Satya Nagendra Padala

Futures on major U.S. indices point to modestly lower opening on Monday as investors awaited the earnings from major firms including McDonald's and Texas Instruments.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Monday are: Texas Instruments, American Express, Amgen, McDonald's, CSX, Halliburton and Sealed Air.

US stocks advanced in early trade on Friday as upbeat quarterly results from General Electric and Google and strong German IFO business sentiment data boosted investor sentiment.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Friday are: General Electric, Google, Micron Technology, Sara Lee, American International Group, Schlumberger and Biogen Idec.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a higher opening on Friday with futures on the S&P 500 up 0.15 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11 percent and Nasdaq100 futures up 0.15 percent.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Friday are: Bank of America, Advanced Micro Devices, Google, General Electric, Intuitive Surgical, Schlumberger, International Game Technology, Emulex and Capital One Financial.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: Warner Music Group, American Reprographics, GMX Resources, Energy Transfer Partners and Aspen Insurance Holdings. The top after-market NYSE losers on Thursday are: International Game Technology, Emulex, Medley Capital, Jones Apparel and Kinross Gold.

Futures on major U.S. indices pared earlier losses and point to modestly lower opening on Thursday after the Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims fell sharply last week.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Thursday are Google, Morgan Stanley, eBay, Seagate Technology, Advanced Micro Devices, UnitedHealth Group, Southwest Airlines and Rockwell Collins.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening on Thursday ahead of economic data, including weekly jobless claims and existing home sales.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Wednesday are: Dillard's, Geo Group, Tetra Technologies, Lee Enterprises, Moneygram International, Equal Energy, Horizon Lines, Main Street Capital, Strategic Hotels & Resorts and American Oriental Bioengineering.

US stocks traded mixed in early trade on Wednesday, following mixed earnings from financial heavyweights Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo and a government report showed that U.S. housing starts fell more than expected in December.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening on Wednesday after Goldman Sachs reported a decline in quarterly profit and a government report showed that U.S. housing starts fell more than expected in December.

World stocks reached their highest levels in nearly 2-1/2 years on Wednesday with the MSCI world equity index reaching 1324, the highest since August 2008.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Wednesday are Apple, Goldman Sachs, eBay, IBM, Cree, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Xilinx.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a flat opening on Wednesday ahead of quarterly earnings from top investment bank Goldman Sachs and key housing data due to be released before market opens.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers on Tuesday are: NuVasive, Datalink, Coldwater, Ener1 and TASER International. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers on Tuesday are Cree, DepoMed, Rubicon Technology, Veeco Instruments and Ares Capital.

US stocks traded mixed in early trade on Tuesday following weaker-than-expected earnings from Citigroup, while declines in Apple shares dragged technology-heavy Nasdaq lower.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Datalink, Sterling Bancshares, China XD Plastics and Ku6 Media. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Apple, Avago Technologies, Cypress Semiconductor, NVIDIA and ASML Holdings.

As we take our first steps into 2011, here are some science and technological breakthroughs that the world witnessed in 2010.

In the NYSE on Tuesday, the top after-market gainers are: Zale Corp, Noble Corp, Parker Drilling, H. B. Fuller and Liz Claiborne. The top after-market losers are: Arch Coal, Alumina, Cablevision Systems, Excel Maritime and Kite Realty Group.

In the NASDAQ stock market on Tuesday, top after-market gainers are: lululemon athletic, Vermillion, Matrixx Initiatives, Warren Resources and Sterling Bancshares. The top losers are: Trimble Navigation, Tree.com, Career Education, Patterson-UTI Energy and QLogic Corp.

US stocks advanced in early trade on Tuesday as Alcoa kicked off the earnings season by beating forecasts, while Japan’s pledge to buy eurozone bonds eased concerns about eurozones debt.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Tuesday are Alcoa, Advanced Micro Devices, Lennar Corp, Supervalu, Apollo Group, Stryker, Intel and Nvid

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Monday are: Nautilus, KKR & Co, Stryker, Lennar and GATX. The top after-market NYSE losers on Monday are: The St. Joe Co, CBIZ, Headwaters, Advanced Micro Devices, MarkWest Energy and Alcoa.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to lower opening on Monday with futures on the S&P 500 down 0.58 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.42 percent and Nasdaq100 futures down 0.40 percent.

There are slew of movies scheduled to hit the big screen this year including sequels, remakes, animations and comic books . Here is a list of some of the most awaiting movies in 2011.

Top 10 highest grossing movies of 2010 are Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man 2, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Inception, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Despicable Me, Shrek Forever After, How to Train Your Dragon and The Karate Kid.

The top after-market NYSE losers on Thursday are: Liz Claiborne, Aeropostale, The Shaw Group, AK Steel Holding, RSC Holdings, Alere, RAIT Financial, Temple-Inland, CBIZ and BPZ Resources.