By James Langton

(April 23 – 09:00 ET) – Stocks are poised to open lower this morning. Profit-takers are grabbing their gains, particularly in tech stocks, sending many name-brand techs lower, including EMC Corp., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp. and AOL Time Warner Inc.

There’s also a negative undertone stemming from events such as the economic instability in Argentina. The Argentine government has suspended the sale of up to US$750 million in debt after banks demanded higher yields on the issue. There is increasing concern about the country’s ability to pay its debts.

The latest news of job layoffs is coming from 3M. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. is going to cut 5,000 jobs.

Stocks are down in Europe. A report showing that German business confidence has slipped isn’t helping. Also interest rate cuts remain distant after European Central Bank officials said they are still worried about inflation. In London, the FTSE is down 20 points to 5,860. In Paris, the CAC 40 is off 48 points to 5,401. Germany’s DAX is down 78 points to 6,050.

In M&A news, the Australian government is blocking Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s US$3.2 billion hostile bid for Woodside Petroleum Ltd. on the basis that the deal could slow the expansion of Australia’s largest natural gas project.

Italy’s biggest phone book publisher, Seat Pagine Gialle SpA is buying Sweden’s Yellow Pages, Eniro AB, for US$2.7 billion.

Overnight in Asia stocks slipped on profit-taking. The Japanese Nikkei finished down 50 points to 13,715. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 137 points to 13,311.

In other news, Astral Media Inc. today reported that net earnings from continuing operations were up sharply for the six months ended February 28. Net earnings from continuing operations for the period totalled $14.7 million or 68¢ a share. The results include a future income tax recovery of 26¢ a share due to income tax reductions announced in the most recent Federal budget.