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A 2.5% increase in April housing starts caught analysts by surprise today, as most had expected a decrease of about 2% (following tepid March numbers). However, building permits plunged about 9% (the most significant decline since 1990) according to the Wall Street Journal. The private-equity buying spree continued as well, as news of a buyout of Bausch & Lomb by Warburg Pincus was announced ahead of Wednesday trading. The stock price of Bausch & Lomb jumped about 10% (pre-market trading) on the news. In addition, the chair of Sears Holdings announced a purchase of 15 million shares of Citigroup, sending shares up about 2%. Based on futures data, the markets look to open higher today as we wait for the opening bell.