All eyes will be on Thursday's June jobs report from the Labor Department, as economists expect the unemployment rate to tick up to 9.6% -- the highest level in 26 years. In May, the jobless rate hit 9.4%.

But the number of job losses is expected to have moderated a bit in June, to 350,000 jobs, roughly the same as the 345,000 lost in May. The number of lost jobs peaked at 741,000 in January and averaged 691,000 a month in the first quarter.

Updated at 12:45 p.m. ET

Bernie Madoff will spend the rest of his life behind bars. The man behind the biggest Ponzi scheme ever was given 150 years, the maximum sentence, by U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin this morning.

Hundreds of spectators and victims were in the courtroom to learn Madoff's fate, and nine victims spoke at the hearing. Two overflow rooms with video feeds were also set up in the courthouse.

"I'm sorry. I know that doesn't help you," Madoff told victims at the hearing ahead of his sentencing. "I made a terrible mistake."

Ruth Madoff issued a statement shortly after the sentencing of her husband, saying she is "embarrassed and ashamed" of her husband's crimes. She said "lives have been upended and futures have been taken away."

By Elizabeth Trotta, TheStreet.com

Premarket stock futures suggest a modestly higher start to the week with news on various corporate deals, but no economic data, as Wall Street looks ahead to the end of the quarter on Tuesday.

Futures for the S&P 500 were up 3.4 points at 917.3, and were 2.06 points above fair value. Futures on the Nasdaq were adding 5.5 points to 1482.25, and were 3.44 points above fair value.

The second quarter ends on Tuesday, and although the rally has fizzled in recent weeks, quarterly gains are significant. Thus far, the Dow is positive by 11%, the S&P 500  has gained 15%, and the Nasdaq  has moved up 20% for the quarter.

Updated: 8:20 p.m. ET.

The major indexes tell us that the stock market finished the week basically flat on Friday.

The market wasn't quite that good. More stocks were lower than were higher.

But the good news: There was little serious downside selling pressure. That could change in the next few weeks as the second-quarter earnings season gears up.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) fell 34 points to 8,438. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) was off 1 points to 919.

Tech stocks helped the Nasdaq Composite Index  ($COMPX) move up 9 points to 1,838. The Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX.X) was up 4 points to 1,480.

Updated at 5:10 p.m. ET

Michael Jackson's sudden death prompted a spike in sales of his songs on Apple's (AAPL) iTunes and Amazon.com (AMZN).

The "King of Pop" held seven of the top 10 album downloads on Apple's iTunes store earlier this morning, including the top five spots. Four Michael Jackson songs were on iTunes' top-10 song list. The top five videos were his as well, with "Thriller" at No. 1.

"The fans are reacting in the only way they know how -- by buying his records. It is them expressing their love for him and their grief," Gennaro Castaldo of music British entertainment retail chain HMV told the UK Telegraph. HMV has reported a 500% surge in sales of Jackson's songs, the paper wrote.

And that may be a reason why Apple and Amazon shares are higher today.

Updated at 5:15 p.m. ET

Homebuilder KB Home (KBH) this morning said it lost $78.4 million, or $1.03 per share, in its second quarter, a narrower loss than the $255.9 million, or $3.30 per share, it posted last year.

The results missed analysts' expectations of a loss of 72 cents per share.

Revenue tumbled 40% to $384.5 million, topping expectations of $337.6 million.

Updated at 1:15 p.m. ET

Investors dismissed data supporting the idea that the economy is starting to recover and pulled back today after Thursday's strong stock rally.

Stocks were moving lower this afternoon, despite a report from the Commerce Department that showed a 0.3% gain in consumer spending last month. It was the first gain in three months. And a report on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan and Reuters that showed an improved reading of 70.8 in June, up from 68.7 in May, didn't help, either.  

At 1:15 p.m. ET. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJIA) was down 48 points to 8,424 after gaining 173 points Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) was up 2 points to 1,832, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) was lower by 4 points at 917.

Crude oil slipped $1.00 to $69.23 a barrel this afternoon.  

Updated at 4:20 p.m. ET

Shares of Palm (PALM) jumped $2.20, or 15.7%, to $16.22 today after the handheld-device maker late Thursday posted a loss that wasn't as bad as analysts had expected.

Palm said its fiscal-fourth-quarter net loss was $105 million, or 78 cents per share, bigger than the loss of $43.4 million, or 40 cents per share, it posted in the same period a year ago. Excluding items, Palm said it lost 40 cents per share, which was better than the expected loss of 65 cents per share for the quarter.