July 2, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) — Stocks finished higher on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s nonfarm payroll report. General Mills (NYSE: GIS) cheered investors, while lousy jobs data and a sobering sales report from Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and other car sellers started the ominous music playing once again.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 57.06 points on the trading day, for a 8,504.06 close. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed at 923.33, up 4.01 points, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 10.68 points, to 1,845.72.

The June U.S. ISM index was up to 44.8 after hitting 42.8 the previous month. It bottomed at 32.9 last December. Analysts like to see it above 50, but the steady gains signal that the recession might be slowing. U.S. construction spending, however, reached its lowest level in five year, falling by 0.9% in May after gaining 0.6% in April.

Some investors cheered data showing a 0.1% rise in U.S. pending home sales in May, the fourth increase in as many months. Naysayers point out that pending sales aren’t closed sales.

Things are clearer with employment figures: they’re lousy and getting worse, according to ADP figures. In June, U.S. private payrolls lost 473,000 - a slightly smaller drop compared with May. The Monster Employment Index was also down in June, by 1%.

As for car sales, 2009 is still shaping up to be the worst year in four decades.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Employment Report for June (8:30 a.m.), Weekly Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m.), Treasury announces 30-year bond auction (9 a.m.), Factory Orders for May (10 a.m.), Treasury announces 3 & 10-year note auctions (11 a.m.).

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases DDUP Shareholders Meeting; International Meeting on the H1N1 Flu Virus.

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 30 advancers versus 19 decliners and one unchanged. Advancers were led by American Int’l Group, Inc (New (NYSE: AIG) up 1458.62%, Unisys Cp (NYSE: UIS) up 23.84%. Decliners followed Cardionet, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAT) down 41.36%, Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) down 27.01%.

Investrend Website of the Day: http://www.ameliaearhart.com/

Quote of the Day: “When vultures watching your civilization begin dropping dead, it is time to pause and wonder.” David Brower

Today is: Halfway Point of 2009.

Happy Birthday: George Law Curry, Hans Bethe, Thurgood Marshall, Ken Curtis, Dave Thomas, Imelda Marcos, Larry David, Richard Petty, Michelle Branch, Lindsay Lohan.

Today in History: Martin Frobisher sighted Baffin Island in 1578. The Continental Congress adopted a resolution in 1776 severing ties with Great Britain, though a public Declaration of Independence is not formally printed for the masses until July 4. John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Vermont became in 1777 the first American state to abolish slavery. Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba in 1839, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad. The U.S. Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890. Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared in 1937 over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight. An object speculated to be a UFO crashed in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico, though the United States Air Force claims it is a weather balloon. The first Wal-Mart store opened for business in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962.

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