eBay

There's a new daily deals player, and it's a company that's near and dear to your virtual pocketbook. And if you think the online coupons sector is too saturated for a fresh entry to make a dent, you're ignoring a few important things about PayPal.

That's what retailers anxious to lure holiday shoppers are hoping to find out with their latest innovation: Walmart, Kmart, Sears and eBay are all testing versions of the "real" online store.

EBay has come a long way since its days as an Internet flea market. Today, 62% of eBay listings are fixed price, not auctions, and 70% are new. But the website's devoted cadre of loyal used item sellers feels like its recently launched "buy it new" campaign is selling them out.

Why not let a superhero save you from the evil economy? Investing in comic books can be a recession-proof path to steady returns, according to experts at last weekend's New York Comic Con. Just don't let ignorance be your kryptonite.

It's been awfully quiet on the earnings front in recent weeks, and there's a reason: This is the time of year when accountants are nailing down the financials for the fiscal quarters that ended in September. Later this week, the conference calls will begin trickling in, and then it will be a deluge of quarterly reports until early November.

The skeptics can say what they like: Chances are that many of us will upgrade to an iPhone 4S. But you may also be on a budget, and tight-fisted enough to resist a fully-loaded new phone -- unless the right deal presents itself. Smart, because there's a way to pay the price you seek; Craigslist and eBay aren't your only options.

Meg Whitman, Hewlett-Packard's new CEO, will be paid $1 a year, joining a string of other high-profile CEOs that are earning a buck, plus other incentives.