PODCAST: Consumers fight back in shopping

Stores are counting receipts from the four-day shop-o-rama.  Five days if you count so-called Cyber Monday, when everybody used work computers to get through their holiday list digitally.  IBM reports the online sales were up 20 percent from a year ago.  Juli Nieman, analyst at Smith Moore and Company in St Louis, says consumers are holding the line on some things.

Also, China is responding to an American trade grievance by taking the issue to the World Trade Organization. U.S. officials believe China has sold solar panels and other goods below cost and has hit $8 billion worth of Chinese imports with punitive anti-dumping duties. China will argue that’s not fair.

They call them “native ads.” Advertisements that wear camouflage. They blend in with the main content of the site … like a sneaky promotional Tweet from a smartphone company about the awesomness of its phone. Now, the Federal Trade Commission digs into native advertising.