Stocks set for a higher start after better-than-expected employment report

U.S. stocks were poised for a somewhat lower start Friday morning as investors braced themselves for a sobering July employment report from the U.S. Labor Department due out 8:30 a.m., an hour before the open. Meanwhile, investors also reacted to the expansion of the cash-for-clunkers program and to AIG's (AIG) first quarterly profit since 2007.

More here: Before the bell: Stock futures lower ahead of employment report

[Update: Stock futures did a 180 and are now trading higher after July's non-farm payroll report showed the pace of U.S. job losses slowed more than expected -- falling by 247,000 -- and the unemployment rate actually dropped for the first time since April 2008, registering a 9.4% unemployment rate, in the clearest sign yet that the worst recession since the Great Depression is easing.]