Stocks look set to open down this morning, after tech bellwether Cisco Systems Inc. reported a loss for its fiscal third-quarter last night. Cisco lost US$2.7 billion in the quarter as revenue slipped 4%. It sees sales sliding as much as 10% in the coming quarter.

This is depressing news tech stock investors who were hoping for an upside surprise from Cisco. Also an earnings warning from National Semiconductor Corp. isn’t helping the mood.

Profits, or lack thereof, are also hitting media stocks. Media giant News Corp. reported that its latest quarter saw profits drop 34%. Dutch banking giant ABN Amro Holding NV saw its first-quarter earnings slip 12%, too.

European stocks are sliding on all the weak profit news. Telecoms are particularly weak. It was also reported that German industrial production fell 3.7% in March, its biggest drop in more than six years. So economic concerns are gripping those markets, too. The FTSE is down 45 points to 5,842. The CAC 40 has dropped 65 points to 5,452. The DAX is also down 65 points to 6,044.

Overnight in Asia, the tech worries bit early. The Nikkei dropped 204 points to close at 14,085. The Hang Seng held up better, finishing up 44 points to 13,585.

In M&A news, Northrop Grumman Corp. is matching General Dynamics Corp.’s US$2.6 billion offer for Newport News Shipbuilding Inc.

There’s little economic news out in Canada today, although the Help-wanted Index came in unchanged in April at 168, after edging down over the previous five months. New Brunswick (-4.5%) and Manitoba (-2.9%) recorded the largest monthly declines, while Alberta (4.0%) and Saskatchewan (2.1%) reported the largest increases.

In earnings news, MAAX Inc., a manufacturer of bathroom equipment, said in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2001, it recorded earnings of $22 million or 93¢ a share, an increase of 19.7%.

Precision Drilling Corp said for the three months ended March 31, it managed net earnings per share of $1.50, up 61% from the same period in the prior year.

Skyjack Inc. is issuing an earnings warning, announcing that results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001 will be below market expectations. The weaker results are due principally to reduced demand and increased competitive pressures. The company expects to incur a net loss of between $3.1 million and $3.7 million in the quarter.

The Westaim Corp. announced today that for the first quarter ended March 31, it recorded a net loss of $8 million, or 10¢ a share, up from 3¢ a share last year.

Westlinks Resources Ltd.and Big Horn Resources Ltd. announced today that the previously announced takeover by Westlinks will go ahead for either 0.1905 of a Westlinks common share for each Big Horn share, or 22¢ in cash and 0.74 of a Westlinks preferred share for each share.