Could computer tablets be the Tickle-Me Elmo of this holiday season?

The numbers have been rising and falling at ease in the past week. But what's really behind volatility in the markets, and who's going to benefit in the end?

The president looks prepared to talk about small business and creating jobs, but Americans may also grill him about the political divide in Washington

Even though hundreds of factories across Japan were destroyed in the March earthquake and tsunami, manufacturing is recovering. Part of it comes from Japan's increasing investment in public reconstruction projects.

After last week's market volatility, strong numbers out of Japan may spark a new week of more reasonable market fluctuations. Marketplace's Senior Business Correspondent Bob Moon explains.

Economic data today reveals Japanese manufacturers are recovering strongly. The BBC's Roland Buerk explains that after the March earthquake and tsunami, this revival is in part due to Japan's unique brand of cooperative capitalism.

Today we learned Japan's economic output actually shrank by 0.3 percent. However, the economy isn't shrinking at the rate analysts had expected, and that suggests the island nation famous for auto and tech manufacturing just might be on the cusp of a recovery.

Adding the handset maker to its portfolio, Google is working to compete directly with Apple's iPhone

Markets today have quieted down from last week's wild swings says economist Julia Coronado, in part because investors and traders are on vacation

Google announced it will buy handset maker Motorola Mobility for more than $12.5 billion. Marketplace Tech Report Host John Moe says the move was driven by the need to bolster patents in ongoing litigation wars.

Labor Economics Professor Daniel Hamermesh of the University of Texas at Austin says big government can't revive the economy. Instead, it's up to businesses sitting on stockpiles of cash and consumer spending to drive the uptick in new hires.