Slow on the M&A front

Just $926 million worth of mergers and acquisitions were announced in the U.S. last week, which may seem like a lot but marks the first time since 1993 that weekly deal volume failed to top $1 billion. Year to date, deal volume was up sharply from 2008, but take away a single acquisition - Pfizer's $64 billion purchase of Wyeth - and suddenly it's down 51 percent. Late last year, 86 percent of the state's M&A types said the market was fair to poor, the most negative outlook in the history of the survey. A year ago, 74 percent of those surveyed said the local deal environment was good or excellent. ((Deal Journal, LABJ)