June 30, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) — Stocks ended higher on Monday after a light session of pre-holiday trading. A sharp rise in crude oil prices helped energy giants like Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX), and many fund managers made end-of-quarter plays. We also saw Bernie Madoff packed off to prison. Can we all feel better now?

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 90.99 points during the trading session, to end at 8,529.38. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gained 8.33 points, for a 927.23 finish, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.84 points, to 1,844.06.

Crude oil futures were sharply higher on the day, rising around 3.4%, to more than $70 per barrel. This helped Exxon Mobil gain 2.2% to close at $70.58.

Fund managers moved to scoop up the quarter’s winners to put the right shade of lipstick on their portfolios. This led to gains among financial and technology firms, as well as big energy. When firms defy expectations and have a great quarter you want to be sure they’re in your portfolio. Otherwise people might think you missed out.

All eyes will be on Thursday’s release of June nonfarm payroll numbers, which should tip the unemployment rate perilously closer to 10%. Officially. The market will be closed on Friday.

Fraudster Bernard Madoff got his justice on Monday: U.S. District Judge Denny Chin imposed a 150 years, to be started immediately, saying “Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff’s crimes were extraordinary evil.”

OK, he is evil, but I can’t help thinking that all this focus on Madoff serves to further a “few bad apples” theme. Madoff bankrupted a lot of clients, and stole an impressive amount of money, but the rule that he’s the exception to is this: you could have stolen a lot more and not gone to jail. Just ask any number of financial industry players, and their enablers at bond rating firms and regulatory agencies.

If anything, Madoff is the Lynndie England of the financial mess we’re in; the real perpetrators wrote the policy and made sure their rear ends were covered. Naturally, the media plays right along, getting people all outraged about charismatically grotesque small fry. Bread and circuses.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Weekly Chain Store Sales (8:55 a.m.), Chicago PMI for June (9:45 a.m.), Consumer Confidence Index for June (10 a.m.), S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for April (10 a.m.), Treasury auctions 1-year bills (1 p.m.).

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases BBBY Shareholders Meeting; PBH Shareholders Meeting; RAX at Goldman Sachs Data Center Techtonics Conference; TDG Analyst Meeting.

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 31 advancers versus 18 decliners and one unchanged. Advancers were led by Slm Corporation (NYSE: SLM) up 8.41%, Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) up 7.14%. Decliners followed Amer Intl Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) down 8.90%.

Investrend Website of the Day: http://www.psi.edu/projects/siberia/siberia.html

Quote of the Day: “It’s ill-becoming for an old broad to sing about how bad she wants it. But occasionally we do.” Lena Horne

Today is: Independence Day in the Congo.

Happy Birthday: Man Mountain Dean, Susan Hayward, Lena Horne, Harry Blackstone Jr., Stanley Clarke, David Alan Grier, Sterling Marlin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Mike Tyson, Michael Phelps.

Today in History: The U.S. Congress organized the Michigan Territory in 1805. Charles Guiteau was hanged in Washington, DC in 1882 for the shooting death of President James Garfield. The first appearance of The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson was in 1883. Albert Einstein published the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in 1905, where he introduces special relativity. Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. A meteorite impacted and broke up at roughly six kilometers in the atmosphere in 1908 in central Siberia, Russia, causing seismic vibrations as far away as 600 miles. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was published in 1936. The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft were killed in 1971 when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve. The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, was ratified in 1971 as Ohio becomes the 38th state to approve it. Willie McCovey became the 12th member of the 500 Home Run Club in 1978 with a home run at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

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