Stocks are sliding Monday, amid a lack of major economic news on both sides of the border. Corporate earnings are the focus of attention this week, and so far traders appear to be worried that earnings aren’t going to be as solid in the coming months.

The S&P/TSX composite index has dropped 14 points so far today to 8l682. Volume is quite light at 111.4 million shares, with many traders waiting to hear the latest words of wisdom from central bankers this week.

The down volume is outpacing the selling by a 43:37 margin. Market breadth is almost even, as losers edge winners by a 27:26 margin.

There isn’t any tremendous sectoral weakness today. Golds are seeing the biggest drop, down 1.4%. Telecoms are weak, too, but nothing is really tanking. Nor is anything rallying impressively, a 0.4% gain in energy trusts is the hottest upside mover.

Nortel is the top trader, down 1.8% in decent volume of 9.8 million shares. There’s some fear that earnings, particularly in hot groups such as tech, that appears to be hitting stocks such as Nortel.

Sierra Wireless is the day’s big loser, down 10% on its latest earnings news. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2004 were $4.6million, compared with net earnings of $400,000 in the first quarter of 2003. However, it forecast future earnings would slide into the $4.0 million to $4.3 million range. Stratos Global is also down 1.7%.

There is weakness in golds on word that Newmont Mining is increasing spending on exploration, rather than looking for acquisitions. Barrick is down 2.3% in active trading. There’s also some selling in Agnico-Eagle, and Meridian Gold.

Marvix Fund Management is slumping in its debut, down 8% on its first day of trading. Elsewhere in the financial group, CI has gained just 0.3%, but the volume is quite heavy. Manulife is down a little, but CIBC and Royal Bank are up.

There’s also weakness in core firms such as Alcan, Inco, CN, Noranda and EnCana. ConjuChem is down too. Conversely, there’s strength in Real Resources, Jean Coutu, Cinram and Crew Energy.

Ivanhoe Mines is up more than 4% in heavy trading on word that CIBC World Markets and Citigroup Global Markets have been retained to evaluate strategic alternatives for the company’s copper/gold project in Mongolia. An updated, independent resource estimate of the project is expected to be issued in the next few weeks.

Forbes Medi-tech has added 10% on news on its latest European clinical trials of its cholesterol-lowering compound. And, Ecopia Biosciences is up 17% too, on no news.

Leitch Technology is a rare bird, an acquiring company that is up on news it’s buying another firm. It has added 4.4% after announcing a deal for Videotek Inc, a privately held video equipment company. The purchase price is approximately US$18million in cash. Leitch will finance this acquisition through its existing cash balances.

In other M&A news, Storm Energy has signed an agreement for a business combination with Harvest Energy Trust. Harvest will acquire each Storm common share in exchange for (at the election of each Storm shareholder): $4.15 cash to a maximum of $75-million; or 0.281 of a Harvest trust unit; or 0.281 of an exchangeable share of a subsidiary of Harvest; or a combination of cash and stock.

SNC-Lavalin Group has signed an agreement to invest US$60-million in phase 1 of a new natural gas power plant in New York.

Magellan Aerospace has reached a three-year settlement, extending to September 2006, with its organized work force at its Rockwood propellant plant.

CAE has been awarded a one-year contract extension by the German Armed Forces valued at more than $21 million to provide on-site maintenance and logistics support for flight simulation equipment. And, it has another $21 million deal with Eurofighter Simulation Systems GmbH.

In New York, blue-chip stocks are lower at midday. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 24 points to 10,428, as traders fret about future profits. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index is up 13 ticks, however, to 2,009.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is down just two points to 1,815. Volume is average at 32.5million shares, led again by Look Communications. It’s down just half a penny to 12.5¢ on 4.7 million shares traded.