Stocks are looking at a strong open Wednesday on some strong economic and corporate news. As well, the start of the U.S. holiday season may put traders in a good mood.

On the economic front, U.S. personal spending was up 0.4% in October, as incomes gained just 0.1% The spending growth is hailed as a good sign for economic recovery, even as incomes lag.

However, there is some good news on the income front, too. U.S. initial jobless claims dropped another 17,000 last week to 364,000. This is a signal that the employment picture is improving.

In Canada, September average weekly earnings rose a slight 0.2% from August. Compared with September 2001, average weekly earnings were up 1.7%. The strongest gains were in manufacturing, health and social services, public administration and education. The largest decline was in real estate and leasing. The total employment increase in September was 9,800, with substantial drops in manufacturing and wholesale balanced by smaller gains in most other industries and a significant gain in health and social services.

In corporate news, Eli Lilly & Co. is up on the news that it has received approval to sell a drug for attention-deficit disorder.

General Motors Corp. is cutting 2% of the workers in its Saab unit.

European stocks are up in early trading today. Energy firms such as BP and Shell are leading the way higher. But there’s bad news for Lafarge SA, the world’s biggest maker of building materials. It and three other firms have have been hit with US$474 million in by European regulators for price fixing. Also, mortgage firm Abbey National says it will cut its dividend, sell assets and cut jobs to fight its big debt loans and net losses.

The FTSE has gained 26 points to 4,097. The CAC 40 is up 28 points to 3,243. And, the DAX has gained 39 points to 3,230.

Stocks were mixed overnight in Japan. The Nikkei gained 52 points to 8,876, despite news that Japanese banking regulators may bring in policies that would increase the losses for Japan’s biggest banks. The Hang Seng is down 51 points to 9,945.

In earnings news, RONA Inc. announced net earnings of $11.9 million for the quarter, up 37.4% from the third quarter of 2001.

On a U.S. GAAP basis, Descartes Systems Group Inc., reported a loss of $5.1 million, compared to a loss of $15.6 million for the same quarter last year. This compares with an adjusted loss of $2.8 million recorded in the same quarter one year ago.

Mosaic Group Inc. announced further impairment of goodwill will result in a third quarter impairment charge of $347.6 million, posting a quarterly loss of $395 million. The company will be in violation of certain financial covenants under the terms of its three principal credit facilities. It is in discussions with its debt holders to allow for a demand credit to be created to finance ongoing business operations over the short term while longer-term solutions are developed. It also announced it will discontinue its U.K. division, which has recently experienced a significant decline in profitability and the company anticipates that future losses in the UK will continue. Management is currently reviewing the precise method of discontinuing the business.