By James Langton

(February 16 – 09:00 ET) – Toronto traders are bracing for a beating this morning. Nortel Networks Corp. slashed its 2001 revenue forecast after the bell yesterday, warning it would post a 4¢ per share first-quarter loss, rather than the 16¢ profit that was expected.

Nortel is also chopping 11,000 workers, not the initially intended 4,000. CEO John Roth blames the poor results on the slumping U.S. economy. The stock fell about 30% in the after-hours market.

As a result, Nasdaq futures are down this morning — as low as they can go before the exchange halts the selling. The Dow Jones futures are down sharply too.

Markets aren’t getting any help from the economy either. The U.S. producer price index rose 1.1% in January, far ahead of expectations. This is biggest increase in more than a decade. Energy prices are driving the lurch. There are no economic releases in Canada, today.

In Europe stocks are down already, thanks to Nortel. The FTSE in London is off 61 points to 6137. The Paris CAC 40 is down 103 points to 5601. The German DAX is down 92 points to 6499.

Stocks were knocked down a bit in Asia too. the Nikkei slid 152 points to 13175. The Hang Seng dropped 126 points to 15630.

On the earnings front, Kinross Gold is reporting that for 2000 its full year net loss was $126.1 million or 45¢ per share. This compares to an 83¢ loss in 1999.

Co-Steel Inc. reported income of $1.10 per share for the past year, compared to 86¢ for the year ended December 31, 1999.