Stock futures signaled a higher open on this last day of 2008, following a big drop in first-time jobless claims. S&P 500 futures climbed 4 points vs. fair value, Dow futures gained 35 points and Nasdaq futures were mostly unchanged. Trading activity is expected to be light and choppy as we close out a volatile year. Year-to-date, the NYSE composite and Nasdaq tumbled nearly 42% each. The S&P 500 and Dow dropped 39% and 35%, respectively. On the economic front, initial jobless claims fell by a much larger-than-expected 94,000 to 492,000 in the week ended Dec. 27. That was the lowest total in about two months and well below expectations for 575,000 initial claims. Continuing claims gained 140,000 to 4.51 million, the highest in 26 years. Late Tuesday, Motorola (MOT) said it would cut 400 more jobs in the fourth quarter than originally thought. In October, the handset maker announced 3,000 layoffs in efforts to $800 million. About 1,500 of those cuts were initially planned for the fourth quarter. Viacom (VIA) might pull Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and 16 of its other networks over a fee dispute with Time Warner Cable (TWC). Truck maker Navistar International's (NAV) Q4 loss widened to $4.81 a share from $1.46 a year earlier. The results included an impairment charge of $358 million related to its diesel engine business with Ford (F). Swiss bank UBS (UBS) said it sold its 3.4-billion share stake in Bank of China for an estimated $900 million. Elsewhere, crude oil again lost ground despite continued fighting in the Gaza Strip. February crude oil slipped $1.13 to $37.90 a barrel

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