Investors will be dealing with merger mania when markets open Thursday. Market indicators are pointing to a postive opening, despite news of the growing current account deficit in the U.S. and a drop in housing starts.

In the largest deal announced today, Johnson & Johnson will buy Guidant in a US$23.9 billion deal, creating the biggest supplier of medical devices to heart specialists.

As well, two more software companies agreed to merge. Symantec will acquire Veritas Software in an all-stock deal valued at about US$13.5 billion, creating a potential software powerhouse with leading positions in some of the industry’s fastest-growing segments.

Glamis Gold said it intends to make a takeover bid for Goldcorp, which is already planning a $2.4-billion merger. Glamis said its stock-swap offer would value Goldcorp at about US$3.4 billion, or US$17.80 per share. Goldcorp and Wheaton River Minerals are already plotting a merger to create the fifth-largest North American gold producer,

In economic news, Statistics Canada said foreign investors bought $2.2 billion of Canadian securities in October, down from $7.6 billion in September. Purchases of Canadian stocks and long-term debt were down while purchases of Canadian money market paper were up, StatsCan said.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors also slowed their purchases of foreign securities in October, acquiring $1.5 billion worth, following an investment of $4.2 billion in September.

In a separate release, StatsCan said Canada’s national net worth reached $4.2 trillion by the end of the third quarter, or $131,100 per capita.

South of the border, the U.S. current-account deficit rose to $164.7 billion during the third quarter. Housing starts decreased 13.1% in November as building activity cooled nationwide. Meanwhile, U.S. initial jobless claims fell to a five-month low last week

On Wednesday, Toronto stocks closed higher for the third straight session as higher commodity prices buoyed resource issues. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 19.80 points, or 0.22%, at 9,106.16.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced 1.30 points to 1,723.09.

U.S. stocks ended higher Wednesday as merger-related optimism sparked by Sprint’s acquisition of Nextel and robust results from Lehman Bros. fueled year-end buying.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 15 points, or 0.14%, at 10,691.45,

The Nasdaq composite index rose 2.71 points to 2,162.55, while the S&P 500 Index climbed 2.34 points to end at 1,205.72.