The takeover of C-Mac Industries is bailing out what would otherwise be yet another grim and lazy trading day

At midday, the TSE 300 is down 13 points to 7,641. Volume is robust for the summer at 57.3 million shares, although about 11.4 million of this is due to C-Mac.

Its influence has buyers outpacing sellers by about seven to six. Market breadth offers a more revealing look at today’s trading, showing losers ahead of winners by about nine to seven.

On a sector basis, there aren’t many major moves. Golds are the only group that’s up convincingly, gaining 2%, in lock step with commodity price increases. Otherwise the only real gains are auto parts and specialty stores. Losing groups are similarly subdued, energy stocks are down, as are utilities, miners and industrials.

C-Mac is the story of the day, up more than 13% on more than 11.3 million shares, thanks to its proposed US$2.7 billion takeover by Solectron.

Its gains are being overwhelmed however by a 2.4% fall in Nortel Networks on strong volume of 6.1 million shares. Investors are punishing the stock for its plan to raise about US$1 billion by issuing some junky debt. Celestica, Mosaid Technologies, Telesystem International Wireless and Global Thermoelectric are sliding, too.

Other losers today include Manulife Financial, Uni-Select, Transat AT and North American Palladium.

Maverick Tube is down almost 5%, after it confirmed an article published in today’s Wall Street Journal. The firm acknowledged that it is engaged in discussions to acquire substantially all of the assets of the seamless tubular steel products division of North Star Steel Company, a subsidiary of Cargill, Inc. No final agreements have been reached.

On the upside, CP is making some gains, as are fellow big caps, Barrick Gold, Canadian Tire, Magna and Bank of Montreal. Joining the gold rally are Placer Dome and Goldcorp.

Other winners include Microcell, Domtar, Premium Brands, Western Oil Sands, and Ensign Resource Services. Cossette is also up 7.7% as traders applaud its latest acquisition.

Canadian Medical Laboratories says it will postpone the release of its third quarter financial results to August 29, as it awaits a new financing agreement between the Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories and the Ministry of Health. The company expects the new financing agreement to be announced shortly.

Dorel Industries has revised its guidance, suggesting it will now earn between $1.60 to $1.65 per share for the current fiscal year, compared with the $1.70 to $1.75 range previously indicated. This compares with $1.28 per share for fiscal 2000, before all one-time charges.

Thomson Corp reports that its second quarter earnings from continuing operations were $110 million, or 18¢ per common share, compared with $74 million in the second quarter of 2000. These earnings reflect a one-time gain associated with the sale of Jane’s Information Group in April. Excluding one-time items, earnings from continuing operations were $84 million, compared with earnings of $56 million for the same period a year ago.

In New York, the mood is still gloomy. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 74 points to 10,220. The Nasdaq composite has dropped 17 ticks to 1,949. The S&P 500 is down by eight points to 1,176.

Brokerage stocks have been notably weak after Morgan Stanley cut its estimates for Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab. Biotechs are also weak, but golds are strong.

The CDNX is down today, too, off 11 points to 3,077. Volume is weak at 9.1 million shares. Miners are leading the way down, with oils and techs down a bit. The top trader is Masuparia Gold Corp, up 33% to 8¢ on volume of 635,500 shares.