B2B Stocks Surge

Several B2B stocks were sprinting ahead Wednesday, as investors were apparently anticipating strong quarterly results.

Commerce One (CMRC Quote) climbed 12%, PurchasePro.com (PPRO Quote) leapt ahead 14%, Clarus (CLRS Quote) rose 10% and Ventro (VNTR Quote) was up 14%.

"If you look at any of these companies individually, all of them are going to have a strong September, and people are getting a sense of that," said Patrick Walravens, B2B analyst at Lehman Brothers. "People have been holding off a bit in August, and in general, this is a sector that moves very fast. There are a lot of developments in the coming weeks." ...