On the surface, a video game opening a virtual pet store doesn’t sound like something investors should care too much about. But when that game is “World of Warcraft,” the stakes change.

Activision Blizzard Inc said it sold 4.7 million copies of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" for $310 million on its first day, setting a new record for the video game industry.

Th e Dow rallied to a new high for 2009  after the Group of 20 pledged to keep stimulus in place until recovery was assured.

Analysts expect the game could sell 4.5 to 5 million copies globally on its first day. That would shatter the 3.6 million record currently held by Take Two Interactive Software's "Grand Theft Auto IV" — and it would mean revenues of $270 million to $300 million for Activision.

Stocks rallied Monday, coming off their best weekly performance in a month, after the Group of 20 pledged to keep stimulus in place until recovery was assured.

Wall Street opens the new trading week coming off its best weekly performance in a month, with U.S. stock index futures pointing to a modestly positive opening Monday.

Stocks bounced around Friday as investors juggled a disappointing jobs report and some analyst upgrades. Still, all three major indexes were on track to post gains for the week.

While there are now over 100,000 apps in the Apple App store, the vast majority of them were created on a shoestring budget. With customers flocking toward lower-priced program, it just doesn’t make business sense to spend big development dollars—especially on games, the App store’s most crowded category.

Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick said a change in the video game maker's release schedule caused the company to forecast a weaker than expected fourth quarter, but he spoke confidently about the upcoming release of games such as DJ Hero and Band Hero.

Stocks bounced around Friday as investors juggled a disappointing jobs report and some analyst upgrades.

There's little doubt about what investors are focused on this morning: the October employment report, set for release at 8:30 am New York time.

Video game publisher Activision Blizzard reported a quarterly profit that matched analysts' estimates and revenue that was higher than expected, led by sales of the company's latest "Guitar Hero" offering, and its shares rose 1.5 percent in after-hours trading.

What follows is a roundup of corporate earnings reports for Thursday, Nov. 5.

Activision Blizzard Inc said its video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" scored record sales of $550 million in its first five days, but the company is still concerned about weak consumer spending.

China's Culture Ministry has accused the publishing watchdog of abusing its authority by threatening access to the popular online game, "World of Warcraft."