TSE shakes off Nortel attack

On a sector basis, just about everything is up at the TSE, only industrials and mines remain in the red. Financials, media, real estate, utilities and energy stocks are all booming.

The banks and insurers are up, led by Royal, which has gained about $1.40 a share so far. Volume is good but not overwhelming in these stocks. The exchangeable financial issues have been weak today, with stocks in Legg Mason and Amvescap falling.

Volume has been unusually high in Nortel, at midday it has moved more than 6 million shares. A fierce struggle between the bulls and bears has been waged all morning over Nortel. It opened down and was slugged sharply lower, before the bargain hunters moved in and bid it back up. At midday the stock is down about 35¢, but the trading hasn’t yet abated.

In the face of the heavy Nortel volume, the rest of the techs are strong. Leading the way higher today are names such as Research in Motion, Pivotal, Certicom, Exfo Electro, Sierra Wireless, 724 Solutions, and Descartes Systems.

Janna Systems is up 24% on news of its takeover by Siebel Systems Inc.

Ballard Power is booming today, too. It’s up 9% as investors begin looking for fuel alternatives in light of the apparent lack of OPEC relief. Wall Street is talking up all the fuel cell firms in response to the energy crisis.

Videotron is another top trader today on speculation that the battle for its control is nearing an end. The stock is up 4% on 2.9 million shares. Videotron is denying reports that Quebecor Inc. and the Caisse de depot beat Rogers Communications Ltd. for the firm.

“Le Groupe Videotron Ltee confirms that there have been discussions between Videotron, Rogers, Caisse de depot and Quebecor during the last few days. These ongoing discussions have not proven successful and there is no assurance that there will be a favourable outcome,” it says. Quebecor is down about 6.5% on the day.

BCE is up another 2% today on its merger chatter.

PRI Automation is the loser du jour. After warning that fourth quarter results would fall short the stock has been clubbed like a baby seal, dropping 41% so far.

GTC Transcontinental Group Ltd. is reporting earnings per share grew 27% in the third quarter, to 28¢ a share, compared with 22¢ a year ago. Analysts called for 27¢.

A.L. Van Houtte Ltee. is reporting net earnings for the quarter ended July 22 of 26¢ a share, up from 23¢ last year.

U.S. markets have been choppy today. The Dow is currently up six points to 11,201. The Nasdaq composite has gained 53 points to 3,950, and the S&P 500 is up five to 1494.

Strength is coming from the financials, where more merger chatter has J.P. Morgan up yet again. Biotechs, particularly genomics and fuel cell stocks are strong, too.

Nortel and Lucent are leading technology issues down, though telecoms are up. It’s the same picture at Nasdaq where Qualcomm is booming, while JDS Uniphase, Microsoft and Oracle are weak. Ford is weak as its ongoing recall saga drags on.

The CDNX is glum today, off 10 points to 3,627. Volume is strong at 21.4 million shares. Techs and mines are weak, while oils are strong. Kansai Mining Corp is the top trader, down 21% to 15¢ on 3.5 million shares.