Sellers In Control

Following Wednesday’s across-the-board rally, stocks are poised for a down
open Thursday as the year end tax selling continues.

The December Consumer Confidence numbers and November’s existing home sales will be released at 10:00 AM ET. Analysts expect a reading
of 129.5 for the confidence number and 5.04 million existing home sales.

The Dow futures are down 50 points, and the Nasdaq futures are down 31.50
points.

The S&Ps look to open down 5.50 points while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury is 5.08%.

Thursday Movers

Blue Martini Software
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is set to extend its two-day run that began
Monday after favorable comments appeared about the company in last weekend’s
Barrons. BLUE rose 2 13/16 to 13 5/16 on Wednesday and is currently trading up
to 15 1/2 in pre-market activity.

Following Wednesday’s jump, JDS Uniphase
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is giving some of its
gains back. After rising 5 7/16 to 47 5/16, JDSU is trading down to 46 5/8 in
pre-market activity.

In the B2B realm, PurchasePro
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is adding to its recent turnaround.
PPRO closed Wednesday up 2 7/8 to 19 3/8 and is currently trading up to 20 3/4
in pre-market activity.

IBM
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may face some selling pressure Thursday after receiving a
downgrade from Prudential Securities. IBM closed Wednesday down 1/8 to 84 11/16.