Markets are sliding as investors take their profits and U.S. traders look ahead to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The TSE 300 is down 31 points at midday to 7,392.

Volume is strong at 116.3 million shares, with sellers outpacing buyers by about seven to three. Losers outnumber winners by about 19:16.

Techs are leading the way down today, giving up some of their recent gains. But the old economy stocks also pulling back a bit. Mines, paper and forest stocks, conglomerates, financials, transports and media plays are all pulling back. Traders are taking refuge in gold and energy stocks.

Telus is the top trader today, dropping 1.5% on huge volume of 13 million shares. There’s no news from the company, though.

Also, leading the way down is Nortel Networks. It has dropped another 3.5% on more than 10.4 million shares. Celestica, Creo Products, Mosaid, Descartes Systems and Certicom are all sliding, too.

The other big area of weakness is blue chips. Bombardier is down, as is CP Rail.

The financial stocks are down, with C.I. taking a big hit. It is off 5.7% on strong volume of 750,000 shares. Royal Bank is a bit higher. The bank reported its fourth quarter profit rose to $656 million, up from $595 million a year ago.

There are also gains in names such as Suncor Energy, Franco-Nevada, Barrick, Canadian Natural Resources and Hurricane Hydrocarbons. Some tech and biotech action is boosting 724 Solutions, Hemosol, Aastra, Inex and MDC.

In business news, Microcell Telecommunications has filed a final short form prospectus for its previously announced rights offering for minimum gross proceeds of approximately $252 million.

In New York, the action is a bit heavier. Traders are pulling back, not just off recent highs, but in preparation for trading to slow markedly.

With the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, and Friday expected to be quiet, many traders will also take tomorrow off, so firms are squaring their positions before the holiday liquidity drain.

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 73 points to 9,903. The Nasdaq composite index is off 32 points to 1,903. The S&P 500 has dropped six points to 1,145.

The CDNX is bucking the trend today, sitting up by a point at midday to 3,052. Volume is robust at 15.8 million shares.

Techs are down, but oils and mines are making up for it. Unique Broadband is the top trader, down 17% to 60¢ on just under 1 million shares traded.