Stocks are staging a strong rally today, due to some strong corporate and economic news in the U.S. At midday, the S&P/TSX index is up 82 points to 6,575.

Volume is very heavy at almost 140 million shares, with the buying swamping the selling by a margin of about six to one. Market breadth is much more sober, but still bullish, with winners outnumbering losers five to four.

Almost every sector is up today on the strength of jobless claims numbers in the U.S., which suggest that recovery may be stronger than expected there. Techs are getting a special boost from good earnings news at HP. There is also solid buying in consumer stocks, financials, health care and diversifieds. Only golds are down on the day, as some of the flight to safety bid reverses course.

Nortel Networks is leading the bullish charge once again today, up almost 9% to $2.51, with an incredible 42.6 million shares changing hands. Kudos to the TSX for trading that volume without a hitch. There is also strength in ATI, up 9% in heavy trading, and gains are also flowing through to Zarlink Semi, Tundra Semi, Exfo Electro and Celestica.

The financials are also helping power these gains, with Scotiabank up 2.2% in active trading. TD Bank is up 2% on news of a new head for TDSI. Sun Life has gained 2.7%.

Other gainers include BCE, EnCana, Hemosol, Rogers Wireless, CanWest Global and Aur Resources.

The golds are seeing an unwinding of their bids amid this bullish run. Glamis Gold and Kinross have dropped about 3% each. There are also notable signs of weakness in all the big boys, Newmont Mining, Placer Dome, Barrick, and Agnico Eagle.

In New York, the same trends are driving Wall Street stocks higher at midday. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 164 points to 8,787. The S&P 500 has added 15 ticks to 930. And, Nasdaq has gained 37 points to 1,457.

The small caps are in a funk with all this exuberant buying however. The S&P/TSX Venture index is flat at midday, holding at 942. Volume is heavy there, too, with 17.8 million shares moving. North Pacific Geopower is the top trader, up a penny to 9¢ on almost 1.3 million shares.