Crude Soars 5%; Ford and CAW Begin Talks; China Offering 6 Billion Yuan Sale; IBM Reiterates 2009 Earnings; Australia’s Business Confidence Elevates Asian Stocks; France Telecom and Deutsch Telekom Planning U.K. JV; Mobius Warns About Brazil Stock Sale

France is turning a corner, says Martin Hutchinson in Money Morning.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is pushing through a whirlwind of reforms that should free up business activity significantly. Furthermore, the French economy doesn’t face nearly as many risks from the credit crisis as the US or Britain.

Martin says France’s benchmark CAC-40 index is a bargain right now. For individual companies, try AXA insurance (ADR:AXA) and French Telecom SA (ADR:FTE). Both have low price-to-earning ratios and high yields. Better still, they aren’t priced in dollars…

Continental’s Cost Cuts; Possible Eurozone Telecom Merger; Rising Tide of Foreclosures; Jobless Claims Drop; Inflation Controls Threaten China Stocks; Honeywell Shot Full of Holes; Dupont’s Bumper Crop; Novartis on the Guard Against Influenza.

Verizon Wireless has agreed to buy Alltel Corp. (PINK: ALTEO) for $28.1 billion in a deal that should vault Verizon past AT&T Inc. (T) as the country’s No. 1 mobile phone company.