Stocks are making strong gains today, as traders shop around for bargains. The S&P/TSX composite index is sitting on a 41 point gain at midday to 8,462.

There’s been no big negative news concerning terrorism, or geopolitical turmoil, and the economic data is fairly positive too.

The final reading for fourth-quarter U.S. real GDP remained unchanged at 4.1%, but the GDP price index was revised up, suggesting that inflation is stabilizing. Also, corporate profits were reported up sharply in the final quarter. Finally, initial jobless claims dropped below the 340,000 mark. The numbers continue to suggest that job gains are right around the corner, which is cheering traders.

There’s no economic data out in Canada today, but traders are looking ahead to tomorrow’s retail sales report. Expectations for a jump in sales has bonds down, providing some support to stocks.

Toronto volume remains uninspiring at 112.8 million shares, with buying almost double the selling action. Market breadth is narrower, but bullish, with winners outnumbering losers 55:53.

Techs and telecoms are leading the way higher, rebounding by about 1.7%. Health care stocks, financials, miners and consumer discretionary stocks are all higher, too. Only energy stocks and income trusts are notably weak.

Nortel and BCE are leading the tech and telecoms groups higher, respectively. Nortel is up 1.3% on general market optimism. BCE has gained 1% in light volume.

Manitoba Telecom Services is up a bit. Other gainers include Research in Motion, ATI, Open Text, Telesystem International Wireless and ART.

The good feelings about the North American economy are also boosting names such as Alcan, up 1.6%. Teck Cominco is higher, as is Tahera, Canadian Hydro, Martin-Rea and Sears Canada. Biotechs such as QLT and ConjuChem are also up.

Banks are another solid spot today. TD Bank is leading the way, up 1.2% at midday. Royal Bank and Scotia are both solid gainers . CIBC has moved a lot of shares, but is more or less unchanged on price, as is Manulife.

The weakness today is quite concentrated in energy, and particularly energy trusts. Suncor Energy is leading the way lower, down 1.7%. Canadian Natural Resources is down 1.9%.

The trusts are getting hit considerably harder, feeling the effects of both the souring in energy stocks and the new restrictions on pension plans owning trusts. Enerplus Resources Fund is leading that sector down with a 5.4% slide. There is also notable selling in Acclaim Energy Trust, Provident, Petrofund, Peak, Paramount Resources, Pengrowth and the Canadian Oil Sands Trust. Cameco, Loblaws, Keyspan Facilities and Innvest REIT are all down notably.

In New York, stocks opened higher on the encouraging economic news. At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 102 points to 10,150. The Nasdaq composite index has jumped about twice as much, gaining 2%, with a 39-point gain to 1,948.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is the only market on the downside today. It has dropped four points to 1,838. Volume remains weak too at 33.5 million shares. Transition Therapeutics Inc. is the day’s top trader, up 3¢ to 85¢ on 1.6 million shares traded.