For two months a year, Christmas music is inescapable. As a result, Christmas albums can be real cash cows, year after year. Which led us to wonder: Who's getting all that money? The recording artists? The songwriters (or their heirs)? Or some corporate fat cats in really sharp suits?

A $10 bill is a joyful sight for a server. But when one waiter went to retrieve such a note from under a diner's plate recently, he found the tip provided wasn't money, but advice about his eternal soul.

Waiting for the cable guy, the Internet guy, or the air conditioner guy are tedious life necessities, like doing laundry or visiting the in-laws. But they are vastly more expensive. According to a new poll, American workers lost a total of $37.7 billion waiting around for in-house appointments in 2011.

On Tuesday, Starbucks launched "Create Jobs for USA," a program to raise loan funds for small businesses. We talked to CEO Howard Schultz about his concerns about gridlock in Washington, unemployment, the need for a sense of solidarity, and the role of corporate leaders in getting America out of this downturn.