Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares were trading up over 14 percent in afterhours activity following the company’s reported earnings for the quarter that surged 68 percent from last year on the back of its hot new product, the Kindle e-reader. Amazon predicted revenue to come in between $8.125 billion and $9.125 billion, above the $8.1 billion that analysts had been expecting. The company’s net sales rose 28 percent to $5.45 billion, driven by strong growth in electronics and other merchandise, up 44 percent to $2.36 billion. Media sales (e.g. books and DVDs) grew 17 percent to $2.93 billion. –Daily Finance

Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) stated today that its third quarter earnings leaped 8% as the electricity generator benefited from a drop in the cost of purchasing power, but its overall revenue shrank due to challenging weather,  economic and market conditions. Exelon, which runs utility firms PECO and Commonwealth Edison and operates the largest fleet of nuclear power plants in the U.S., stated that profit rose to $757 million, or $1.14 a share, from $700 million, or $1.06 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted net income dropped to 96 cents a share from $1.07 a share. -Marketwatch

Cost savings led Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) to raise its full-year earnings guidance even though it still sees economic uncertainty in the months ahead. The company has cut jobs and closed a factory to contend with lower sales. Whirlpool, whose brands include Maytag and KitchenAid, earned $87 million, or $1.15 per share. An earnings figure which is down from $163 million, or $2.15 per share, a year prior. -Forbes

The dollar and euro rose today against sterling, which tumbled after data showing the U.K. economy was still caught up in a recession, stunned investors who had expected it to return to growth. News that the British economy shrank 0.4 percent between July and September knocked the sterling off a six week peak against the dollar, causing the currency to shed more than three cents on the day. -Reuters

Facebook Inc. is tapping virtual farmers, mafia dons and online pets to generate cash from the social-networking site’s 300 million users. The company is testing a payment system to gain a cut each time an online-game player buys a digital item on the site (tractor, hat, etc.). This would give Facebook a piece of the hundreds of millions of dollars that are being pulled in by Zynga Inc., creator of “Farmville” and “Mafia Wars,” and Playfish Inc., maker of “Pet Society.” The social-games market will almost triple to $2 billion by 2012, estimates ThinkEquity LLC. “Virtual goods and micro transactions, especially inside games, can be a very big and thriving business,” said Ethan Beard, who runs the developer network at Palo Alto, California- based Facebook. “Two years ago, we never considered it.” –Bloomberg

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) has reached a tentative deal with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. over a disputed "make whole" payment on a $3 billion loan the investment bank had extended to the lender last year, according to people familiar with the matter. The people cautioned that the deal had yet to be finalized, but one of these people said it could be inked within the next 24 hours. The agreement ends weeks of tense negotiations between Goldman Sachs and CIT’s steering committee of bondholders over a $1 billion payment Goldman was poised to receive. –The Wall Street Journal

-Jutia Group