We suspect the new Boston Scientific offer was developed with input from the Guidant board, so it's likely that the Guidant board will declare it superior to J&J's latest offer.

Although the strategic rationale for combining Boston Scientific and Guidant appears compelling, we have lingering concerns.

We believe that Boston Scientific can raise its offer to $78 a share and still maintain an investment-grade credit rating.

In our view, Abbott is the clear winner in this deal.

Don't count BSX out yet. We expect BSX to continue to pursue GDT by potentially modifying or increasing its $72/share offer.

It grows the talent pool. It encourages employees looking from California, Seattle or Boston — when they're looking to move to Austin for a tech job, they want to know their other options so they can grow their career.