AOL Inc

Investment research firm Morningstar is steadfast in its view that the chairman who oversees a CEO shouldn't also be the CEO: Separation of the roles is a key point on its corporate governance checklist ... except when it comes to its own founder, Joe Mansueto.

Groupon's IPO is finally on track. The daily-deals leader will settle for a smaller offering than it had envisioned, but it should go public by the end of next week. But there are more ways than the IPO to bet on the Groupon flash sale model: Consider these dot-com smarties that are all over the niche.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has grand plans to cut through the partisan noise and remind our country's politicians of their problem-solving duties: On Tuesday, he's hosting a gigantic, public telephone town hall, and asking all "concerned Americans" to join his movement and participate.