In a decision as shocking as the surprise peace prize win, President Obama failed to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

  U.S. stock futures rose on Columbus Day as updates from Philips Electronics and Black &Decker helped lift sentiment ahead of a wave of earnings results.

  U.S. stock futures were trading higher on Monday, as the market attempts to build on last week’s strong gains while a busy week of earnings gets underway, underpinned by a surprise profit from Philips Electronics and a higher outlook from Black &Decker.

  A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.

  Stocks expected to move actively in trading on Monday include Alcatel-Lucent, Amgen, Black &Decker, Central European Distribution, Depomed, Google, Lazard, MasterCard, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Philips, Santarus, Tuesday Morning and Visa.

  Private equity firm Blackstone Group is planning to list up to eight companies it owns and sell at least five more, and raise at least $2.8 billion, according to published reports on Monday.

  Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson win the 2009 Nobel economics prize for their work in the field of economic governance.

  As the weather turns chilly in many parts of the country, homeowners are looking at improvements to help them keep their energy costs down -- and the government can help with part of the bill.

  Standard Chartered PLC has reportedly been given the green light from India’s central bank to list on the nation’s main stock exchange.

  Dutch conglomerate Philips surprises the markets by announcing its third-quarter profit rose, helped by cost cutting and better-than-forecast revenue.