Stocks are looking at a flat open ahead of today’s decision on U.S.’s interest rates.

Traders are also contending with the news that market guru, Goldman, Sachs & Co.’s Abby Joseph Cohen, has lowered her 2001 and 2002 forecasts and profit estimates for the S&P 500.

As well, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. economist Stephen Roach cut his forecast for global economic growth.

In economic news, Canada’s Consumer Price Index rose 2.6% from July 2000 to July 2001, a slowdown from 3.3% in June and 3.9% in May.

The weaker increase primarily reflects a deceleration in energy price increases, narrowing the gap between the all-items CPI and the CPI excluding energy.

The CPI excluding energy was 2.7% higher than in July 2000, up from June’s rate of 2.5% yet still slightly below April’s rate of 2.8%. For the first month since January 2001, the monthly CPI lost ground, dropping 0.3% from June to July, thanks to the energy sector.

Retail sales fell 0.3% in June to $24.2 billion, offsetting most of May’s 0.4% rise. Although sales were essentially unchanged in May and June, they were up 2.1% in the second quarter compared with the first quarter.

In Europe, stocks are up led by Vodafone Group plc and Novartis AG. In Paris, the CAC 40 is up 31 points to 4,822. Germany’s DAX has gained six points to 5,214. In London, the FTSE is up 47 points to 5,404.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed. But there is a positive sign in the IPO market, with news that Nomura Research Institute will sell US$1.35 billion of stock in Japan’s biggest IPO this year. The Japanese Nikkei gained 22 points to 11,280. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 18 points to 11,440.

In M&A news, Oxford Properties Group Inc. and OMERS have announced today that an agreement has been reached whereby BPC Properties Ltd., a related company of OMERS, will make a cash bid to acquire 100% of Oxford common shares at $23.75 per share for a total equity value of $1.5 billion. The bid price represents a 34% premium over the 30 day average closing price of Oxford Shares $17.73 giving Oxford a gross enterprise value of $3.8 billion.

JC Flowers & Co, a U.S. private equity firm set up by former Goldman Sachs bankers, said it will bid for Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG.