Only 20 companies from the S&P 500 have reported earnings so far. 15 of them beaten expectations by 0.7%. The pace of reporting for S&P 500 companies picks up today.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) beat expectations this morning. After the bell today, we’ll hear from IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Intel (Nasdaq:INTC). Then, tomorrow, we get results from Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL).

Oil prices are back to moving higher as Kuwait has suspended exports due to sandstorms. Also underlying oil's move is March consumer spending numbers. While the headline retail sales number was up 0.4% vs. expectations of 0.5%, sales gains excluding gas and autos were better than expected.

We've discussed the relationship between spending and oil prices. The market clearly likes the implication that higher oil prices have not impacted spending much.

Ever since the stock market sold off after IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) last week, we’ve been on the lookout for signs that a correction for stock prices would pick up steam.

It’s not like the first couple days of selling took us by surprise, I’ve been warning that a correction could be coming for a few weeks now. And even though we have seen some sellers emerge in the market and take stock prices lower, the damage has been minimal and contained to a few sectors.

On a midday Monday conference call, Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE: CMN) executives said the medical products maker will continue to grow through new product introductions and company acquisitions.

“We have an active pipeline of potential acquisitions and we’re committed to further enhancing our existing platforms,” CEO Scott Jones said on the call. “We’re focusing on some near-term smaller acquisitions and aggressively evaluating some larger deals for fiscal 2008.”

Cantel, which has a net debt of about $43.7 million, will use its borrowing capacity and banking support to purchase companies, Jones said. The Little Falls, N.J.-based company’s primary focus is water purification and healthcare disposables businesses that will expand market channels and product lines, Jones said. Cantel has $26 million left of revolving credit, but the company is still looking at deals larger than the revolver, he said.

Cantel acquired General Electric’s (NYSE: GE) water purification business in early April. Cantel’s largest segment is water purification after the GE addition boosted segment revenue by 50%, Jones said.

“By adding GE’s install base of 1,800 dialysis centers, we now work with over 70% of U.S. dialysis centers,” Jones said. “We have a growing national network with which to continue our expansion of the water business and other areas of health care, life sciences, and commercial and industrial segments.”

About 20,000 square feet of space in the company’s Minnesota facility is being converted into a medical equipment manufacturing facility in which to house the GE addition, Jones said. He said all manufacturing and former GE employees will be implemented by Cantel’s new fiscal year, which begins Aug. 1. Jones warned that analysts should not expect the recent performance of the GE acquisition - $1.9 million in sales and $0.3 million in operating earnings during the third quarter – to be routine.