The market appears to be looking at a flat open this morning, as traders await some real news to drive the trade.

Earnings news is expected to be the big story this week, with a slew of Dow components reporting. So far, Bank of America has announced that its second quarter profit rose 10%. But FleetBoston Financial Corp. had a second-quarter loss of US$386 million, thanks to its move to write off US$1.3 billion due to Argentine loan losses and its decision to close its investment banking arm, Robertson Stephens Inc.

The big news so far today is a huge M&A deal is the drug sector. Pfizer Inc., the worlds’ biggest drug firm is buying Pharmacia Corp. for US$60 billion in stock.

Also, over the weekend Coca-Cola announced that it would begin expensing stock options.

Home Depot has announced plans to buy back US$2 billion in stock.

And oil prices are higher on speculation that the U.S. may attack Iraq sooner rather than later.

In Europe, stocks are modestly lower so far today. The big negative is the Euro which is now hovering near parity with the U.S. dollar, and threatening the earnings of big exporters such as L’Oreal SA and Gucci Group NV. The FTSE is down 25 points to 4199. The CAC 40 has dropped two ticks to 3512. The DAX is down 33 points to 4098.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were lower. The Nikkei lost 226 points to close at 10375. The Hang Seng lost another 67 points to 10582.

In local earnings news, Lorus Therapeutics Inc. reported a loss of $13 million for its latest fiscal year, compared to a loss of $15 million for the previous fiscal year.