Is merger mania back?

Two big merger deals this week, one friendly and one not-so-friendly, may signal growing confidence in the world economy.

Intel Corp. Thursday announced a $7.68 billion all-cash deal to buy McAfee, a leading computer security software company known for its anti-virus software, the No. 2 seller after Symantec. The deal for $48 a share was a 60 percent premium over McAfee's Wednesday closing share price of $29.93 and stock in the Santa Clara, Calif., software company surged 58 percent at the start of trading.

Later Thursday, First Niagara Financial Group Inc. in Buffalo, N.Y., said it had acquired NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. for $1.5 billion in the biggest bank merger since the 2008 financial meltdown. Add to that BHP Billiton's $38.6 billion hostile takeover bid for Canadian fertilizer giant Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and it appears merger activity by companies flush with cash is back.

The firms battling each other are No. 1 in the world in their respective industries, Australia's BHP Billiton in mining, and Potash Corp. in fertilizers and animal feeds.

U.S. public firms had more than $2 trillion in cash and short-term investments at the end of the first quarter and nearly $85 billion in mergers were announced this week, The Wall Street Journal said.

"I wouldn't say that CEO confidence is a 10 for M&A (mergers and acquisitions); I would say it's more of a 7," Jeffery Kaplan, head of global mergers and acquisitions at Bank of American Merrill Lynch, told the Journal.

While some merger activity is across industries, the Intel-McAfee deal aims at being more synergistic with the world's largest electronic chipmaker eyeing security software as an edge as consumers move from PC desktop computers and servers to smartphones, iPads, iPods and other tablet-style portable devices.

Intel already builds security into its microprocessors but sees a need for greater security to protect everything from cars to smart home appliances from Internet threats.

For instance, the owner of a lost or stolen cellphone could locate the device or disable and turn it off remotely.

"This will better protect Internet users and their devices, said Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini. Intel bought Wind River, a software company active in consumer electronics and wireless, for $884 million last year and Havok, a company that provides software tools for the video game industry, earlier.

While protecting on-the-go devices may be the immediate future, broadcasters and the recording industry are fighting for an old technology -- terrestrial FM radio -- in cellphones. They are lobbying to persuade Congress to require FM tuners in cellphones to give radio stations and the artists they play access to larger audiences, MediaWeek reports.

The Consumer Electronics Association, an industry association, calls the idea "the height of absurdity," citing the compromises an additional antenna, processor and radio receiver could have on battery life, weight and design innovation.

Few phones have embedded FM radio, but a model of Apple's Nano, the Insignia HD and the ZuneHD MP3 players do.

In international markets Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan fell 1.96 percent and the Shanghai composite index lost 1.70 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.43 percent and the Sensex in India was down 0.29.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index was off 1.07 percent.

In midday trading in Europe, the FTSE 100 index in London was down 0.50 while the DAX 30 in Germany off 0.87 percent. The CAC 40 in France fell 1.30 percent and the pan-European DJ Stoxx 50 lost 0.41 percent.