Sirius XM Radio

Shares of music streaming leader Pandora Media soared 12% on Thursday after it released its quarterly results. Yes, it posted a loss. And, yes it also posted a slight dip from last quarter. However, it's all about expectations, and Pandora beat those handily.

Here are some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street: Retailers will report; video games will rebound; Howard Stern will re-energize, and Groupon will retrench.

Sirius XM Radio raised its prices in January and totally got away with it. Last summer, Netflix tried it and got burned. So what did the satellite radio giant do smarter than the streaming video king?

A JetBlue flight was diverted Tuesday after the pilot had a mental meltdown and had to be subdued by passengers. If this were an isolated event, the cheap airline with the fancy frills might be flying high. But the carrier keeps finding itself at the wrong end of the headlines.

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.

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.

Satellite radio was one of the biggest success stories of the past decade, convincing millions of people that they really were willing to pay for radio. And things are going well for Sirius XM ... right now. But there are dangers lurking in the trends that could bring satellite radio down faster than you can say Baba Booey.

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.

Next week brings more earnings reports from big-name companies, including several home improvement giants, a couple of "good enough" computer makers, penny-pinching discount masters, and office supplier Staples -- whose results might stand as an indication of the broader economy's health.