Friday's fourth-quarter GDP numbers offered more evidence that the economy is picking up steam, but one of the biggest obstacles to the recovery remains the stubbornly high unemployment rate. We'll find out whether there's been any movement on that front when employment data for January comes out this week. The Challenger Job-Cut report and ADP employment data are due Wednesday, and the government's unemployment rate on Friday. Another mild increase in jobs is expected, in line with the three-month average, but not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.

Also look for the ISM manufacturing and nonmanufacturing indexes this week, as well as the Chicago PMI and the New York NAPM index. And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak to the National Press Club on Thursday.

Coinstar (CSTR) fell dramatically during Thurday's after-hours session. You had to feel bad for the company's shareholders. Imagine, a big drop for the owner of the great, media-game-changing Redbox?

Yep, it's true. Shares of the company, which counts Netflix (NFLX) as a colleague, lost over 24% to land at $43.05 after closing the regular session down slightly to $56.95. The 52-week high for the stock is $67.56 while the 52-week low is $25.37. Sure, $43.05 may not be as ugly as $25.37, but it's still ugly, my fellow investors.

It seems that 92% year-over-year earnings growth wasn't quite enough to impress Wall Street. Shares of DVD rental kiosk operator Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) are taking a beating as traders pan the company's softer-than-forecast second-quarter results and lackluster revenue forecast.

For the recently concluded quarter, Coinstar banked a profit of $13.4 million, or 41 cents per share, up from last year's results of $7 million, or 23 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter climbed 35% to $342.4 million. As recently as May, Coinstar predicted its quarterly revenue would arrive between $363 million and $383 million.