Stocks are looking at a mixed open Friday. Walt Disney Co. is down after it reported lower profits in one of its units. Tenet Healthcare Corp. is down after two of its top executives left. And, El Paso Corp. posted a third quarter loss of $69 million, and decided to leave the energy trading business.

In economic news, employment rose by an estimated 33,000 in October, bringing job gains so far in 2002 to 459,000. The numbers beat analyst expectations once again, but again the growth was entirely in part-time. A drop in full-time employment (-20,000) was more than offset by gains in part-time (+53,000). As a result of the overall increase, the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 7.6%. The growth was concentrated in Quebec and B.C.

There was also a 1.6% drop in total hours worked in October, much of which can be explained by an unusually large number of employees taking time off around Thanksgiving and the shift from full-time to part-time work. Even with the decline in October, total hours worked were up 2.7% from a year earlier, similar to the 3.1% increase in employment. The year-over-year increase in hours worked was largely the result of a surge in overtime.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in Canada increased 10.4% in October to 220,400 units from a revised 199,700 units in September, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Urban multiple starts rose 21.4% to an annual rate of 84,100 units in October from 69,300 in September, while urban singles rose 6.9% to 112,400 units from 105,100 units. Rural starts in October were estimated at an annual rate of 23,900 units.

In Europe, stocks are down so far today, driven by corporate news. Electrical engineering giant, ABB Ltd., is cutting 10,000 jobs as its demand slows. Infineon Technologies AG reported its sixth straight quarterly loss and indicated that recovery may be off in the distance. Henkel KGaA also issued a gloomy forecast. The FTSE is down 26 points to 4,056. The CAC 40 has dropped 17 points to 3,095. And, the DAX is down eight points to 3,148.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were weaker. The Nikkei shed 230 points to 8,691. The Han Seng also closed the week lower, losing 74 points to 9,771.

In other earnings news, Four Seasons Hotels Inc. reported a net loss of $12.3 million, as compared to net earnings of $32 million for the third quarter of 2001. The third quarter financial results include an asset impairment charge, net of applicable income taxes, of $17.5 million relating to the company’s investments in Four Seasons hotels in Caracas and Sydney.

CryptoLogic’s net income for the third quarter was $1.3 million, exceeding management’s expectation of $1.2 million. This compares with net income of $4.4 million in the third quarter of 2001.