving forward with the subscription option. No word on pricing yet as hbo offers its first subscription outside the tv bundle taking hgobo now straight to consumers. New season of game of thrones debuting sunday and target millennials left likely to pay for cable. Hbo is giving away episode of Silicon Valley on twitch, amazons Live Streaming video game platform ahead to premiere sunday. Whether hit shows like game of thrones, sampling of younger where you knows like Silicon Valley for the service. Netflix cost 9 a month. I think hbo nows strategy is different because hbo still has, theyre still tethered to the traditional cable ecosystem and ensure theyre not cannibalizing those existing shows. Netflix has always been stand alone. Reporter netflix to add and keep subscribers in the face of other options is. Like marvel not to appeal to comic book fans but also the broader audience to makes the films blockers busters. Called hbo now a validation of the internet tv model and said its not a win or take all situation. He predicts consumers will subscribe to multiple services. For nightly business report, im Julia Boorstin in los angeles. We begin market focus tonight with a big move in one of the most widely held of all stocks. General electric close to selling all or part of its 30 billion real estate portfolio according to reports. This is as the conglomerate to shrink the apartment complexes, building and other commercial property. Shares popped almost 3 to 25. 73. Walgreens Boots Alliance but revenue lagged as a part to save 1. 5 billion a year by end of 2017. The drugstore chain will shutter 200 locations. The companys forecast for full year profit was largely short of estimates. Still, shares were up today. More tha5. 5 to 92. 62. Go figure. Costco reporting a drop in march store sales. That wholesale retailer hurt by timing of easter that cut the selling period short compared with last year. The stock fell 2 to 148. 81. Big profit from constellation plans, from corona beer. Ce oh, plans to return cash to shareholders. We have we have the confidence to number one, both continue to invest in the company and continue to grow and return cash flow to our shareholders. So, you know we find ourselves in that really enviable position. We should be able to grow the dividends as our net income grows and we also have a range from a percentage point of view from 25 to 30 of net income to return to shareholders. Dividend payable from his seller. Class a shares up to 120. 06 as you see there. Investors getting a chance today to react to yesterdays numbers from bed, bath, and beyond and and issued Earnings Guidance below estimates. The company saying bad weather and the west coast port slowdown weighed on its results. The stock down more than 5 . 73. 46 to close there and bed, bath and beyond the worst performer in the s p 5 today. Pacific gas and electric hit with a huge fine. Charged the utility with a 1. 5 billion fee pipeline explosion that killed 8 people back in 2010. The fine is for violating safety standards. The companys ceo said he does not expect to appeal the ruling. Pg and e fell. Mixed Mortgage Rates fell following fridays disappointing jobs report. The average rate on a 30 year mortgage was 3. 66 doup from last week and according to the mortgage giant, freddie mac. Many baby boomers determined to get rid of big debts before they retire but rushing to pay off your mortgage as many do may not always be such a great strategy. Cnbcs Senior Personal finance correspondent Sharon Epperson joins us now with more. This has been sort of a, welcome sharon this has been sort of a sacred wisdom here you should pay down your mortgage and go into retirement debtfree. You say no. Yo why . No one wants a big debt into retirement but the question is liquidity. Are you going to be poor by paying off your mortgage a retirem savings and emergency account and have you paid off higher interest debt like Credit Card Debt . If you havent done those three things rushing to pay off your mortgage probably doesnt make sense. Start paying down higher interest debt not deductible in all but a very few cases like credit cards, like auto loans and so forth. And then flood the zone with 401 k ira, roth deposits. As you near retirement, you could put int those accounts. Theres catchup provisions with the 401 k put up to 21,000 if youre 50 or older. Thats a lot of money you can stash away for retirement. And yet, mortgage debt has risen dramatically over the past 20 years, presumably because loans have been easier to get for much of that period. Right. And house prices more expensive. Exactly. People add to their mortgage debt taking out ho equity lines and loans and such. So for other purposes not just because they need the good news here is that while baby boomers carry heavier mortgage debt into retirement youre here to say dont sweat it so much. Dont sweat it so much. Look at your interest rate. If its between 3. 