U.S. Stocks Open Lower as Wall Street Looks at Possible Tech Merger

U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday as Investors consider what could be one of the largest tech mergers in history. Dell is talking to EMC (EMC) about a merger. As of Wednesday's close, EMC was valued at $50 billion. With a merger, EMC would be able to quiet its critics who are pushing for change at the company and Dell could expand into the cloud space. Wall Street is also looking to the Federal Reserve minutes, which will be released this afternoon. Although the minutes won't reflect the Central Bank's view on last Friday's weak jobs report, it may mention overseas events particularly China. Alcoa's (AA) 3rd quarter results are sue after the market close. It will market the unofficial launch of what is projected to be the weakest earnings reporting season for the S&P 500 companies in 6 years. It will also be the first earnings report from Alcoa since announcing it would split the company in two.