Pandora

Don't feel bad that you aren't one of those lucky, well-connected investors who gets to buy into Facebook's IPO this week. Those buyers may look lucky when the likely initial price pop happens. But odds are, the pop will be followed by a drop.

We love that we can listen to nearly any song, instantly, on our computers. What we hate is the flat, tinny sound from their cheap built-in speakers. As Seen on TV has a $20 solution: the shot-glass-sized Music Bullet. Sound too good to be true? We tested it out, and here's what we heard.

Let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week ahead on Wall Street: The iPad 3 is coming; there's serious news for Sirius; less hope for Pandora; earnings from the tax gurus of H&R Block; and clues about how China's economy is really doing.

There was a time when car radios cranked out the soundtrack of our lives. These days, radio is a bit of a forgotten toy, and there are more than 20 million people willing to pay for something they could get free the old-fashioned way.

Active smartphone users better get used to an ugly buzzword: throttling. AT&T has begun slowing down the most voracious 5% of its data users. And while cell carriers may feel they have to push back against the bandwidth hogs, the customer response may be more than they bargained for.

If you think 2011 was a wild year for technology, just wait until you see what 2012 has in store for you. Here are three tech trends that will undoubtedly grow in relevance -- and investor profitability -- in the year ahead.

The holiday shopping season officially kicks off on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Actually, make that during Thanksgiving for some retailers. Here's a rundown of some of the items that will shape this holiday week.

The consumer electronics giant is handing over its Napster subscribers and other related assets to Rhapsody in exchange for a minority stake in the combined company. This amounts to a surrender of Napster, which Best Buy acquired just three years ago. Let's go over the three likely reasons why.

There was a time when you cared about music: You made mix tapes, went to concerts, called radio stations; you bought vinyl, CDs, cassettes, 8-track tapes -- some of you even bought MP3s! And though the traditional music business is as good as dead, the music lover in all of us lives. That's where streaming comes in. Here's what you need to know, as a listener and an investor.

Now more than ever, there's never a dull moment on Wall Street. Next week will bring plenty of critical headlines, from a panoply of retail earnings reports to Pandora's first results as a public company. Read on for a complete preview of the news to come.