5 and 4 like we were talking about, as most of the mortgage is out there and youre able to get 7 to 8 on a well diversified portfolio, stick with putting money there where it gets the greater return. Really suffering that much paying much into that. Considering you pour equity into your house, youre building equity but not liquidity. Youre in an ill liquid asset. You cant use the money from your house to then pay off bills. You have to be able to access that money quickly and better to do that in an Emergency Savings account. But even if you had to dip into some retirement savings, that is still more liquid than it would be if it was just tied up in your house. A fresh way to think about debt that doesnt sound like scolding. Sharon thank you very much. Great as always to see you. Coming up wicked Winter Weather is over. They say. They promise. But how did the Airlines Fare during the harshest of times . A look at which ones made the grade, which fly. Heres a look at what to watch tomorrow. And theres a lot. On the data front. Import and export prices set to be released a key indication. Raul castro and president obama have fe meeti as both move to normalize relations. Will they shake hands and apple begins taking orders for the apple watch and that folks, is what to watch for friday. It is that time of year when forey to predict the hurricane season. The first one is out and forecasters of Colorado StateUniversity Say its a below see 7 tropical storms and only 3 will become hurricanes. A typical year has about 7 hurricanes. After this years harsh Winter Weather, it was anything but a below average year for potholes. And now repairs are under way in the east and midwest and many craters on the road, states and municipalities find out its a pricey fix. Reporter if you have a c encountered them. Potholes. As spring sets in theyre everywhere wreaking havoc on peoples cars. It sits right on the drivers side front and the damage. I cant see the mirror because the steering is off set. Reporter in new york city nearly 205,000 potholes like this have been reported since the start of year. Officials are busy having them patched up across expected 15 million but the problem goes far beyond this area. Streets and highways throughout the northeast and midwest are riddled with craters. Aaa estimates potholes cost in damages this season and similar to 2014 and 20 more than in 2010. This winter has been pretty cold and what we see is the cold weather followed by a thaw and a refreeze. This is going to be a bad winter. We expect this will be close to last year. Reporter according to the independen and brokers of america, half of all drivers experienced pothole damage to their cars at some point in the last five years. Costing u. S. Consumers and the Insurance Industry a combined 27 billion during that time frame. And not just dented wheels and busted shocks. Drivers who file claims for this kind of damage for Auto Insurance carriers run the risk of incuring higher premiums. 31 of those respondents put a claim through their Insurance Company for the damage to their vehicle, when im not sure all consumers realize is Many Insurance Companies treat a claim for pothole damage as a chargeable accident on their automobile insurance. Reporter for that reason a driver may be better off to the government responsible for roads maintenance if it can proven they mew of the potholes existence. Otr payin out of pocket but potholes havent just gotten more troublesome. Auto repair experts say theyre more susceptible to damage. The newer car has a more component involved of course more electronic involved. So when you hit the potholes that most likely the easier tool to get damage. Reporter still, roadways have not changed, with many aging and falling into disrepair. Transportation trip estimates more than a quarter of u. S. Urban roads are in substandard conditions. And with a may deadline fast approaching for lawmakers to enact a plan to better fund the countrys transportation infrastructure. Expect to be dodging more of these. At least this spring. For nightly business report, im Morgan Brennan in new york city. And finally, if you dont want to drive, you might want to fly and the department of transportation is out with how well the airlines did during the heart of the brutal winter. Philip lebeau report. Reporter remember the series of winter storms that bannered the east coast in february and made traveling around the country a real nightmare . Well now we know just how damaging those were for people flying and the department of transportation report card in february show the airlines delivered 72 of their flights on time. That was a decline compared to january where it was 76 . The Top Three Airlines in the month of february alaska Hawaii Airlines and delta airlines. On the flip side envoy air had the worst performance with just over half of flights arriving on time. Frontier a little bit better and jet blue airways had just 59. 7 of flights landing on time in february. Not surprising given the fact that jetblues hub in boston hit particularly hard with storm after storm. The d. O. T. Said there were 16 flights that had tarmac delays of at least three hours and 8 flights that had tarmac delays of 4 hours. The worst flight in february between jfk and frankfurt that sat on the tarmac for 7 hours. Finally, despite all of the delays and cancellations, the airlines actually did a better job it comes to handling our baggage. The d. O. T. Said the number of complaints regarding mishandled baggage dropped in january compared the to a year ago. Philip lebeau, chicago. For nightly business report, that will do it for tonight. Im tyler mathisen. Thanks for watching. Have a great evening, everybody. Well see you righ. Announcer a kqed television production. Man its like holy mother of comfort food. Woman throw it down. Its noodle crack. Patel you have to be ready for the heart attack on a platter. Crowell okay, im the bacon guy. Man oh, i just did a jig every time i dipped into it. Man 2 it just completely blew my mind. Woman it felt like i had a mouthful of raw vegetables and dry dough. Sbrocco oh, please. I want the Dessert First [ laughs ] i told him he had to wait