M&A activity in October 2018 remained mixed, but included more positive indicators compared to September and the general declining trend line so far this year. Deal volume by dollar value1 significantly increased overall, by 98.2% to $154.56 billion in the U.S., and by 35.5% to $328.77 billion globally. The number of deals, however, decreased slightly overall, by 2.6% to 371 in the U.S. (among the lowest levels since the beginning of this publication in 2012) and by 4.5% to 2,248 globally.