A lazy, circuitous trade has stocks flat at midday. The TSE 300 is down just one point to 8,193.

Volume is weak at just 68 million shares, and sellers hold a 13 to eight edge over buyers. Market breadth is more even, with an almost 50/50 split between winners and losers.

The sector split is dead even, too. There’s really not much strength on the upside. The strongest groups are real estate, conglomerates and media stocks.

Gold leads the downside, followed by pipelines, energy and utilities. But again, none of the moves are very dramatic, and it appears that markets are stuck in the summer doldrums.

Downside volume is getting a big boost from Nortel Networks and takeover target Gulf Canada. Nortel is down 1.25% on 7.2 million shares. Gulf has dropped just 2¢ on 4.4 million shares.

Other heavily traded losers include blue chip old economy names such as Cominco, Teck, Placer Dome, BCE and Petro Canada. Cameco, Hollinger, Enerflex Systems, Precision Drilling and Cryptologic.

Banks stocks are posting gains this morning. CIBC is leading the way, up 4%. Bank of Montreal has gained 1.5% in active trading, and most financial stocks are up to some degree.

Kingsway Financial Services has filed a preliminary short form prospectus for a proposed public offering the of 10 million common shares, and up to an additional 1.5 million common shares for over-allotments. The firm intends to apply for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The common shares will be sold in the U.S. and Canada through Banc of America Securities LLC, the managing underwriter, and HSBC Securities.

Other winners today include Stelco, Celestica, Zi Corp., Saputo, Pivotal, CCL Industries and Shell Canada.

In New York, stocks are mixed. The techs are up a little, shaking off early concerns about semiconductors. The Nasdaq composite index is up 13 points to 2,231.

Old economy plays are slumping a little on fears that the U.S. economy still faces tough times. Financials are weighing down the Dow. As is Philip Morris, in reaction to its US$3 billion punitive damage judgement in favour of a lung cancer patient. The Dow Jones industrial average is off 39 points to 11,030. The S&P 500 is down 2 points to 1,267.

The CDNX is also little changed, down half a point to 3,363. Volume is robust at 19.7 million shares. Techs and energy stocks are up, while mines are flat. The top trader of the day is newcomer H20 Innovation, which has dropped 28% to 54¢ on almost 1.2 million shares traded.