among thfinancial fuel? insurer met-life, up more than 3.5% to a six-week high.s fourth quarter outlook was disappointing, it predicts earnings to grow as much as 7% next year. the growth will be driven by retirement products in the u.s. as well as its international business. the tech sector was helped today by a monday merger in the cloud computing space. germany business software giant s.a.p. is spending $3.4 billion in cash to buy successfactors, based in california. it's the latest deal of a big tech firm picking up a company concentrated in cloud computing, which is on-demand computing services. the deal sends s.a.p. stock down 2%, but successfactors leapt 51%. shares closed just shy of the buyout price of $40 per share. other names in cloud computing software shot up. taleo concentrates on job performance and compensation software. it jumped 20%. kenexa also focuses on employment recruitment and retraining software. shares jumped 16%. business commerce software firm ariba rallied 14%. technology and commerce company ebay saw bids for its stock rise today. t