Howard Schultz

When the new Verismo coffeemaker shows up later this year, java buffs will be able to make Starbucks-quality espresso, cappuccino and latte beverages at home. But will the fancy European coffee drinks it'll crank out really be as good as Starbucks? Starbucks probably hopes so.

With McDonald's and Starbucks both trying to suck up Jamba Juice's smoothie business, some investors might have worried about how the smaller chain would compete. But as its latest positive profit report shows, the competition has turned out to be healthy for Jamba.

Retailers are spicing up their brick-and-mortar stores to keep you walking through the door. Their game plan? To design environments that are equal parts high-tech and homespun. But will the changes be enough to keep physical stores from being reduced to showrooms for e-commerce sites?

More Americans are waking up to the idea of citizen consumerism -- a fitting topic on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when our thoughts turn to social consciousness. Could the concept of making more of our purchases purposeful go mainstream in the same way that the green buying movement has?

Starbucks has long been a master at getting people to overpay for something they could consume much more cheaply at home. Now the company hopes to pull off that neat profitable trick once more, this time with juice.

Election season is coming, and politicians across the spectrum are already hunting for campaigns contributions. But with the vast majority of political donations coming from lobbies, corporations, and the wealthy, does it make sense for average taxpayers to contribute?

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.

It's a new day at Apple. The transition from a dynamic leader like Steve Jobs to a new generation at the helm of the iGiant will change the culture. Not in a year, not even in five -- but before you know it, we'll be talking about Apple in the "good old days" back when Jobs ran things.

The popular hub of latte lovers and Frappuccino sippers may be rolling right now, but the longer term outlook is far more challenging. A good cup of coffee is surprisingly easy to find these days, as is a Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' K-cup.

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.