SSI accelerates Qbyte/IBM closing for sale of Canadian Petro-LAB^TM

December 19th, 2003 - Calgary, Canada - Sterne Stackhouse Inc. ("SSI") (TSX.V:SSX), the leader in Data-Exploitation^TM software, today announced the successful acceleration to close the sale of Canadian Petro-LAB^TM software to Qbyte/IBM. The original Petro-LAB^TM software purchase agreement was scheduled to close on March 1, 2006. This transaction, dated December 18, 2003, eliminates all future payments and royalties owed to SSI by Qbyte/IBM, which arise from the original Canadian Petro-LAB^TM software purchase agreement. This transaction also eliminates SSI's responsibilities for Canadian Petro-LAB^TM software support and maintenance.

As of December 18, 2003, the cash monies received by SSI to close the agreement to purchase Canadian Petro-LAB^TM software amounted to approximately $1.6 Million. The accounting for this transaction will be reported in SSI's 1st Quarter of Fiscal 2004.

"Qbyte/IBM can now service the technical requirements of their Canadian Petro-LAB software clients directly. We have ample cash; we have no debt; and we are currently working on promising projects with multi-nationals where our Labrador® technology provides 'mission-critical' functionality", said Ron Sterne, Chief Executive Officer of SSI.

Additional information about the original Petro-LAB^TM software purchase agreement is available on the SSI website: www.sternestackhouse.com.

Sterne Stackhouse Inc. is a software development company providing corporations with business friendly data integration solutions. Since 1981, SSI has been a leader in developing real-time data retrieval and analysis applications for exploiting their clients' ongoing investments in corporate data-stores. With Labrador® software, SSI's flagship product, business users and technologists of all skill levels, in all disciplines, can interact directly with all of their data sources to retrieve and analyze precisely what they require.

SSI (www.sternestackhouse.com) trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX.V) under the ticker symbol SSX.

For more information contact:
Darryl Stackhouse
President & CFO
Sterne Stackhouse Inc.
403.263.6325

Labrador is a registered trademark of Sterne Stackhouse Inc. in Canada and the United States and/or other countries, and Petro-LAB is a registered trademark of IBM Canada.

This release may contain forward-looking statements with risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those intended or anticipated by the Company. The Toronto Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA