A Big Year for Deals Turns Huge

Updated from 3:35 p.m. EST

With a $54 billion hostile bid by Comcast (CMSA Quote) for Disney (DIS Quote) now on the table, 2004 is shaping up to be the biggest year for mergers and acquisitions since the peak of the Internet bubble.

The bounty was being felt in brokerage shares, which were almost uniformly higher Wednesday.

So far in 2004, proposed buyouts are valued at $165 billion, the second-highest level on record this early in a year, according to Thomson Financial. The amount was greater only in 2000, when it totaled $314 billion by Feb. 11. Even in the first six weeks of 1999, deals were valued at just $159 billion. ...