5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today

Welcome to Monday and the start of a new week. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.

1. The S&P/ ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has soared 0.6% higher in early trading, following Wall Street on Friday.In the US, the Dow Jones gained 0.1%, the broader S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ recorded a 0.7% gain.Oil prices rose, with Brent Crude Oil rising 0.3% to US$65.46 per barrel while WTI Crude added 0.1% to US$57.23 per barrel. (WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate and is the benchmark oil price in the US while the Brent crude oil price is more widely used in Europe.)

   The Australian dollar is up against the US dollar and is currently buying 78.3 US cents.

2. M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU) has lobbed a bid for fellow internet service provider (ISP) iiNet Limited (ASX: IIN) – and potentially kicking off a bidding war for the company. David Teoh's TPG Telecom Limited (ASX: TPM) has already made a $1.4 billion bid for iiNet.M2 is still in the process of acquiring New Zealand's number 3 ISP, CallPlus and related business 2Talk for NZ$250 million.
3. Supermarket retailer Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) has copped a serve from former exec Bill Wavish."Customers have moved, shareholders have bailed, and the board and management are rightly in the firing line," he wrote in a report as guest author of broker CLSA.Woolworths is under fire from broker analysts – with 10 out of 16 having a Sell rating on the stock. Most analysts want Woolies to ditch the underperforming Masters hardware business and discount variety chain Big W. Contrarian investors may want to have a closer look at Woolies – it could be the perfect opportunity for those with a sensible long-term strategy.
4. Tweet of the Day
   

   Was BHP Billiton's $BHP decision to slow expansion a game changer for the iron ore industry? #ausbiz #IronOre https://t.co/jVfKJNZ5dD

   Ryan Newman (@ASXvalueinvest) April 26, 2015

    

   Iron ore prices have surged since BHP's announcement, rising another 5.5% on Friday.

5. Stock of the Day – brought to you by Tim McArthur – Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). The investment bank has seen its shares soar 37% in the past 3 months – hitting $83.43 last week. Could it be the first stock to $100?