Stocks moved lower Friday afternoon as crude prices gained over $1 and trading thinned ahead of the weekend rush to get out-of-Dodge before July 4th.

The 30-share Dow industrials (down 10.08 to 13,412.20, Charts), the broader S&P 500 (Charts) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (Charts) all lost about 0.4 percent with roughly an hour left in the session. At one point the Dow was up over 100 points.

Oil prices rose amid a backdrop of falling U.S. gasoline and heating fuel stocks. U.S. crude for August delivery gained $1.11 to settle at $70.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest closing price since last August.

Earlier in the session stocks rallied on a combination of tame inflation numbers and moderate - but not too fast - economic growth.

In the report, personal spending and income both rose modestly last month, just below analysts’ forecasts.

Separate reports showed construction spending jumped 0.9 percent last month, topping forecasts, while the revised University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for June also topped forecasts, though the reading was down from May.

But it was really the PCE number that mattered most.

Fears over rising inflation and interest rates have recently stung stocks and pushed Treasury yields to a 5-year high, as higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive for companies and hurt profits.

Let’s keep a keen eye out for the movements of the market after the holiday because it could set the tone for the entire Summer.

Bad news from the company that owns Sound Advice said Thursday it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Tweeter Home Entertainment Group has nine Sound Advice stores in South Florida - West Palm Beach, Plantation, Pembroke Pines, North Palm Beach, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables, Boca Raton and Aventura.

The Canton, Mass.-based company is also the name sponsor on the Sound Advice Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach.

The electronics retailer also reported a red third quarter.

Tweeter (NASDAQ: TWTR - News) said it lost $35.2 million, or $1.38 a share, on revenue of $163.3 million for the for the period ended March 31. For the same period the year before, Tweeter said it earned $424,000, or 2 cents a share, on revenue of $186.8 million.

Tweeter said the loss was worsened by charges of $27.2 million for restructuring and $1.71 million for impairment.

The retailer said last month it planned to slash about 20 percent of its work force and close more than 40 stores in an effort to regroup.

Retailers got a huge boost in March from the early arrival of Easter, but the positive mood was tempered by low sales forecasts for April.

Overall, the sales results paint a mixed picture for retailers’ first-quarter earnings but at the same time don’t signal any surprising weakness in consumer spending, despite rising gasoline prices and the recent meltdown in the subprime mortgage market.

Wal-Mart (Charts), the world’s largest retailer on Thursday reported a 4 percent jump in sales at its stores open at least a year, which is a key measure of retail performance known as same-store sales. That beat analysts’ expectations for a 1.6 percent increase, according to Thomson Financial.

Wal-Mart said Easter-related purchases and strong sales at its pharmacy business - where late last year it rolled out a $4 generic drug plan - boosted spending in its stores. Moreover, due to the calendar, most retailers also included the first week of April in their final tally of March sales.

Analysts said this also contributed to better-than-expected sales results last month. According to Thomson Financial, which tracks numbers from 52 store chains, March same-store sales rose a strong 6 percent versus a 1.8 percent gain in the same month a year ago. The firm had originally expected April same-store sales to rise 4.1 percent.

“This March-April distortion happens every year with Easter. But the 53-week reporting calendar also added to all the noise surrounding March sales,” said Richard Hastings, chief retail analyst with Bernard Sands.

Hastings and other industry experts said it’s better to evaluate retailers’ March and April sales combined for a more accurate picture of consumer spending patterns in the first quarter.

“Forget Easter and the calendar issue. If you really want to know how retailers are doing, go straight to the earnings,” he said.

To that end, the signals are mixed.

Wal-Mart warned on its first quarter, saying that while its profit forecast of 68 to 71 cents a share was still attainable, “given the tough sales environment for the April period, it will be a challenge.” Analysts, on average, expect the retailer to earn 69 cents a share for the quarter.

The discounter also expects April same-store sales to be flat to down 2 percent.

But teen clothing chains Aeropostale and American Eagle Outfitters both upped their first-quarter earnings forecasts.

The retailer said customers took advantage of spring clearance activity at its Gap and Banana Republic stores during the month.

Retail is hoping to bounce back with big Summer results.

Federal Reserve officials stressed on Friday the importance of keeping close watch on inflation expectations as a way to keep inflation in check and keep track of trends in the economy.

The U.S. economy added 97,000 jobs in February, the smallest gain in two years.

The trade deficit narrowed slightly in January as U.S. exports rose to an all-time high while imports dropped, sending a hopeful signal that the country’s trade imbalances may finally start to improve this year.

Strong demand for corn from ethanol plants is driving up the cost of livestock and will raise prices for beef, pork and chicken, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

Monty Python style.

China’s central bank, under pressure from the U.S. and other Group of Seven nations to make the yuan more flexible, will pursue a “stable currency policy'’ to promote economic growth thoughout 2007.The People’s Bank of China “will continue to strengthen and adjust financial control mechanisms, execute a stable currency policy, improve foreign exchange management and push for financial reforms and innovation,'’ Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said today. “We want to contribute to ensure stable and accelerated economic development.'’

Employers in the U.S. added 115,000 workers to the payrolls in December, ending a quarter in which job creation was the slowest in three years, according to a survey of economists before a government report last week.

The figure is the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey and would follow employment gains of 132,000 in the prior month and 79,000 in October. The Labor Department’s report on Jan. 5 is also forecast to show the jobless rate held at 4.5 percent, close to a five-year low.

Job growth in early 2007 may continue to be subdued, keeping a lid on wage gains and limiting how fast consumer spending and the economy will grow. So far, increases in payrolls and incomes have been enough to hold the unemployment rate stable and encourage Americans to keep spending and shopping.

With great Borat quotes like: “My mother, she never love me.  She say she wish she was raped by someone else.” and “I hope President Bush drinks the blood of every man, woman, and child in Iraq! ” the golden eggs (money) is soon to follow.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s fictitious reporter from Kazakhstan took-over the movie box office last weekend with an amazing 26.4 million dollars in only 850 theaters.  The movie itself was made for a mere 18 million dollars and during this weekends wider release (an additional 2000 sites) should take in another 55 million dollars.  It is not a stretch to say that this film will probably  hit the 100 million dollar mark before reaping the rewards of it’s DVD release.

Nice return on investment (ROI) I would say!  It just goes to show you don’t have to produce a 200 million dollar block-buster to make money at the box office nowadays.  Creativity and humor still have their place.