June 25, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) — Stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, with general gains offset by some blue-chip losses. Investors were cheered by the Fed’s calm demeanor, among other things. Plus, is there good news on the home improvement horizon, but will it favor stocks like Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) and Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK)?

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the trading session 23.05 points lower, to close at 8,299.86. It was dragged down by losses Boeing (NYSE: BA), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) and others.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, however, rose 5.84 points, to close at 900.947. The Nasdaq composite index gained 27.42 points on the day, to end at 1,792.34.

Investors were cheered by news from the Fed, which ended its two-day open market policy meeting on Wednesday. As expected by most, the committee decided to hold its federal funds rate target at 0% to 0.25%. The FOMC included a forecast for “a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth.”

There was bad news on the housing front: U.S. new home sales dropped 0.6% in May, disappointing analysts. However, U.S. durable goods orders were up in May, by 1.8%.

Home improvement stocks will be down again in 2009, but a bright future may lie ahead, according to BusinessWeek’s Christopher Palmeri. “Some investors think home improvement businesses could recover more quickly than home builders,” says Palmeri, with fewer big-ticket renovations in the works but bigger consumer consumers spending on paint and carpeting, “particularly with all the foreclosed homes trading hands.”

Palmeri sees stocks like Fidelity Select Construction and Housing Portfolio, Leggett & Platt, Mohawk Industries, Sherwin Williams and Stanley Works standing to benefit from the trends.

But where will they get the money? Elsewhere in the paper, Prashant Gopal charts the changing policies at U.S. credit card companies, finding that the big players are “slashing limits and weaning themselves off all but the safest customers.”

Gopal notes that, “About 16% of customers had their limits reduced between April 2008 and October 2008, according to a recent study by Minneapolis-based FICO.”

That’s definitely a trend to watch if you’re rooting for an uptick in home improvement spending, among other things. It’s also a reason to root for the Fed’s continued support for the free flow of credit. As long as we don’t see a big uptick in inflation it pays to keep skittish credit markets flowing.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Weekly Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m.), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Q1 (8:30 a.m.), Corporate Profits for Q1 (8:30 a.m.), Treasury auctions 7-year notes (1 p.m.).

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases ADX, CVS, SAP, YUM at National Association of Investors BetterInvesting National Convention; ALNY RNAi Roundtable; BIIB Roundtable for the Investment Community; LAF, NU, SCG at The McCloskey Group Coal USA Conference; PVSW, BLD, BITS, DITC at New York Society of Security Analysts Micro-cap Investment: Technology Innovators Conference.

The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session’s trading showed 37 advancers versus 13 decliners. Advancers were led by M G M Mirage (NYSE: MGM) up 14.55%, Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) up 7.00%. There were no significant decliners.

Vote in the Investrend Poll Question of the Day at Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com).

Investrend Website of the Day: http://www.tolweb.org/tree/

Quote of the Day: “Modesty is the artifice of actors, similar to passion in call girls.” Jackie Gleason

Today is: National Hand Shake Day.

Happy Birthday: George Orwell, Jacques Cousteau, June Lockhart, Carly Simon.

Today in History: Virginia became in 1788 the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution. Major General George Armstrong Custer and the soldiers under his command died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. The Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough gem-quality diamond known, was discovered in 1905 by Frederick Wells. The Diary of Anne Frank was published in 1947. Long-Haired Hare was released in theaters in 1949 starring Bugs Bunny and Giovanni Jones. Greece abolished headshaving of the recruits in the military in 1982.

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